Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Stan Ridgway was the original lead singer for the band Wall of Voodoo, singing on their debut EP and first two albums, including their only hit song, "Mexican Radio". Wall Of Voodoo's genesis was in a Hollywood company called "Acme Soundtracks", a commercially unsuccessful venture founded in 1977 in Hollywood by Ridgway. Ridgway's intent for the company was to provide soundtrack music for independently produced low-budget horror films; unfortunately, the company found few takers for its services. Instead, Acme Soundtracks evolved into a band that played live shows.
The band was named Wall Of Voodoo by Ridgway before their first gig in reference to a comment made while recording and overdubbing a Kalamazoo Rhythm Ace drum machine, a gift to Ridgway by writer and iconic voice over artist Daws Butler, partner to Stan Freberg, voice of Yogi Bear and many other Hanna-Barbera characters. When someone jokingly compared the multiple drum machine and farfisa organ laden recordings to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Ridgway commented it sounded more like a "Wall Of Voodoo", and the name stuck.
Actually, for new listeners, the voodoo reference was a little misleading, as it referred to the music's often spooky quality, as opposed to any Haitian or Caribbean influences. In fact, WoV's music could fairly have been described as a cross between early synthesizer pop (especially that of Devo) and Ennio Morricone's soundtracks for Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" films. Adding to the music's distinctiveness was Nanini's percussive experimentation, mixing drum machines with unconventional found instruments such as pots, pans and various kitchen utensils, as well as Marc Moreland's twangy spaghetti-western guitar. On top of the mix was Ridgway's unusual vocal style—a nasal Western drawl that combined the stoic ballad-style Sprechgesang of Johnny Cash, the declamatory theatrical delivery of Ethel Merman, and the ironic, clenched-jaw voice of a wisecracking ventriloquist's dummy. One of Ridgway's hobbies since childhood has been ventriloquism and he occasionally assumes the persona of a dummy named Jackie T. Lazar, such as in his cover version of "Behind Closed Doors" from Holiday in Dirt and in the video for "Big Dumb Town" from Black Diamond.
Ridgway embarked on a solo career in 1983, shortly after Wall of Voodoo's appearance and break up at the US Festival that same year. After collaborating on the song "Don't Box Me In" with Stewart Copeland from The Police for the soundtrack to the film Rumble Fish (1983), directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon, Dennis Hopper and Tom Waits, he released his first proper solo album, The Big Heat (1986), which included the top 5 European hit "Camouflage". This was followed by numerous other solo recordings Mosquitos (1989), Partyball (1991), Black Diamond (1995), Anatomy (1999), The Way I Feel Today a collection of big band standards (2000) and Holiday In Dirt (2001) which also included a DVD of videos. Ridgway's most recent solo outing is Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs (2005) featuring the narrative song, "Talkin' Wall Of Voodoo Blues Pt. 1", a history of his former band in song that was especially poignant, having followed the recent deaths of Marc Moreland and Joe Nanini.
Since the early days of Wall of Voodoo, Ridgway has been interested in music for cinema. A list of films for which Ridgway has written scores and/or original songs is included below. Ridgway's album Holiday in Dirt was a quasi-cinematic project, with the release of the album accompanied by a showing of 14 short films by various independent film makers, each film corresponding to one of the songs on the album. A compilation DVD of the films was released in February 2005.
In 1994, Ridgway began work on a new project in the form of a trio called Drywall, the other members of the trio being Ridgway's wife, keyboardist/vocalist Pietra Wexstun of the band Hecate's Angels (who had previously worked with Ridgway on Mosquitos and Partyball), and former Rain Parade drummer Ivan Knight. In 1995, Drywall released its first album (first of a "trilogy of apocalyptic documents"), titled Work The Dumb Oracle. A short film directed by Carlos Grasso titled The Drywall Incident was released the same year. An extended, instrumental soundtrack album for The Drywall Incident was released in 1996.
Ridgway and Wexstun also collaborated on a suite of mostly instrumental and orchestral pieces to accompany an exhibition of post modern surrealist artist Mark Ryden's paintings, which was released as the album Blood- Miniature Paintings of Sorrow and Fear"in 2003 in a unique 3 panel packaging design by the artist which quickly sold out of its limited pressing of 7,500.
Stan Ridgway and Drywall regrouped in 2006 to release the album Barbeque Babylon, the third "apocalyptic document" with the single "The AARP Is Following Me". The new Drywall lineup features Rick King on guitars and bass and Bruce Zelesnik on drums and percussion.
Ridgway has also contributed to albums and projects by producer Hal Willner, Frank Black and the Catholics, The Flesh Eaters, The Divine Horsemen, The Ray Campi Quartet, The Fibonaccis, and Roger McGuinn.
Ring of Fire
Stan Ridgway Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And it makes a fiery ring
I was bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire
I fell into a burnin' ring of fire
I went down, down, down, and the flames got higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
I fell into a burnin' ring of fire
I went down, down, down, and the flames got higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
The taste of love is sweet
When hearts like ours meet
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the fire went wild
I fell into a burnin' ring of fire
I went down, down, down, and the flames got higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
Yes, it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
The lyrics of "Ring of Fire" by Stan Ridgway are about love being a burning thing that can make a fiery ring. The singer was consumed by love's passion and fell into a ring of fire, which he describes as burning and intense. This love affair was not something that the singer could control or stop, as the flames of the fire got higher and higher. The taste of love was sweet when two hearts meet, and the singer fell for his lover like a child. However, the fire of their love went wild, leading the singer to fall even further into the ring of fire.
"Ring of Fire" is an emotional song that describes the desperate passion of two lovers. The lyrics suggest that love can be all-consuming, and once you fall into it, you cannot escape it. The fiery ring represents the intensity of the passion, and the flames represent the danger of love. The repeat of "And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire" symbolizes the singer's inability to pull out of this destructive love but continues to burn in passion.
Line by Line Meaning
Love is a burnin' thing
Love can be intense, passionate, and all-consuming.
And it makes a fiery ring
Love can create a sense of enclosure, like a tightly woven circle of emotions.
I was bound by wild desire
I was completely taken over by my intense feelings of passion and longing.
I fell into a ring of fire
I was consumed by the all-encompassing power of my love, like falling into a fiery, inescapable trap.
I fell into a burnin' ring of fire
I was completely overtaken by the intensity of my emotions and engulfed in a fiery, all-encompassing love.
I went down, down, down, and the flames got higher
My feelings spiraled out of control until I was completely submerged in them, and they only grew more intense.
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The all-encompassing nature of my love is so strong and potent that it feels like I'm constantly engulfed in flames.
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
The intensity of my love has created a metaphorical ring, completely enclosing me and the object of my desire.
The taste of love is sweet
Love, at first, is always appealing and feels good.
When hearts like ours meet
When two people with strong feelings for each other come together, something intense is bound to happen.
I fell for you like a child
I was overcome with emotions for you, naive and innocent like a child, despite the intensity of my passion.
Oh, but the fire went wild
But my love exploded with intensity and passion, and things quickly spiraled out of control.
Yes, it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The intensity of my love continues to feel like a burning, all-consuming heat, completely surrounding me.
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
The intensity of my love has created an unbreakable bond between us, completely surrounding us like a ring of fire.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: June Carter, Merle Kilgore
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dan Evans
If you’re still listening to this in 2020 you rock
natashalyn shaw
2022
Clark Mattoon
Heard this on a sitcom..knew who it was right away..but had never heard the song..
2022 and still going strong
valerie nady
2022 now
Valenquill
2921
Robert Sterner
Of course
GerudoKing
The guitar in this song gives me chills, it adds a completely different tone to the song! I love these types of covers that will do entire genre switches and inflect a different emotion to the song.
rundoetx
Look up the soundtrack to the 1966 movie "Our Man Flint" and listen to the song with the same title. You'll hear the same guitar note progression almost verbatim.
Thomas Neal
my god, this is almost 40 years old now.
still sounds as good to me now as it did the first time I heard it.
Doug Otto
Was 20something, still am, this is still new... PERSPECTIVE