CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS SONG WAS BANNED BY US RADIO STATIONS?

 The Curmudgeon, in a recent post mentioned a couple of one-hit wonders that still resonate:

There are some others that I like - and, thinking of them this morning there's one song that I can't get out of my mind - 'A horse with no name' by America.

Now. I know that America had other songs and maybe hits but this song is the only one I can think they did.

Wikipedia informs me that:

"Originally called "Desert Song", "Horse" was written while the band was staying at the home of studio musician Arthur Brown, near Puddleton, Dorset. The first two demos were recorded there by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott, which were intended to capture the sensation of the hot, dry desert that had been depicted in a Salvador Dali painting, and in a picture by M.C. Escher which featured a horse. Writer Dewey Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base. 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"."

OK, probably a bit too much information but for the music geeks in this blogging community - two thirds of the community at last count here's some incomprehensible music blurb:

"Blah blah blah blah blah Robert blah blah blah blah Richard blah blah bla ....."

Sorry, I was still thinking of that Gary Larson cartoon that The Curmudgeon posted - the one that Robert either didn't read or didn't understand.

Here's the Wikipedia quote I was looking for.

"Composition.

"A Horse with No Name" was recorded in E minor with acoustic guitars, bass guitar, drum kit, and bongo drums. The only other chord is a D, fretted on the low E and G strings, second fret. A 12-string guitar plays an added F♯ (second fret, high E string) on the back beat of the Em. A noted feature of the song is the driving bass line with a hammer-hook in each chorus. A "waterfall"-type solo completes the arrangement. Produced by Ian Samwell on the day of final recording at Morgan Studios, when at first the group thought it was too corny and took some convincing to actually play it. Gerry Beckley has explained in 'Acoustic Guitar' magazine (March 2007) that the correct tuning for the guitar is D E D G B D, low to high. The chord pattern that repeats throughout the entire song is: 202002 (Em), then 020202 and 000202. The tuning is unique to this song; they did not use it on any other America song."

Got that.? Maybe you should just go back and listen to the song again.

Here's a relevant cartoon I like: