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.
