Ghost Riders in the Sky is a country song composed in the cowboy style in 1948 by Stan Jones. Little did he know then what a hit his song was going to become, as there have been dozens of rewrites and versions over the decades. Ghost Riders in the Sky is a visionary song about a cowboy who sees cattle with red eyes being chased by ghost cowboys in the sky. He is warned to change his life style or risk to become one of them as a punishment for all his evil deeds. The song has strong echoes of European myths and it surely has a great artistic making.

Ghost Riders in the Sky wrote music history, it became part of the tradition and almost all the big names of country music  made an attempt at its interpretation. Moreover, it seems the that the famous band The Doors took their inspiration from Ghost Riders in the Sky song when they created their Riders on the Storm hit. From all the versions of the song, the one recorded by Vaughn Monroe in 1949 was the most popular enjoying the first place in the Billboard charts of the year, and holding this position for no less than twenty two weeks.

Ghost Riders in the Sky was performed in the movie Blues Brothers 2000, and then it was even taken as a source of inspiration by a German heavy metal band. Along the years, other rock bands made attempts at adapting the original country song to the more aggressive sounds and lyrics of rock music, and they enjoyed different levels of success. Beside rewrites, new versions and source of inspiration, Ghost Riders in the Sky also fueled all sorts of parodies from the Ghost Writers in Disguise to politically engaged lyrics that some listeners may not even be aware of.

An Irish parody version of Ghost Riders in the Sky deals with the destruction of British helicopters by IRA members, though no such acts of violence were ever committed. Despite these politically engaged messages that could be added to the Ghost Riders in the Sky, the majority of the performing artists don’t see any such interpretation in the lyrics, and sing the song without any reference to terrorist or Republican facts. Last but not least, Ghost Riders in the Sky also served as a starting point for the creation of some football club songs by supporters. Yet, with all the changes, it is clearly obvious that Ghost riders in the Sky marked history in the annals of country music.

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Filed under: Acoustic Guitar • Bluegrass Lyrics • Bluegrass Music • Bluegrass Musicians • Bluegrass Tablature • Dobro • Fiddle • Mandolin

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