A HORSE WITH NO NAME by America

Some would argue the lyrics to this song makes no sense. Does it really matter? No. However, we think the lyrics represents exactly what the song is about - the desert, which is dry and nonsensical.

"A Horse with No Name" is a song written by Dewey Bunnell, and originally recorded by the band America. It was the band's first and most successful single, released in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the US, and topping the charts in several countries. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Due to the song's resemblance to the work of Neil Young from the same time period, it is occasionally mistaken for being written and sung by Young.



Development
America's self-titled debut album was released initially in Europe with only moderate success and without the song "A Horse with No Name." Trying to find a song that would be popular in both the United States and Europe, "A Horse with No Name" was originally called "Desert Song" and was written while the band was staying at the home studio of Arthur Brown, in Puddletown, Dorset. The first two demos were recorded there, by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott, and was intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry desert that had been depicted at the studio from a Salvador Dalí painting, and the strange horse that had ridden out of an M.C. Escher picture. Writer Dewey Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base. "A Horse with No Name" was recorded at Trident Studios in Soho in London and released as the featured song on a three-track single in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy and the Netherlands in late 1971. On the release "A Horse with No Name" shared the A-side with "Everyone I Meet Is from California"; "Sandman" featured on the B-side. However, its early-1972 two-track US release did not include "Sandman", with "Everyone I Meet Is from California" appearing on the B-side.

Despite the song being banned by some U.S. radio stations (including one in Kansas City, Missouri) because of supposed drug references to heroin use, the song ascended to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the album quickly reached platinum status. The song charted earlier in the Netherlands (reaching number 11) and the UK (reaching number 3, the band's only Top 40 hit in the country) than it did in the United States. The interpretation of the song as a drug reference comes from the fact that the word "horse" is a common slang term for heroin.

The song's resemblance to some of Neil Young's work aroused some controversy. "I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil", Bunnell says. "I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think it's in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got some pretty bad backlash. I've always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me." By coincidence, it was "A Horse with No Name" that replaced Young's "Heart of Gold" at the #1 spot on the U.S. pop chart.

The song has also been ridiculed for its banal, oddly phrased lyrics, including "The heat was hot"; "There were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things"; and "'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain." Penn Jillette asked the band about their lyric, "there were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things" after a show in Atlantic City, where America opened for Penn & Teller. According to Jillette, their explanation for the lyric was that they were intoxicated with cannabis while writing it. In a 2012 interview, Beckley disputed Jillette's story, saying, "I don't think Dew was stoned."

America
Dewey Bunnell – lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Gerry Beckley – 12-string acoustic guitar, backing vocal
Dan Peek – bass, backing vocal

Session musicians
Ray Cooper - percussion
Kim Haworth - drums


The song's been featured all over in pop culture:

The song was one of many popular songs quoted and parodied on the album The Third Reich 'n Roll by The Residents.

In 1987, the Danish rock band D-A-D made a cover version released on the album D.A.D. Draws a Circle.

The song was covered by a band in the bar Robin Williams' character hangs out at in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam.

Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things was the title of the 1993 debut album by The Loud Family, and was quoted by songwriter Scott Miller in the first track, "He Do the Police in Different Voices" ("Maybe plants and birds and rocks and things can justify my day").

The song has been covered by Larrikin Love with somewhat Celtic-sounding instrumentation and style for Q magazine in 2006.

The song is also featured in the movies The Devil's Daughter, The Trip and Air America. It also appeared sung by members of a hippie group, 'The People' in Series 3 of HBO's Six Feet Under, in the episode: 'Tears, Bones and Desire' as the women make mops.

Also featured in Hideous Kinky, a British-French 1998's film, during a trip on the Moroccan desert.

In 2008, it was used in a Kohls TV commercial for Vera Wang.

It can also be heard in season 2 of Millennium, in the episode "Owls".

It was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the fictional classic rock radio station K-DST.

The song bookends the third season episode of Breaking Bad, "Caballo sin Nombre" (Spanish for "Horse with No Name"), where the song plays on a car radio as Walter White drives through the desert in the beginning and is sung by Walter in the shower at the end.

The song was also featured in the show Friends in Season 5 episode 22, The One With Joey's Big Break.

In the episode "Bill's Autobiography" on NewsRadio, Dave Foley's character was found singing the song on an audiotape on which he records his thoughts.

The song "Face" by American rock band, Aerosmith released in 2001 bears a strong resemblance towards "A Horse With No Name."

Michael Jackson's posthumous song "A Place with No Name" was released by TMZ as a 25-second snippet on July 16, 2009. The snippet closely resembles "A Horse with No Name." Jim Morey, both Jackson's and America's former band manager, has stated that "America was honored that Michael chose to do their song and they hope it becomes available for all Michael's fans to hear." The song has been remastered and released in its entirety along with the original Michael Jackson recording on Jackson's 2014 album, Xscape.

In 1999, the literary magazine Lamia Ink published a short play by American playwright Meron Langsner entitled The Name of the Horse, in which the problem of the horse's name is explored. The play is also included in a collection of parodies entitled The Sacred Cow Slaughterhouse published by Indie Theatre Now.

In The Simpsons episode called "Haw-Hawed Couple", Homer and Marge trick Bart and Lisa into thinking they're busy arguing so they can have their time alone. They accidentally throw a piece of clothing at the tape recorder and "The Horse With No Name" plays.

The manner in which American band Drive-by Truckers' song "The Fourth Night of My Drinking" (The Big To-Do, 2010) begins, nods to A Horse with No Name.

The song is also featured on the soundtrack of the 2013 motion picture American Hustle directed by David O. Russell.

The song is featured in a 2014 advert for the Toyota Auris Hybrid.

In computer game NetHack when the player character dismounts unnamed steed, the game issues message "You've been through the dungeon on horse with no name.", or, when hallucinating "It felt good to get out of the rain."

Source: "A Horse with No Name" available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0 License