Horse With No Name (Lyrics & Meanings)

Now I don't condone the use of drugs, especially heroin. To me the song has just always been very pretty and dreamy.

So here are some comments from http://www.inthe70s.com/generated/lyricsmeaning.shtml
about what other people have thought this song meant.

"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.

America's "A Horse With No Name"
Sounds like a good story,"as one of the members liked to visit the area around Vandenburg Air Force Base, California". The was a song about drugs. First part of the journey taking the drug (horse) be involved and move from reality(There was sand and hills and rings)to (Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain)alone. After prolonged exposure (Made me sad to think it was dead)a choice is made (let the horse run free)and back to the living (there was sand and hills and rings) but is it where we want to be (But the humans will give no love)and back to despair. The cycle of hate will repeat as heroin is want to do.


America's "A Horse With No Name"
That was a nice little concept about comparing the ocean to the desert although extremely naive. A Horse with no name has long been known as a pet name for Heroin. The singer is obviously crooning about the ups and downs of the drug.


America's "Horse With No Name"
This song is about drug use and the horse with no name represents heroin. Everything is a metaphor in this song. The journey through the desert represents the initial happiness and eventual horror that will "drown" you in an ocean of despair.


America's "Horse With No Name"
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 is it?


America's "Horse With No Name"
When this song was originally released, it was banned in several cities due to "drug references"; i.e., "horse" is a street name for heroin. Surprisingly (?), it has been noted that the song accurately describes going on, and coming down off of, a drug binge. I don't want to bore readers with details, but many college theses have been written about this song and it's accuracy in describing the psychological and physiological effects of heroin use.


America's "Horse With No Name"
Pleeeease. You guys don't realize what most if not all of America's songs were about. Drugs. Horse is slang for Heroin. Viola! Now I have never done heroin so it's rather difficult for me to connect these lyrics but the song is in fact about Heroin.


America's "Horse With No Name"
Actually this song is about using heroin. In the 70's this song was banned from many radio stations because "horse" is a street name for heroin. If you listen to the lyrics in the chorus they say "In the desert you can 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.


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 sound
Ive 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 aint 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 dead
You see Ive 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 aint 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 its life underground
And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no love
You see Ive 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 aint no one for to give you no pain
La, la ...