Lykke Li Performs Haunting Cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ for Netflix’s ‘Damsel’
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Lykke Li stepped away from her “baby phase” to perform this gorgeous cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
On Thursday, the Swedish singer — who welcomed her second child in August — released a cover of the Johnny Cash classic, which is featured in the Netflix film, Damsel, set to release March 8.
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“To be honest, the only version I’ve ever heard in my whole life is the Johnny Cash version, so I had no real history,” she told Variety. “I just went into it pretty blank. I sat down at the piano and the first thing that came out of my mouth was what I recorded.”
The track will be featured during the rolling credits of the Netflix film, which is set to star Millie Bobbie Brown, and is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. It follows Ellie as she marries into a royal family, before realizing she’s being offered as a sacrifice to a dragon.
“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,” she told Variety.
The singer opened up about being inspired by June Carter, who wrote the track when she and Johnny were “both married to other people.”
“She was like, shit, I’m about to fall in love and it’s going to blow up and ruin my life,” she recounts. “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,” she added. “But that goes for every great song. It’s a classic. Timeless.”
The Cash cover is Lykke Li’s first release since 2022’s “Possibility,” which arrived shortly after she released her 8-track album Eyeye. The album featured songs such as “5D,” “No Hotel,” and “Highway to Your Heart.”
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