Marta+Gu

= A Horse With No Name - America =



==


 * SUMMARY: **
 * Introduction
 * Song
 * Lyrics
 * Different interpretations of meaning
 * My personal opinion
 * Tasks

A Horse with No Name was the first and most successful single made by America. At the beginning this song was originally called the desert song. It was initially released on Europe without much success, however afterward it reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 3 in the UK and number 11 in the Netherlands. This song received many critics, firstly, because it is believed to be referring to drugs, and also because many are offended by its resemblance to Neil Young's work.
 * INTRODUCTION: **

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 * SONG: **

//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. //
 * LYRICS: **

// The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> And the sky with no clouds // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The heat was hot and the ground was dry // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> But the air was full of sound //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> I've been through the desert on a horse with no name // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> It felt good to be out of the rain // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> In the desert you can't remember your name // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> La, la ... //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> After two days in the desert sun // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> My skin began to turn red // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> After three days in the desert fun // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> I was looking at a river bed // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> And the story it told of a river that flowed // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Made me sad to think it was dead //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> It felt good to be out of the rain // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> In the desert you can't remember your name // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> La, la ... //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> After nine days I let the horse run free // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> 'Cause the desert had turned to sea // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> There were plants and birds and rocks and things // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> there was sand and hills and rings //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The ocean is a desert with it's life underground // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> And a perfect disguise above // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Under the cities lies a heart made of ground // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> But the humans will give no love //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> It felt good to be out of the rain // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> In the desert you can't remember your name // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> La, la ... //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a song that leaves a very wide range of meaning, so it's open to various interpretations, here you have the different interpretations people have thought about:
 * <span style="color: #7021d9; font-family: Georgia,serif;">DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS FOR SONG'S MEANING: **

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"A Horse With No Name" was a song meant to compare the similarities and the beauty of the ocean to the desert. It gives a sense of a peaceful state of mind and was written to describe the artist's passion for xenophobic landscapes (as one of the members liked to visit the area around Vandenburg Air Force Base, California). America Sang, "The ocean is a desert with its life underground and a perfect disguise above", to explain that the ocean was much like a desert in the sense that both are barren, exposed to the sun, and uninhibited by (drinkable) water. The artist explicitly describes what he had seen on his "journey", to convey the idea of wide open peacefulness, "A sky with no clouds." //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The journey through the desert by the narrator is really a physical journey of self-discovery. He discovers one main thing. He discovers that running away from your troubles does not make them go away and that they will come back.// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> //The whole song refers to a period of time where the narrator gets away from his life. This is represented by him walking through the desert. Rain or water is seen as a constant metaphor for troubles in his life. A journey through the desert where there is no rain and little water is the perfect escape.//

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">When the song was originally released, in the 70's, it was banned from several radio stations and several cities due to the 'drug references' ; i.e. horse is slang name for heroin. It has been noted that the song accurately describes the going on and coming down off of a drug binge. Many college essays have been written about this song and its accuracy in describing the psychological and physiological effects of heroin use. The singer is obviously crooning about the ups and downs of the drug. If you listen to the lyrics in the chorus they say "In the desert you can’t remember your name. 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain." Not only does heroin cause severe memory loss but it is also used as a pain killer. I think this is proof enough of what this song really means. //

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">C'mon guys, the song doesn't even begin to describe doing heroin. Sometimes it's just better if you take the song at face value. Listen to the music, and the lyrics and if that doesn't describe a very human reaction to austerity that both the desert and the ocean represent to the human psyche, then what does? //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">When I first heard this song and listened carefully to the lyrics, I thought it was talking about the journey of life. It often repeats the word journey, and I related that to life, as it is an often used metaphor in poetry.
 * MY PERSONAL OPINION ON THE SONG MEANING: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> To me, the singer is talking about the growth of a child. How at the beginning, everything is new and happy, and how he learns about everything surrounding him with innocent eyed, until he discovers certain things that turn his life around, making it more complicated and blurry, like the sea. Also, I think it refers to how this child has a hard time being accepted, like all children have, because grown-ups do not understand them. But the main idea this song gives me is how an innocent child discovers a dark truth, and how this changes his life completely, making him wish he was at beginning once more.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The song begins saying: //"On the first part of the journey"//, referring to a child, taking his very first steps. //"I was looking at all the life"//, the curiosity this kid has, investigating life all around him.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> It continues saying: //"There were plants and birds and rocks and things /There was sand and hills and rings"// The repetition of the word //"and"// in this part makes it sound very much like an infant speaking. Also, the way these words are grouped, give the idea of his first small step of growth. The first group of words are more basic and easy words, small, and innocent. Plants, birds, are happy nature imagery words. The second group, however has more confusing and strong words. Sand is blurry and curious, hills are big and overwhelming. This describes the child's growth, from learning basic and innocent words to blurry and overwhelming. It is clear, however that this step made is still small. The fact that it speaks of nature here, also makes a reference to growth on humanity, it begins speaking of nature, which is how we started.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The beginning of the second stanza says: //"The sky with no clouds"//. This phrase is very important. In children's drawings, skies are always drawn with white clouds in clear shapes contrasting the baby blue sky, however when you look at skies in reality, they hardly ever are as drawn. In fact normally skies are clear, wide empty spaces. This describes how he learns that not everything is what we are told it is, he also learns that often things are exagerated. This shows very important personal growth.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The second stanza ends with: //"The heat was hot and the ground was dry/But the air was full of sound."// These first two descriptions: heat=hot and ground=dry, are very oubvious and easy, however the air being full of sound, described in the next line, is an interpretation, and therefore more complex. This again shows important growth. However here his growth is shown at his level, he is learning that he has different opinions from the rest. Everybody is different.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">After this stanza, we go on to the chorus, that has two pairs of lines. The first pair states: //"I've been through the desert on a horse with no name/It felt good to be out of the rain"//. These first two lines share an opposition. In the first line, it explains how he goes through life without fully understanding it, and it says it in a tone of complaint. Yet the next line describes clarity. Now, he knows everything, however he wishes he didn't. It says in past tense: //"it felt good//", as in it doesn't anymore. The //"rain"// refers to the complications of life. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The second pair of lines say: //"In the desert you can't remember your name/'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain"//. Here, once more it explains how he doesn't fully understand things, and how grown ups described as "no one" fail to explain.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">After the chorus is sang for the first time, there is a very important stanza, that explains the things the child discovers, that change his life. It starts with: //"After two days in the desert sun/My skin began to turn red"//. This is referring to the very first time he experiences pain. Pain is one of the truths that start to leak darkness in his life. The stanza continues with: //"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 dead."// This is the most important part of the entire song, this is what gives the twist to the story, the journey. Here he learns a truth that will turn his life upside down. He learns about death. Rivers are often used in poetry to explain life and death, so it makes absolute sense that it is used here. Like a child, he is sad to learn about death. However, despite its great importance, no strong adjectives or words of any kind are used here. So why is it that important? The reason for its importance, is that it changes everything, from here on everything will be referring to this very line. After this it repeats the chorus, this is done to emphasize the importance of this stanza, and to separate it, so you know that there is a beginning (the first two stanzas), a turn of events (this stanza), and the consequences (The following stanzas).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The chorus is repeated once more, and the the next stanza begins, with: //"After nine days I let the horse run free/'Cause the desert had turned to sea"//. This explains how after learning about death, he has no grasp in life //(I let the horse tun free//) He has no control on the horse no more. The sea isn't stable like the desert, and it is more confusing, so here it describes how after learning of death, his stable journey becomes moving and confusing (//the desert had turned to sea//). The stanza ends with two lines that we have heard before: //"There were plants and birds and rocks and things/There was sand and hills and rings//". The repetition of this is used to show how he misses ignorance, he misses being a child, where everything is much more simple and easy and happy.This shows his sad feeling of sorrow. He is longing to being ignorant of the new truths he now knows. He wishes he was a child once more. He wishes he knew nothing of death.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The final stanza before the final repetition of the chorus starts with:"//The ocean is a desert with it's life underground/And a perfect disguise above//". It explains how he learns about lies, another truth he would rather not know, that changes his life entirely. His new life (after the knowledge of death) is described as the ocean, in contrast of his old life: the desert. This new life, he says, is the truth, covered by the image of the desert. He says that //"The ocean is a desert with it's life underground//", The truth: death and lies, are underground that is where the rue life of the ocean is, but it is all covered up to appear a stable desert, which is the life he used to live. He used to live a lie. Children live lies; ignorant of the truth, and ignorant of the existence of a lie, and living this lie, they are happy. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> //"Under the cities lies a heart made of ground/But the humans will give no love"//. Here he gives a reflection on humanity, and you can see the connection to the first stanza. In the first stanza it talks of nature, and in the final stanza (without counting choruses) it talks of buildings. You could say that this entire song is talking about humanity, and its growth. Our evolution. Looking at the journey of the child to become a man, he has that his simple desert life has now turned to complicated mechanic cities. However he says, all these cities started with just ground (like him*), and that deep down everybody wishes we were just ground, that things were more simple, but we learn these truths, and because of that we no longer share love.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For me, this poem is very important, and it gives a very accurate profile on humanity, we all go through this journey in the same way, and deep down we all wish we were still riding a horse with no name, no complications, no understanding, simply enjoying.

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">*This paragraph, I realize may be hard to understand. What I mean by comparing the cities to him is that these cities that we (humanity) have built, originally were just ground, just like him; he originally lived in the desert ground, then went on to the seas and he is now with buildings. This means that everything is clear now (since he no longer lives in moving seas) however this clarity is obscure and depressing. By saying that the heart of the cities are made of ground, what is meant is to say that, just like the cities wish they were once more just ground, we wish we were once more just children. That is where our heart truly lies. //


 * <span style="color: #7021d9; font-family: Georgia,serif;">TASK & BULLET POINTS: **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Fill in the missing words: **

//On the first part of the ………….// //I was looking at all the life// //There were……….. and birds and rocks and things// //There was ……. and hills and rings.//

//The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz// //And the …… ……… …… ………….// //The heat was …… and the ground was …..// //But the air was full of …………..//

//I've been through the desert on a horse with no ……….// //It felt good to be out of the ……// //In the desert you can’t remember your ………..// //'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no ……..// //La, la ...//

//After two days in the desert sun// //My skin began to turn ……// //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 ………….//

//You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no ……………// //It felt good to be out of the …………// //In the desert you can remember your ……………..// //'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no ………..// //La, la ...//

//After nine days I let the horse run ……..// //'Cause the ………… had turned to ……….// //There were plants and birds and rocks and things// //there was sand and hills and rings//

//The ocean is a ………….. with its life underground// //And a perfect disguise above// //Under the ……….. lies a heart made of ground// //But the humans will give no love//

//You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no ………..// //It felt good to be out of the …………..// //In the desert you can remember your ……………// //'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no ……………// //La, la ...//
 * Bullet points for my presentation:**

// · ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">INTRODUCTION // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Many critics: // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Drug references // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Neil’s resemblance // // · ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">SONG // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Handout (task) // // · ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">LYRICS // // · ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">DIFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF MEANING // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Comparison sea vs. desert // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Journey of self-discovery // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Drugs (horse=heroin) // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Reaction to austerity // // · ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">PERSONAL OPINION // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Journey from boy to man // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">1st and 2nd stanza: // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Child with small growths // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Humanity: Nature // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">3rd : // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Everything changes // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Discovers truths: (DEATH) // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">4th and 5th stanza: // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Consequences sadness, confusion (sea) // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Humanity: Buildings // // o ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">CHORUS: // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Between 1st, 2nd and 3rd. // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Between 3rd and 4th  // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">After 5th // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Reason for this organization (emphasize 3rd stanza) // // § ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Meaning: // // · ////<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-style: normal;">Living without understanding //