Ghost Riders in the Sky is a country song composed in the cowboy style in 1948 by Stan Jones. Little did he know what a hit his song was going to become, as there dozens of rewrites and versions have appeared along the years. Ghost Riders in the Sky remains the song of a cowboy who sees cattle with red eyes chased by ghost cowboys in the sky. In the vision the cowboy 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 has become a classic by now, 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 material, the one recorded by Vaughn Monroe in 1949 was the best climbing to 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 refers to the destruction of British helicopters by IRA members, though no such violence has ever occurred. Despite these politically engaged messages that could be added to the “Ghost Riders in the Sky”, most of the performing artists are not aware of them, 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, beyond all the remaking, it is clearly obvious that Ghost riders in the Sky made history in the annals of country music.

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