A Horse With No Name Cover

This week’s “Remake of a Classic” is yet another tune from America. I chose this song for a couple of reasons. First, until I started thinking about covering this I never realized the entire song is just two chords…all the way through. To be able to write a song using just two chords (and make it as interesting as this tune is) is stroke of genius on the part of Dewey Bunnell. Especially considering that this is their biggest hit, ever. I was also inspired by a YouTube video of the band playing this on an episode of Soundstage. They bring out Christopher Cross (who is a fantastic guitarist) and he does a killer solo in the middle. While my solo isn’t anything like his, using this format gave me a chance to do some melodic lead work, which is one of my favorite things to do, musically. So this version is really a combination of the original version, the Soundstage version, and my own version.

Disclaimer: Yes, I made a glaring mistake with one of the lyrics….but I’m going to let you figure that out on your own. I didn’t realize it until the entire song was finished, and I sure as hell wasn’t prepared to go back and re-cut it for just one word. Besides, this is remake…so it’s bound to be different. Not gonna beat a dead horse over it….especially one without a friggin’ name.

Originally called “Desert Song”, the tune was released in the UK in 1971 and in the U.S. in early ’72. Bunnell has explained that “A Horse with No Name” was “a metaphor for a vehicle to get away from life’s confusion into a quiet, peaceful place”. It’s interesting to note that when it was released, the song was banned by several radio stations because some people thought it was about using heroin (apparently “horse” is a slang term for the drug….who knew? Not me).