White Horse (Laid Back song)


"White Horse" is a 1983 song written by Tim Stahl and John Guldberg of the Danish duo Laid Back. The song was released as the B-side of their single "Sunshine Reggae" which became a major hit in several European countries. In the US, the A-side was mainly ignored and it was the B-side that became most successful. It was released as a single and went on to spend three weeks at number one on the Dance Charts. The single also made the top five on the R&B singles chart and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although being played in European clubs, it failed to chart there when re-released as an A-side.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics, which refer to riding "the white horse" and "the white pony", have been interpreted as references to heroin and/or cocaine use. Rolling Stone described the song as "erhaps the most unconvincing anti-drug song of all time". An article in Miami New Times listed "White Horse" as one of the "top 10 cocaine songs" and stated, "It's often debated whether the white horse in this song refers to cocaine or heroin. Either way, Laid Back's 1982 single starts out persuading you not to ride the white horse but rather to ride the white pony, also a slang term for coke." The book Totally Awesome 80s described "White Horse" as "a song with very few words that still managed to be about the joys of cocaine".
Co-writer Tim Stahl referred to an alternative interpretation of the song when interviewed for the book Flashbacks to Happiness: Eighties Music Revisited, saying, "Another cute anecdote about the song was when we got a letter from a little girl in Jutland in 1983, thanking us for making a song for her white pony!"

Charts

Samples and cover versions