The Lone Writer 8 months agoAugust 17, 2022

Western Song: Wildfire

Wildfire is a somber story song that Michael Martin Murphey originally recorded and became his highest-charting pop hit in the United States. The members of The Western Writers of America included the song in the Top 100 Western Songs of all time.

Michael Murphey and Larry Cansler are the writers of the song. It was released in February 1975 and appeared as the lead single in Murphey’s gold plus album Blue Sky – Night Thunder. The song hit No. 2 in Cash Box and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also replaced Love Will Keep Us Together in the top position of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Because the single continued to sell, it received platinum certification from the RIAA implying sales of over two million US copies.

The song’s lyrics are about a homesteader who tells the story of a Nebraska woman who is said to have died in the search for her escaped pony, “Wildfire”, during a blizzard. The homesteader finds himself in the same situation, doomed to an early winter storm. A hoot owl has been sitting outside his window for six days, and the homesteader believes the owl is a sign that the woman’s ghost is calling for him. He hopes to join her and spend eternity riding the Wildfire with her, leaving behind the hardships of life on earth.

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Popular Recordings of Wildfire

Like most western songs, other artists covered and recorded this song. Some of the most notable covers are recorded by the following artists:

Tracy Byrd
Doris Day
Mary Beth Cross
Gil Caro
Paul Myers
Jonathan Coulton
Michael Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey featuring Amy Grant

Chart Performance

The song has been included in the top hits of the following charts:

Australia (Kent Music Report)
Canada Top Singles
Canada Adult Contemporary Tracks
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)
U.S. Billboard Hot 100
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening
U.S. Cash Box Top 100

Listen (Michael Martin Murphey Version)

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 Its Stall
In A Blizzard He Was Lost

She Ran Calling Wildfire X 3

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 X 3

On Wildfire We're Gonna Ride
Gonna Leave Sodbustin' Behind
Get These Hard Times Right On Out Of Our Minds
Riding Wildfire

The Lone Writer

The Lone Writer is an American frontier and Old West journalist and historian. He loves to read, write and review all things western, whether historical or fiction.