A Horse With No Name – English Lyrics
Lyrics & Translation
[English]
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
I've 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 ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
La, la, la lala la la la, 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
I've 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
Because there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
...
And 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
I've 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 ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
La, la, la lala la la la, la, la
...
Key Vocabulary
| Vocabulary | Meanings |
|---|---|
|
journey /ˈdʒɜːrni/ B1 |
|
|
plants /plænts/ A2 |
|
|
desert /ˈdɛzərt/ A2 |
|
|
sky /skaɪ/ A1 |
|
|
heat /hiːt/ A2 |
|
|
ground /ɡraʊnd/ A2 |
|
|
river /ˈrɪvər/ A1 |
|
|
name /neɪm/ A1 |
|
|
love /lʌv/ A2 |
|
|
sea /siː/ A1 |
|
|
fly /flaɪ/ A2 |
|
|
sad /sæd/ A1 |
|
|
turn /tɜrn/ A2 |
|
|
made /meɪd/ A2 |
|
Key Grammar Structures
-
I was looking at all the life
➔ Past continuous tense
➔ Used to describe an action that was happening at a specific moment in the past.
-
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
➔ Simple past tense with adjectives
➔ Describes states or qualities in the past using adjectives.
-
There was a fly with a buzz
➔ Existential 'there was' + noun phrase
➔ Used to indicate the existence of something in the past.
-
The ocean is a desert with its life underground
➔ Present tense with 'to be' + noun + prepositional phrase
➔ States a fact about the present, linking 'the ocean' to its characteristics.
-
Because there ain't no one for to give you no pain
➔ Informal negative construction with 'ain't' and 'no' double negatives
➔ Uses double negatives ('no one' and 'no pain') for emphasis and colloquial style.
-
The story it told of a river that flowed
➔ Past simple tense with relative clause
➔ Uses simple past tense to narrate a story and a relative clause to specify which story.
-
And after nine days I let the horse run free
➔ Past simple tense with causative 'let' + bare infinitive
➔ Expresses allowing or permitting someone to do something in the past.
