# Why did she run calling "Wildfire"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502 "2005-03-01T22:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/1 "2005-03-01T22:42:15Z")
Says my ten year old son, as we are driving home from school this afternoon. I have a couple of CDs in the changer with music from my childhood, and “Wildfire” just happened to be playing. My ten year old has an uncanny ability to pay attention to the words of songs. I say uncanny because paying attention to things that don’t matter is my son’s X-men style superpower. “So, why was she running and calling “Wildfire”? The horse just broke the door of his stall.” “Yes, he broke down the stall door, but listen…see! ‘In a blizzard he was lost’” “Oh. So she went looking for her horse.” “Yes” “Then what happened?” “She and the horse die in the blizzard.” “Well that’s stupid.” :: long pause :: “And you liked this depressing music when you were little?” I guess there are worse songs I could have had to explain. I could have liked Starland Vocal Band. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/2 "2005-03-01T23:17:04Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > I guess there are worse songs I could have had to explain. I could have liked Starland Vocal Band. Best closing to a post all day. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/3 "2005-03-01T23:18:42Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > “Yes, he broke down the stall door, but listen…see! ‘In a blizzard he was lost’” That makes a _lot_ more sense than “In a blister he was tossed”… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/4 "2005-03-01T23:37:31Z")
Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. Me, I thought both the girl and the horse did their repective gene pools a favor by getting killed. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/5 "2005-03-01T23:39:03Z")
Well … when my son was little, he had heard that old rock ballad about “feel like makin’ love !!” But he sang it: “You like Adrie - uhhh!” Of course, I couldn’t correct him. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/6 "2005-03-01T23:46:27Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Me, I thought both the girl and the horse did their repective gene pools a favor by getting killed. Something I’ve always wondered (but never cared to think about until now) is what stupid antic the guy in song has pulled that’s going to result in _his_ death. “She’s coming for me…” Why? You planted your garden in the dark? You’re deathly allergic to owls? What? ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/7 "2005-03-02T00:03:00Z")
“By the dark of the moon I planted” sounds like an old folk superstition about people’s crops not growing if they are planted in the wrong phase of the moon. So maybe the guy starves to death when his crops fail. And owls hooting outside windows were once said to foretell death. At least, that’s the only sense I can make of it. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/8 "2005-03-02T00:11:33Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > “By the dark of the moon I planted” sounds like an old folk superstition about people’s crops not growing if they are planted in the wrong phase of the moon. So maybe the guy starves to death when his crops fail. And owls hooting outside windows were once said to foretell death. > > At least, that’s the only sense I can make of it. Well, see there! That makes sense (sort of). I wasn’t even thinking superstition-wise. I had imagined he’d been out too late and caught a chill after dark, got the ague, and had to lie in bed slowly declining in health over many days as he listened to that damn owl hooting, until he finally died. I think I may have read too much into it. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/9 "2005-03-02T00:24:59Z")
The “storm” she was in was quite deadly. To vegetables. Here is a sample Oh, they say she died one winter When there came a killing frost And the pony she named Wildfire Busted down its stall. I read this in Dave Barry, and am now stealing it. It is from THE WORST SONGS EVER RECORDED by Dave Barry Bad Song Survey, PART ONE "Many readers are still very hostile toward the song “Wildfire,” in which singer Michael Murphy wails for what seems like 97 minutes about a lost pony. (As one voter put it: “Break a leg, Wildfire.”) Voter Steele Hinton particularly criticized the verse wherein there came a killing frost, which causes Wildfire to get lost. As Hinton points out: “… ‘killing’ in ‘killing frost’ refers to your flowers and your garden vegetables, and when one is forecast you should cover your tomatoes… Nobody ever got lost in a killing frost who wouldn’t get lost in July as well.” ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/10 "2005-03-02T02:28:10Z")
You left out the best part, **Scott\_plaid** –the line about calling for her lost tomato, Wildfire. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/11 "2005-03-02T02:47:44Z")
“By the dark of the moon I planted, but there came an early snow.” I think that covers it. His crop failed because of the unseasonable weather and he’s starving to death. So she’s coming for him now and the poor pony will have to carry them both. But I guess ghost ponies might be up to that. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/12 "2005-03-02T02:49:30Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > That makes a _lot_ more sense than “In a blister he was tossed”… Maybe so, but it’s not as funny. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/13 "2005-03-02T03:41:10Z")
That song gave me the creeps when I was a kid. There’s be a hoot owl outside my window now for six nights in a row. She’s coming for me I know. Freaked me out man. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/14 "2005-03-02T05:24:52Z")
Ain’t anybody going to post a [link to the lyrics](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/byrd-tracy/wildfire-5143.html)? _There’s been a hoot owl howling by my window now For six nights in a row_ In the past, owls were seen as a sorcerer’s apprentices, messengers of death, demons, ill omens, or just plain bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/15 "2005-03-02T13:27:20Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > “By the dark of the moon I planted, > but there came an early snow.” > > I think that covers it. His crop failed because of the unseasonable weather and he’s starving to death. So she’s coming for him now and the poor pony will have to carry them both. But I guess ghost ponies might be up to that. “Planting seeds” = symbol for having sex. “Dark of the moon” = old folktale about seeds not germinating when planted in the dark of the moon = a doomed love affair “early snow” = girlfriend died too young Either that, or he was boffing the pony, I don’t know… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/16 "2005-03-02T13:49:33Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > I guess there are worse songs I could have had to explain. I could have liked Starland Vocal Band. It is my firm belief that there are some songs out there that everyone likes, but no one will admit to liking, and “Afternoon Delight” tops the list. Go ahead, deny that you love it. I, for one, do not believe you! “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is another. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/17 "2005-03-02T13:52:40Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > It is my firm belief that there are some songs out there that everyone likes, but no one will admit to liking, and “Afternoon Delight” tops the list. Go ahead, deny that you love it. I, for one, do not believe you! > > “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is another. Sorry, I’ve never really cared for Afternoon Delight, even when it was popular (although I think one of the members of the Starland Vocal Band was kinda hot). The “Weemaway” song, however, rocks. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/18 "2005-03-02T17:23:12Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > It is my firm belief that there are some songs out there that everyone likes, but no one will admit to liking, and “Afternoon Delight” tops the list. Go ahead, deny that you love it. I, for one, do not believe you! > > “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is another. Hey, I like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – and I ain’t afraid to admit it! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/19 "2005-03-02T17:30:59Z")
Furthermore, all people secretly enjoy “The Hustle”. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/20 "2005-03-02T17:32:44Z")
Afternoon Delight makes me wanna leave work in the middle of the day and hump my hubby. Wildfire makes me wanna kill animals. The Lion Sleeps Tonight makes me wanna feed my hubby to the animals. To save the kids who are sleeping. You’re safe tonight kids, but tomorrow that lion is gonna be mighty hungry! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502.md?page=2)