Raised in Syracuse, New York, she found success in the 70s as a model, working in New York and Paris (where she shared an apartment with Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange), before rising to public prominence as a singer and personality.
Jones secured a record deal with Island Records, which resulted in a string of club hits. The three disco albums she recorded - Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978), and Muse (1979) - generated dance singles such as Sorry That's The Trouble, I Need A Man, and a classic cover of La Vie En Rose. During this period, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, appearing in his portraits and accompanying him to Studio 54 on many occasions.
As the 70s drew to a close, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music to suit a different style, a significant departure from her previous output that resulted in some of her strongest work. Still with Island, and now working with producers Alex Sadkin and Chris Blackwell at Compass Point Studios, and with the considerable talents of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (Sly & Robbie) behind her, she released the acclaimed Warm Leatherette (1980) and Nightclubbing (1981). These included re-imaginings of songs by Sting, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Flash And The Pan, The Normal, and Tom Petty, as well as originals like the innuendo-filled Pull Up To The Bumper and the haunting I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango). Parallel to her musical shift was an equally dramatic visual departure; Jones - working heavily with style artist Jean-Paul Goude - adopted a severe, androgynous look that enhanced her already striking presence, the iconic cover of Nightclubbing exemplifying this new identity. Her collaboration with Sadkin and Blackwell continued with the dub reggae-influenced album Living My Life, which featured Nipple To The Bottle, The Apple Stretching, and the Jones-penned and much-sampled My Jamaican Guy.
Later in the 80s, she worked with Trevor Horn for the conceptual musical collage Slave to the Rhythm (1985), and with Nile Rodgers for Inside Story (1986) - her first album away from the Island label. Inside Story produced her last US Hot 100 hit to date, I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You), while Bulletproof Heart in 1989 produced the #1 US club hit Love on Top of Love - Killer Kiss, produced by C+C Music Factory's David Cole and Robert Clivilles. Though a chart regular in the UK Grace Jones never achieved mainstream musical success in the US, but most of her singles became huge hits in the dance underground.
Jones' strong visual presence was extended to her stage work. Her performances were unique spectacles as she adopted various personas and wore outlandish costumes throughout, particularly during her years with Goude. Her most memorable performances include the Paradise Garage in 1985, wherein she collaborated with legendary visual artist Keith Haring for her costume and the extraordinary One Man Show filmed in Drury Lane Theatre London and in New York and released on video in 1982 (it is yet to be re-released).
In 2008 she returned with the album "Hurricane".
Ring of Fire
Grace Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It makes a firey ring,
Bound by wild desire,
I fell in a ring of fire,
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
I burned, burned, burned,
A ring of fire, a ring of fire,
The taste of love is sweet,
And hearts like ours meet,
I fell for you just like a child,
And oh, the fire went wild,
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
And burned, burned, burned,
A ring of fire, a ring of fire,
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
And burned, burned, burned,
A ring of fire,
A ring of fire,
The taste of love is sweet,
And hearts like ours meet,
I fell for you just like a child,
And oh, the fire went wild,
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
And burned, burned, burned,
A ring of fire. (repeat, fade)
"Ring of Fire" by Grace Jones is a cover of Johnny Cash's song but is delivered in a sultry and seductive way. In this song, she talks about the immense power of love which brings both pleasure and pain. The lyrics suggest that love can be like a fiery ring, which binds two people together in wild desire. The use of a 'ring of fire' as a metaphor suggests that love can get dangerously hot and out of control, causing emotional turmoil to the extent of a blaze, yet hard to be brought to an end.
The first two verses of the song express the sweetness of love, with hearts meeting and falling together. However, the chorus depicts the overwhelming impact of this love, the sense of falling deeper and deeper into it with no way out. The lyrics in the line "And oh, the fire went wild" signify that the intensity of the love-bond becomes almost uncontrollable. In the end, the singer gives a message that the sweetness of love is worth the risk of getting burnt.
Line by Line Meaning
Love is a burning thing,
Love is intense and passionate.
It makes a firey ring,
It engulfs the lovers in a passionate, fiery embrace.
Bound by wild desire,
The lovers are consumed by their intense, untamed passion for each other.
I fell in a ring of fire,
The singer fell deeply in love with someone who consumed her with their passion.
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
She fell deeply in love with someone who consumed her with their passion, leaving her feeling burnt and overwhelmed.
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
The intensity of her love and passion continued to grow stronger and more all-consuming, leaving her feeling like she was falling deeper and deeper into a fiery abyss.
I burned, burned, burned,
The intense love and passion she felt left her feeling as if she was being consumed by flames.
A ring of fire, a ring of fire,
The intense love and passion she felt created a fiery ring that consumed her completely.
The taste of love is sweet,
Love can be incredibly enjoyable and fulfilling.
And hearts like ours meet,
The singer feels as though her heart has found its perfect match in the person she's fallen in love with.
I fell for you just like a child,
The singer fell in love with someone in the same way that a child falls in love with something completely and without reservation.
And oh, the fire went wild,
The passion and intensity of her love grew to be overwhelming.
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
She fell deeply in love with someone who consumed her with their passion, leaving her feeling burnt and overwhelmed.
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
The intensity of her love and passion continued to grow stronger and more all-consuming, leaving her feeling like she was falling deeper and deeper into a fiery abyss.
And burned, burned, burned,
The intense love and passion she felt left her feeling as if she was being consumed by flames.
A ring of fire, a ring of fire,
The intense love and passion she felt created a fiery ring that consumed her completely.
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
She fell deeply in love with someone who consumed her with their passion, leaving her feeling burnt and overwhelmed.
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
The intensity of her love and passion continued to grow stronger and more all-consuming, leaving her feeling like she was falling deeper and deeper into a fiery abyss.
And burned, burned, burned,
The intense love and passion she felt left her feeling as if she was being consumed by flames.
A ring of fire,
The intense love and passion she felt created a fiery ring that consumed her completely.
A ring of fire,
The intense love and passion she felt created a fiery ring that consumed her completely.
The taste of love is sweet,
Love can be incredibly enjoyable and fulfilling.
And hearts like ours meet,
The singer feels as though her heart has found its perfect match in the person she's fallen in love with.
I fell for you just like a child,
The singer fell in love with someone in the same way that a child falls in love with something completely and without reservation.
And oh, the fire went wild,
The passion and intensity of her love grew to be overwhelming.
I fell into a burning ring of fire,
She fell deeply in love with someone who consumed her with their passion, leaving her feeling burnt and overwhelmed.
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher,
The intensity of her love and passion continued to grow stronger and more all-consuming, leaving her feeling like she was falling deeper and deeper into a fiery abyss.
And burned, burned, burned,
The intense love and passion she felt left her feeling as if she was being consumed by flames.
A ring of fire.
The intensity of her love and passion created a fiery ring that completely consumed her, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and consumed by love.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: June Carter, Merle Kilgore
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind