# Songs That Mention Both a Horse and a Boat

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-both-a-horse-and-a-boat/529538>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 18, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-both-a-horse-and-a-boat/529538 "2010-02-18T21:47:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-both-a-horse-and-a-boat/529538/21 "2010-02-19T20:34:43Z")

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> [@Helena](#):
>
> Loreena McKennit’s version of “The Highwayman”? It does have that “the moon was a ghostly galleon” line. Not an actual boat as such.

For that matter, “Highwayman” by the Highwaymen (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson) implies one, and states the other.

In the first verse:

I was a highwayman  
Along the coach roads I did ride  
With sword and pistol by my side

In the second verse:

I was a sailor  
I was born upon the tide  
And with the sea I did abide  
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-both-a-horse-and-a-boat/529538/22 "2010-02-19T20:41:58Z")

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“A Horse with No Name” by America mentions a horse (duh), the sea and the ocean, but no boat, alas.

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**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-both-a-horse-and-a-boat/529538/23 "2010-02-19T21:22:06Z")

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Richard Thompson [Hand of Kindness.](http://www.richardthompson-music.com/song_o_matic.asp?id=107)

> [@](#):
>
> Well I scuppered the ship and I bent the rail  
> Well, I cut the brakes and I ripped the sail  
> And they called me a Jonah, it’s a sin I survived  
> Well, you stretched out your hand, I stretched out mine
> 
> Maybe just the handof kindness  
> Well, maybe just the hand of kindness  
> O maybe just a hand, stranger will you reach me in time  
> In time
> 
> O shoot that old horse and break in the new  
> O the hung are many and the living are few  
> I see your intention, here’s my neck on the line  
> You stretch out your hand I stretched out mine

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-both-a-horse-and-a-boat/529538/24 "2010-02-19T21:35:12Z")

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What about “Walking into Clarksdale” by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant:  
Now I see twelve white\*\* horses\*\* walking in a line  
Moving east across the metal  
Bridge on highway 49  
And standing in the shadows  
Of a burnt out motel  
The king of Commerce Mississippi waited  
With his hound from hell, oh

A shiny noon **riverboat** taking  
Income from the poor  
It’s floating by the levee in  
an artificial pool  
There’s a six mile tailback  
Back on junction 304  
A stranger at the crossroads  
Believe I’ve seen his face before

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