Lykke Li has shared a cover of Johnny Cash’s 1963 song ‘Ring of Fire’ for Damsel, the upcoming Netflix movie starring Millie Bobby Brown and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. She recorded her rendition in one take with producer Andrew Sarlo. “You can feel that energy on the recording, so it’s a very important process for me to keep it live and keep the tension,” Li said in a statement. Take a listen below.
‘Ring of Fire’ was written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore. “I was very inspired by June Carter,” she explained. “What I read was that she wrote this when they were both married to other people and she was like, shit, I’m about to fall in love and it’s going to blow up and ruin my life. But also there’s no other way. So there’s this haunting quality that it is to fall in love. It really is like stepping into a ring of fire. And then I think the beauty of the song, what I realized too when you break it down, is that Johnny Cash’s version has tempo and all of those other things. It’s him. It could even be a lullaby. But that goes for every great song. It’s a classic. Timeless.”
Lykke Li’s most recent album was 2022’s Eyeye.