When I was a very young boy I had the opportunity of listening to the music that my father would play almost every night (for the whole house to hear). As a teenager I grew, shall we say, “unimpressed” with his taste in music (and he with mine). (Ironically, this has now come full circle and I enjoy the nostalia that’s become associated with those songs.)

Of all of his music, that which I remember with most fondness is Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. This song was so appealing to me as a child, after all, what red-blooded American boy wouldn’t like a song all about fire? That’s what the song was to me when I was 5 years old. As I got older and started learning about geography and earth sciences, the Ring of Fire was a ring of volcanic activty surrounding the Pacific Ocean. As a teenager with raging hormones, the true meaning of the song began to become clear. (In later years I’ve been collecting variations of The Ring of Fire, I’ve got Johnny’s and versions by Stan Ridgeway (Wall of Voodoo), Billy Bob Thornton, the Texas Tornadoes, and more. (If you have any other remakes, I’d love to have a copy!)

But Johnny didn’t stop there. He had dozens of other songs that spoke to the generations to which he intended. He’s even remade songs by U2 (One) and Nine Inch Nails (Hurt) .

Johnny, we’ll miss you.