there were plants and birds and rocks and things (13. 294)

Recorded in Doric mode and composed whilst the trio was staying with shock-rock artist Arthur Brown in Puddletown, Dorset, the track, originally called “Desert Song” was not included on the band’s eponymous debut album, achieving only modest success for its European release, “A Horse with No Name” began a three-week run on the US singles charts on this day in 1972, achieving similar commercial achievements in the UK and the Netherlands. America’s song writer Dewey Bunnell wrote the lyrics as a reminiscence of his time when his father was stationed at Vandenberg Airbase and his childhood travels through Arizona and New Mexico, the nameless conveyance being a metaphor for escaping life’s confusion and finding refuge in peace and quiet. Some stations refused airplay as they thought “horse” was a reference to heroine use, and whilst the band maintains there was no illicit allegory, the above catalogue was written under the influence, the band a little embarrassed in the recording studio over the awkwardness of “the heat was hot” and “cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain” but were convinced to stay true to their final draft.