Wildfire lyrics by Michael Martin Murphey, 16 meanings. Wildfire explained, official 2025 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com

Michael Martin Murphey – Wildfire lyrics

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Michael Martin Murphey – Wildfire lyrics
She comes down from Yellow Mountain
On a dark, flat land she rides
On a pony she named Wildfire
With a whirlwind by her side
On a cold Nebraska night

Oh, they say she died one winter
When there came a killing frost
And the pony she named Wildfire
Busted down it's stall
In a blizzard she was lost

She ran calling Wildfire [x3]

By the dark of the moon I planted
But there came an early snow
There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now
For six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go

We'll be riding Wildfire [x3]

On Wildfire we're gonna ride
Gonna leave sodbustin' behind
Get these hard times right on out of our minds
Riding Wildfire
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She comes down from Yellow Mountain On a dark, flat land she rides On a pony she named Wildfire With a whirlwind by her side On a cold Nebraska night Oh, they say she died one winter When there came a killing frost And the pony she named Wildfire Busted down it's stall In a blizzard she was lost She ran calling Wildfire [x3] By the dark of the moon I planted But there came an early snow There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now For six nights in a row She's coming for me, I know And on Wildfire we're both gonna go We'll be riding Wildfire [x3] On Wildfire we're gonna ride Gonna leave sodbustin' behind Get these hard times right on out of our minds Riding Wildfire Explain Request ×



Lyrics taken from /lyrics/m/michael_martin_murphey/wildfire.html

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Songwriters: Larry Cansler, Martin Murphey Michael, Michael Martin Murphey
Wildfire lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Royalty Network, Sentric Music, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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Wildfire meanings Post my meaning

  • U
    + 56
    Unregistered 2015-04-15 18:09:18
    A beautiful, melancholy song that is often misinterpreted. There are actually many hints to the song's meaning. "Oh, they say she died one winter" shows that it is a legend. We don't know who "she is," and the narrator of the song (a farmer) doesn't either. "She" dies during a "killing frost," which implies that it was a cold time of the year - perhaps she died of pneumonia. The horse senses that she is gone, breaks from his stall, and dies in a blizzard. The dead girl (now a spirit) runs after her ghost horse, who is dead as well. The hoot owl "howling by my window" is an omen that death (the ghost girl and horse) are coming for him; however, this death is not a bad thing - it removes him from his hard life as a farmer (leaving "sodbustin'" and "hard times") and allows him the freedom and escape for which he longs.
    1 reply
  • U
    + 31
    Unregistered 2012-05-29 18:44:12
    Ii first heard this moving song with my girlfriend in 1975. I forgot about it for many years then I heard it again one day. It made me cry for those long lost years of youth, and for my one true love nancy. I still miss her and I still love her just like this loving touching song. Thank you michael for writing one of the best loved songs of my life. Long live widfire.
    1 reply
  • w
    + 26
    Wayne Eric Chew 2014-10-01 00:42:32
    I know exactly what it means right from Mr. Murphey's mouth. He really didn't have a real clue "exactly" what it all meant. He basically had a dream about it one night, something about a ghost horse and Native American legends that his grandfather used to tell him about when he was young, and he awoke thinking about his dream and making it into a song. He was living with his writing partner at the time, Larry Cansler, and they wrote the song. Mr. Murphey also has a Christian background and he believes that it also subconsciously came from the White Horse in the Book of Revelations. In a recent concert Michael also told the audience that Wildfire is symbolic of freedom. Ironically, he said he would never name one of his horses he owned, Wildfire. That changed when he purchased a palamino and the name Wildfire fit the pony perfectly. It is one of the finest modern country/pop composition lyrically and musically ever created.
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  • U
    + 26
    Unregistered 2012-03-04 14:06:20
    My wife and I had a horse ranch, breeding beautiful colored horses with superb confirmation and other extraordinary qualities. She died of cancer in 2008. I am wandering here waiting for her to come for me. While I am here I know there is work to do, I remember planning it with her before we both came in. Music blows through me like a wind from another time. We had agreed that I would sing from an early age. I started out doing that when I was about one year old. Then I forgot and got diverted by fear. Now, more than sixty years later, I am thinking maybe that magic I brought with me might possibly still be here. Otherwise, I will be seen as a silly old man, and it won't matter anyway. But I have learned to reverse some of what time does, and my voice seems to be returning. I am ageless, but can this body reflect that? I don't know. I miss her more than I can say. But I may need to sing my song here before I can go, before she can come for me. So I will let that happen, if it is meant to be so, and whatever happens will be ok. Kr.
    Add your reply
  • j
    + 21
    james0tucson 2009-02-24 03:07:51
    It's quite a literal ballad, but some people don't catch that it's told from the point of view of a man whose wife has died. He's lost his wife and a horse in the same storm, has now lost a corn crop, and is prepared for his own death.
    The lines "Gonna leave sodbustin' behind / Get these hard times ... out of our minds" has always struck me in a way that 400 pages of Grapes of Wrath could not.
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  • U
    + 15
    Unregistered 2012-02-26 20:43:08
    This song came to me in a dream 2 months ago. To me, it meant that one of three of my most loved ones was going to die before the spring of this year. I hadn't heard the song in years and woke up with the lines, "oh they say she died one winter, when there came a killin' frost" in my head. The lines haunted me almost daily for weeks. Then my dog became ill and passed, just a few days ago now. After she died, the song persisted in my mind, so I looked it up online, thinking there must be something in the lyrics I needed to read. Turns out it was the songwriter's name instead. My dog's name is murphy. As soon as I saw michael martin murphey, I knew.
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  • U
    + 10
    Unregistered 2015-06-01 14:42:32
    Do you think it may have anything to do with Zane Grey's classic western novel "Wildfire" which has a girl central to the plot of the story and who also owns a horse called "Wildfire?" It was one of my favorite books as a kid, but I had to lie to my friends and tell them my favorite was "Riders of the Purple Sage" because they felt "Wildfire" was written by Grey for his female fans.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 7
    Unregistered 2011-09-19 14:44:11
    Yes james0tucson, it makes me wonder if the lyrics date back a long way. It reads like a dirt farmers story.
    Though I didn't think it was necessarily literal about the farmer dying, but dreaming of escaping and being reunited with his loved one, on the animal she loved.
    For some reason I thought the girl might have been his daughter, I think because the horse is a pony. Either way it's a wonderful bitter-sweet song.
    Add your reply
  • a
    + 6
    anonmous 2015-04-24 04:01:07
    I agree that the lyrics are literal and very eloquently written. Another thought I've always had for this song is about the girl who chases Wildfire off into the blizzard. She is indeed a legend, and is haunting not only the author of the song, but others, the "They" in "They say she died one winter." "They" are the neighbors or people who knew or knew of her. "She comes down from Yellow Mountain" is how she haunts them, riding the Pony she died chasing.

    Her Legend resonated with the author, and now he knows what it means to take a risk and chase something like she did, to the death. It would be easy to write off the blind loyalty and love for the pony as dangerous youthful exuberance until he realized how much he loved his land and faces losing it. Now he's ready to give up his life after his final attempt at chasing his dream. It's always been a sad song but still a beautiful one.
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  • w
    + 6
    Wade Baker 2015-02-24 23:02:53
    The deceased girl and her horse Wildfire are a local legend. The farmer dreams of running off with the legend, escaping his mundane life. That's what the lyrics say. So as Mr. Murphy says, it's about freedom.
    Sweet song. I'll never get tired of it. We've all thought about escaping into a legend at some point in our lives.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 5
    Unregistered 2021-08-22 06:37:13
    I think James Tucson is wrong. It’s not quite a literal ballad. . Murphey himself doesn’t know what it means exactly and said he allows listeners to interpret meanings as one would a poem. But if you put everything together what he has said is the ghost horse is known as the most prominent Indian legend. The horse ( is in our spirit?) wouldn’t be caught and captured and jumped off a cliff. The horse comes back as a ghost and carries other spirits off. The farmer is recalling the legend. Can’t be his wife as some people think because the reference jumps from “they say she died one winter”” - time is vague - and then goes to “by the dark of the moon I planted.” The hoot owl is also from Indian legend warning people of their coming death. “Leave sodbusting behind, get the hard times right out of my mind. “ What was he planting ? Will he starve? Homesteading was no cakewalk. Maybe suicide. Will he freeze like the girl? Who knows. And he didn’t lose a corn crop. He lost a crop. .. But think whatever you want. .
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 3
    Unregistered 2020-11-01 07:26:49
    Heard this song on the radio and then went for a walk up a hill. When we got to the top, I asked my partner if he had a song on his mind (earworm). He said, 'Yes I have. Please tell me your song to drive this one out of my mind'. Snap! He said it's a stupid song because when there's a killing frost, there's no wind but then the song talks about there being a blizzard but the second event didn't follow on from the first necessarily straight away. I was attracted to the piano intro (and outro apparently though I haven't yet got to hear that) and the winsome hook - a bit like an owl's hoot?
    Add your reply
  • w
    + 3
    wild----fire 2020-02-10 14:24:59
    The guy is contemplating or has already made up what he going to do. Suicide:
    "There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now for six nights in a row." The hoot-owl is an omen that something is going to happen, usually bad. Suicide.
    "She's coming for me, I know. And on Wildfire we're both gonna go. We'll be riding Wildfire." She is already dead so the only way to make that happen is his death. Suicide.
    "Gonna leave sodbustin' behind. Get these hard times right on out of our minds. Riding Wildfire." Whose minds? Our minds could be the multiple thoughts (voices) running through his head that he wants to be rid of. Suicide.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 3
    Unregistered 2011-12-18 05:03:25
    This is so sad. All websites have this song wrong! First, the lyrics are wrong. And wildfire was a girl horse not a boy! (busted down "its" stall, not "his" stall).
    Wildfire is the one who died not the lady. And the later they get rescued by the legendary horse ghost and relieved of their troubles. Pls fix the lyrics, especially early on when you refer to wildfire as "he" was lost (in a blizzard "she" was lost!) clearly shes a female horse! The owl part is wrong too. :(
    1 reply
  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered 2015-06-01 05:15:14
    Escuche k esta cancionn cumple 40 anos y no me agota de escucharla. Evoca en mi un sentimiento intemporal me inspira a no permitir alargar los malos ratos y darme cuents de lo quee pierdo. La libettsd de amar verdaderamente. Gracias a los autoresp de la melodia que soe inmortalizaron en un dia como hoy.
    Add your reply
  • U
    0
    Unregistered 2022-09-20 18:00:46
    Wow !! All the comments are interwoven and hauntingly, serenely true in each person's personal experience with this beautiful song. I loved all the answers in their own way.
    I just felt the need to let you all know your interpretations are spot on. Keep up the good work. You all have a good night and sweet, blissful dreams.
    Add your reply
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    • U
      + 56
      Unregistered
      A beautiful, melancholy song that is often misinterpreted. There are actually many hints to the... Read more →
    • U
      + 31
      Unregistered
      Ii first heard this moving song with my girlfriend in 1975. I forgot about it for many years then I... Read more →
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    Wildfire- Michael Martin Murphey

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    [Intro][Verse][Pre-Chorus][Chorus][Hook][Bridge][Outro]