What Are Words For? (7/15)

[Railyn]

Ok - I saw 2 requests for this song, and I do take requests so here it is.

I tried to research this song, and the singer/songwriter has a great website, but it wasn't a whole lot of help, but did enlighten me a little.

WILDFIRE
By: Michael Martin Murphy
Album: Blue Sky Night Thunder
Author: M. Murphy

She Comes down from yellow mountain
On a dark, flat land she rides
On a pony she named Wildfire
When the world went by her side
On a cold Nebraska night

Oh they say she died one winter
When there came a killing frost
And the pony she named Wildfire
Busted down his stall
In a blizzard he was lost
She ran calling WILDFIRE!
she ran calling WILDFIRE! she ran calling WILDFIRE!

By the dark of the moon I planted
But there came an early snow
Theres been a hoot owl howling by my window now
For six nights in a row
Shes coming for me I know
And on WildFire were both gonna go
We'll be riding WILDFIRE!
We'll be riding WILDFIRE! We'll be riding WILDFIRE!

On WILDFIRE (were gonna ride)
(were gonna leave some behind)WILDFIRE!
(get these hard times right on outta our minds..riding wildfire) WILDFIRE!

**Note: the line "when the world went by her side" is listed as "with a whirlwind by her side" on other sites - not sure which is correct, although whirlwind sounds more plausible**

My Opinion In A Nutshell: Mr. Murphy is an avid horse rider (and has a horse named Wildfire) and prides himself on keeping the cowboy legend alive. There's a few schools of thought here in my opinion: 1) Cowboys love legends and campfire stories - this could simply be that 2) It could be an analogy for death and mortality 3) I could be way off - I found no info directly relating to this song on his website, but someone made a note in the guestbook that he mentioned once about making a movie based on the song - maybe that will explain things a little better

Favorite Line: None in particular - it's kind of hard to pull one or two lines out of this one.

Again, I will say that he has a very nice website, and maybe I missed something:

www.michaelmartinmurphy.com

[m c dornan]

Quite a dark song. It's about how love transcends death, the love of the girl and the horse for each other. It goes looking for her, and she for it. But the narrator and the girl have a love,too, and he's about to join her in death. (the hootowl is a folklore omen of impending death)

[Dawn]

I've always loved this song, but its full meaning has puzzled me for years. I always thought it was about death, because of the owl hooting, as m c mentioned. His interpretation is very good, and fits the lyrics really well.

Earlier today, I ran a Google search on some of the lyrics, and found a website that gives another good interpretation. According to the site owner, this was Michael Martin Murphey's explanation:

"There have long been legends about ghost horses, especially in the Western folk tradition. I had heard these all my life, but one night in Los Angeles I woke from a dream with the name Wildfire and all these images in my head. The song came from that. A girl and her pony were both lost one winter, but they reappear occasionally to help westerners. It's all about the dream of freedom and escape."

[Railyn]

m said:

Quite a dark song. It's about how love transcends death, the love of the girl and the horse for each other. It goes looking for her, and she for it. But the narrator and the girl have a love,too, and he's about to join her in death. (the hootowl is a folklore omen of impending death)

I've often thought that. Especially when he says that she's coming for him and they'll ride off on the horse together.

[Railyn]

Dawn said:

I've always loved this song, but its full meaning has puzzled me for years. I always thought it was about death, because of the owl hooting, as m c mentioned. His interpretation is very good, and fits the lyrics really well.

Earlier today, I ran a Google search on some of the lyrics, and found a website that gives another good interpretation. According to the site owner, this was Michael Martin Murphey's explanation:

"There have long been legends about ghost horses, especially in the Western folk tradition. I had heard these all my life, but one night in Los Angeles I woke from a dream with the name Wildfire and all these images in my head. The song came from that. A girl and her pony were both lost one winter, but they reappear occasionally to help westerners. It's all about the dream of freedom and escape."

I think he purposely wants to leave you guessing, but that's another plausible explanation - perhaps as he speaks of working outside and the snow comes early that he's stranded as she was, and she'll come to help so he doesn't suffer the same fate.

[H2IZCOOL]

Ooops... I missed this yesterday (and I'm one of the people who requested it. )

I'd always heard that it was a song of approaching death. The owl, as mc said, is supposedly one common symbol of this. Death is also often pictured riding a pale-colored horse. They don't mention the horse's color, but a white horse would be more likely to be lost in a blizzard. (I may be stretching here a bit)

Didn't know that Murphy is a horse lover. That makes his use of a horse more understandable.

Whatever, its a memorable song.

[Railyn]

H2IZCOOL said:

Ooops... I missed this yesterday (and I'm one of the people who requested it. )

I'd always heard that it was a song of approaching death. The owl, as mc said, is supposedly one common symbol of this. Death is also often pictured riding a pale-colored horse. They don't mention the horse's color, but a white horse would be more likely to be lost in a blizzard. (I may be stretching here a bit)

I think we were all on the same page, but just when you think you have it down, you look at it again and see something else....

Didn't know that Murphy is a horse lover. That makes his use of a horse more understandable.

Whatever, its a memorable song.

I think we were all on the same page, but just when you think you have it down, you look at it again and see something else....