The song was covered by a band in the bar Robin Williams’ character hangs out at in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam and is also featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the fictional classic rock radio station K-DST – just to name a few places in pop culture where it was used.
I’ve read numerous times about the oddly-written lyrics of this song but you’d think the title itself would be some indication of what’s to come. Besides, does it really matter? I think not.
The lyrics may be trite but it only adds more to the effectiveness of this almost melancholy-type tune which also evocatively describes what this song is all about – being in the desert, which is often dry and nonsensical.
Even though the song was released in late 1971 in Europe, it was released in the USA in early 1972.
America‘s band members included Dewey Bunnell, (who wrote “A Horse with No Name“), Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley of which Dewey was the only British member. Gerry was born in Fort Worth, Texas and Dan was born in Panama City, Florida. The trio first met in London, where they began performing live and got their first big break from Jeff Dexter, a concert promoter who owned a popular nightclub and was so impressed by them that they became the opening act for some of the most successful artists ever (including Elton John and the Who).
Dan Peek passed away in 2011 at age 60.
The year is 1972…
The world population was around 3,842,873,611
- The first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).
- The British Army kills 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland which would become known as ‘Bloody Sunday’
- U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage.
- The Godfather is released in cinemas in the United States and
- Lester B. Pearson, the 14th Prime Minister of Canada who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis, passes away on December 27th at age 75.
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