Land of a Thousand Horses: The Soundtrack

By Thomas Dimopoulos

Every summer, this town turns into the land of a thousand horses. And since no one has yet stepped forward to issue its soundtrack, consider the following musical selections for your sonic accompanyment next time you rev up the CD burner.

Track 1: You gotta start with Carly Simon. For both its pleasant familiarity and its regionalized lyricism, “You’re So Vain” wins hands-down.
“Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga / And your horse naturally won.” Naturally.

Tracks 2 and 3: Ease in a pair of country rockers like the Cowboy Junkies’ “A Horse in the Country,” and Neil Young’s “Saddle Up the Palomino.”

Tracks 4 and 5: Delight metal-heads with Deep Purple’s “Painted Horse,” then bring it back down with U2’s “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.”

Tracks 6 through 8: Build these tracks around classic rockers: George Harrison’s “Dark Horse,” America’s “Horse With No Name,” and The Byrds’ “Chestnut Mare,” will do just fine.

Tracks 9 through 11: Go more modern with Kristen Hersh’s “Whole Heap of Little Horses,” Shakira’s “Poem to a Horse,” and De La Soul’s “Pony Ride.”

Track 12: Punch up Paul Simon’s digitally enhanced equestrian paradise of “One Trick Pony,” which, sings Rhymin' Simon, is about a pony who “Does one trick only / It’s the principal source of his revenue.”

Tracks Number(s) 13, 14, and 15 to consider: There are “Horses” by Rickie Lee Jones, “Horses” by Tori Amos, and “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones.

Track 16: "Mr. Fitz."
OK, so this track doesn't actually exist yet, but there is certainly a songwriter out there with the talent to pen an ode to champion horse trainer 'Sunny Jim' Fitzsimmons.
During his 70-year career, the Brooklyn-born trainer saddled nearly 2,500 winners, capturing three Kentucky Derbys, six Belmonts, 10 Saratoga Cups and a pair of triple crown winners in the process. He also spent a significant amount of time as a resident of the region on the family compound of Fitzsimmonsville,which sits near Saratoga Lake. AND, Jimmy Brelisn wrote a book about him, to boot. So, there ya go.

Bonus Track: Finally, no collection would be complete without the inclusion of Patti Smith’s “Horses,” a tune that smashes together the prose of Patti's BoHo-street rap, with the delicious,
joy-pounding rhythmical refrain that asks:
“Do you know how to pony? Ungh, Like Boney Maroney? Do you know how to twist?
It goes like this, It goes like this...” Yeah. Just like that.



Segments were published in The Saratogian