“Ghost Riders in the Sky” was written in 1948 by American songwriter Stan Jones. The song is a cautionary tale warning a cowboy that if he doesn’t change his ways, he will one day join the damned cowboys doomed to try to “catch the Devil’s herd across these endless skies.” Jones said that an old cowboy friend told him that story when he was 12 years old. The song was a hit for many artists, including The Outlaws, Vaughn Monroe, Bing Crosby, Frankie Lane, Johnny Cash, Burl Ives, and Marty Robbins.