About The Song
Dewey Bunnell was just a 19-year-old British kid when he wrote America’s signature single, “A Horse with No Name.” Originally titled “Desert Song,” it was influenced by his childhood experiences in Southwestern America as the child of an American serviceman.
“The song was borne out of pure boredom,” Bunnell told American Songwriter in 2020. “I had just graduated high school in London, and my family moved up to Yorkshire, where my mother was from. I wanted to stay in London, so I moved into the home of a friend and his family. America had signed with Warner Brothers and had a record out. We had been recording and were in full gear, playing shows and recording. I wrote the song alone in this guy’s bedroom that I shared. I wrote it all in one fell swoop. I wrote it in a couple hours.”
When nothing on America’s debut album sounded strong enough to label execs to be a single, Bunnell pulled out “A Horse with No Name” at a last-minute recording session: “The first album was already in full swing. We hadn’t picked a single yet, but we were keying in on ‘I Need You’ to be the first single,” he remembered. “At that time, you wanted a single to lead the way with your album. ‘I Need You’ was certainly going to be that. It was a great song, almost a standard. It still is. It was covered by lots of people over the years. When Warner heard ‘Horse,’ they said, ‘Hey, we really like that. Let’s record that.'”
“A Horse with No Name” was released in England on November 12, 1971, and was an instant success, cruising to #3 on the UK charts.
“I remember the first time we played ‘Horse With No Name’ live, we were opening for Traffic,” Bunnell recalled. “It was still ‘Desert Song,’ then, and my mother heard it for the first time. She said, ‘I do like that horse thing.’ Other people, too: ‘That song about the horse was a good one.'”
The song’s overseas success was quickly replicated in America, where it was issued as a single on January 12, 1972. The tune shot straight to the top of the Hot 100, peaking at #1 for the week of March 25, 1972. It held the top spot for three straight weeks.
Video
Lyric
On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing i met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of soundI’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was deadYou see i’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …After nine days i let the horse run free
’cause the desert had turned to sea
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The ocean is a desert with it’s life underground
And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no loveYou see i’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …