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Media

April 13, 2007

They Fell Into a Ring of Puns

The late Johnny Cash's former lakeside home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, burned down last Tuesday. The lyrics to Cash's Ring of Fire include the word "fire" 19 times and "burn" or "burning" 20 times, creating pun potential that many news sources found irresistible.

Most didn't get past the headline:

Johnny Cash's house 'a ring of fire'
In The News

A Real Ring of Fire
Vancouver Sun

Burning ring of fire destroys Johnny Cash's home
Daily Telegraph (Australia)

'Ring of fire' destroys Cash's home
USA Today

Others emphasized the burning:

Johnny Cash's home burns, burns, burns
Metro UK

Johnny Cash House Burns Burns Burns
Heckler Spray

One writer dug deeper into the song to find his preferred play on words, and then acknowledged its lameness.

The headline in The Daily Item: Mid-Daily Items: "The fire went wild." The article began, "Sad news out of Tennessee, that one can’t help but make a lame 'Ring of Fire' reference about, I confess. Johnny Cash’s house has burned down."

Here's what FMQB had to add: "The Tennessee home of late Country icons Johnny and June Carter Cash burned down on Tuesday as renovations were under way for its new owner, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees (we'll skip the 'Ring Of Fire' pun if you don't mind)."

Gelf doesn't mind.







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