America’s first big hit, “A Horse with No Name,” is today’s classic song of the day. Released in January of 1972 in the U.S., and November 1971 in the UK, the group’s debut single went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. It went to #3 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart and #3 in England.
I’ve always been somewhat confounded by America’s often-convoluted lyrics, and “A Horse with No Name” includes its share. Particularly unnecessarily indecipherable is the bit that goes “Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.” I mean, that’s a double negative that decodes to there not being anyone there to not give you pain, so maybe there’s someone there to give you pain, or something like that. Impenetrable, I say.
“A Horse with No Name” was written by one-third of the group, Dewey Bunnell. Mr. Bunnell said he was remembering trips that his family made through the Arizona and New Mexico deserts when he was a boy and tried to reflect that in the lyrics. In his words, the song was “a metaphor for a vehicle to get away from life’s confusion into a quiet, peaceful place.” Of course it was.
In any case, “A Horse with No Name” was a smash and the perfect introduction to the group America, who were three sons of U.S. Air Force personnel who got together when their folks were stationed in London. It was the first of many soft rock acoustic guitar-driven hits, including “I Need You,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” “Sister Golden Hair,” and “Daisy Jane.” They pretty much quit recording in the mid-80s when their streak of successful singles ended, even though they’ve kept performing (in whole or in part) over the years. They’re still performing today with original members Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley; the other founding American, Dan Peek, passed away in 2011, age 60.
So here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, America performing “A Horse with No Name” live on the BBC on May 24, 1973. Nice harmonies.
