Lykke Li Premieres Cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ for Netflix’s ‘Damsel’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comSteven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer When Lykke Li went into the studio to record her haunting, ethereal version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” she didn’t have a fixed agenda in place. “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 says of the cover, premiering exclusively on 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 Swedish singer-songwriter laid down her “Ring of Fire” cover for the upcoming Netflix film “Damsel,” releasing to the streamer on March 8 and featuring the song during the end credits.
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, “Damsel” follows an impoverished young woman named Ellie (played by Millie Bobby Brown) who marries into a royal family—the perfect fairytale ending—only to realize it was in fact a sinister new beginning, where she’s being offered as a blood sacrifice to an ancient dragon.
Li was initially approached to cover “Ring of Fire” after the birth of her second child in August last year. “I was in the baby phase, I wasn’t really doing anything,” she recalls.
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