‘A Horse with No Name’ Explained

‘200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt

Frank Mastropolo

Warner Records

America was originally a trio: guitarist-singer Dewey Bunnell, pianist-singer Gerry Beckley, and guitarist-singer Dan Peek. Peek, who died in 2011, left the band in 1977. Bunnell and Beckley have worked as a duo ever since.

America was part of the ’70s laid-back West Coast sound that included the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt. Written by Bunnell, “A Horse with No Name” was released in 1972 and became a №1 hit.

In the Wall Street Journal, Bunnell explained how the folk-rock tune, originally called “Desert Song,” was written while living in London:

One afternoon, when everyone was out, I was on my bed with my cheap Hawk guitar. I had just begun experimenting with alternate tunings. With the Hawk on my lap, I found a chord progression that I liked. The song’s melody started to come.

Playing on the bed, I was homesick for the US. I wanted to be part of the evolving folk rock scene there and I wished for warmer, drier weather. I also thought about my parents up in Yorkshire and felt alone.

As I strummed, I thought back to a drive my family had taken through the American Southwest. I began to visualize the sights and sounds of the desert. I realized I needed a good opening to set up the narrative: “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.”

As I wrote, I asked myself, “How did I wind up in the desert?” Ah, right, they ride horses out there. I asked myself if the horse should have a name. The horse was merely a vehicle to get me into the desert, so I made it “a horse with no name.”

The similarity of Dewey Bunnell’s voice to Neil Young’s was not lost on critics of the band. “The song’s resemblance to Neil Young’s work stirred some grumbling as well,” Bunnell recalled in the America box set booklet. “I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil.”

“I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think it’s in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of my voice. It did hurt a little because we got some pretty bad backlash. I’ve always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me.”

Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series, and Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.