<P> "A Horse with No Name" was recorded in the E Dorian mode 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 DEDGBD, 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 . </P> <P> Despite the song being banned by some U.S. radio stations (most notably WHB in Kansas City) because of supposed drug references to heroin use, the song ascended to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the album quickly reached platinum status . The song charted earlier in Ireland (reaching number 4), the Netherlands (reaching number 11) and the UK (reaching number 3, the band's only Top 40 hit in the country) than it did in the United States . The interpretation of the song as a drug reference comes from the fact that the word "horse" is a common slang term for heroin . </P> <P> The song's resemblance to some of Neil Young's work aroused some controversy . "I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil", Bunnell says . "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 his 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 ." By coincidence, it was "A Horse with No Name" that replaced Young's "Heart of Gold" at the number 1 spot on the U.S. pop chart . </P> <P> The song has received criticism for its banal, oddly phrased lyrics, including "The heat was hot"; "There were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things"; and "' Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain ." Penn Jillette asked the band about their lyrics, "there were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things" after a show in Atlantic City, where America opened for Penn & Teller . According to Jillette, their explanation for the lyrics was that they were intoxicated with cannabis while writing it . In a 2012 interview, Beckley disputed Jillette's story, saying, "I don't think Dew was stoned ." </P>

Song lyrics horse with no name by america