[edit] Career
Henson's career started in his home state of Oklahoma, performing at clubs around Oklahoma City and Tulsa. His family was active in politics and raised buffalo on a ranch outside Oklahoma City. In the mid 1960s, Henson moved to Nashville and became a member of the vocal group The Kimberlys. After leaving the group, Henson started on his solo career, and in 1967, he signed with Monument Records, and he immediately scored in a big way with a song called "Skip a Rope". The song became a huge hit, spending six weeks at Number 1 on the country charts in 1968 and also making the Top 25 on the Pop charts.
[edit] After Skip a Rope and Later Career
After "Skip a Rope", Cargill continued to have Top 20 hits with such songs as "Row Row Row" (1968), "None Of My Business" (his only other Top 10) (1969), and "The Most Uncomplicated Goodbye I Ever Heard" (1970). Later, he had a television show, Country Hayride, and performed for many years in Reno and Las Vegas. Johnny Cash was godfather to his oldest son, Cash.
After leaving Monument Records, Henson moved to Mega Records in 1971, where he scored several minor hits. In 1973, he made a strong comeback to the charts when he signed with Atlantic Records and scored 2 Top 30 hits in 1974 with "Some Old California Memory" and a version of Mac Davis' "Stop And Smell The Roses". In 1980, he formed his own record label Copper Mountain Records and he scored his last Top 30 hit that year with "Silence On The Line". In the late 1980s he retired to Oklahoma City and died on March 24, 2007
Six White Horses
Henson Cargill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Open the shutters tell me what you see
Was that his knock that I heard on the door
Or is it six white horses coming up the road
Come here and touch me and say that it's alright
You know that to my eyes the days are as the nights
And read again the letter that tells me where he's gone
I taught him to fish and I taught him to be strong
And I taught him that killing any man was wrong
But tomorrow in battle I'd run to where he stood
If the help of a blind man would do any good
Last night I went to his room for a while
And touched all the things that he used as a child
And I rocked the cradle where he used to lay
And found his tin soldiers and threw them away
Come here and look through...
The song "Six White Horses" by Henson Cargill depicts the emotional upheaval of a father in the midst of the Vietnam War, desperately awaiting the return of his son. The song starts with the father asking his wife, Marie, to look through the window and tell him if it's his son knocking on the door, or if it's the dreaded six white horses coming up the road, symbolizing the arrival of a coffin carrying his dead son. The father is constantly haunted by the idea of his son not making it back home, and he seeks comfort from his wife, asking her to touch him and tell him that everything is alright. He then reads his son's letter, which tells him that he's gone to fight in the war, and expresses his longing to have his son home, regardless of whether or not he's fighting in the war.
The father reminisces about how he taught his son to fish and to live a life of strength and compassion, but could not come to terms with the fact that his son had to go fight a war. He expresses his willingness to do anything to bring his son home, including risking his own life to stand by his side. In the final lines of the song, he goes to his son's room, touched his childhood toys and the cradle where he used to sleep, and throws away his son's tin soldiers in frustration, as he is unable to reconcile his beliefs and love for his son with the idea of him fighting a war.
Line by Line Meaning
Come here and look through the window Marie
The singer is requesting Marie to see and tell him what is happening outside.
Open the shutters tell me what you see
The singer asks Marie to give him a clear visual of what she sees when she looks outside.
Was that his knock that I heard on the door
The singer is asking if the knock on the door is his son's.
Or is it six white horses coming up the road
The singer is uncertain of what the knock signifies and wonders if it's the arrival of the six white horses that signify the funeral.
Come here and touch me and say that it's alright
The singer seeks comfort from Marie and wants her to reassure him that everything is alright.
You know that to my eyes the days are as the nights
The singer feels hopeless and cannot differentiate between day and night due to his emotional state.
And read again the letter that tells me where he's gone
The singer requests Marie to read his son's letter again and remind him where he has gone to serve.
To hell with the fightin' I want my son home
The singer is tired of the war and wants his son to return home safely regardless of the war's consequences.
I taught him to fish and I taught him to be strong
The singer taught his son important life skills to help him become a better person.
And I taught him that killing any man was wrong
The singer instilled values in his son that believed that taking someone's life was not justified.
But tomorrow in battle I'd run to where he stood
Despite teaching him something different, the singer would put his life on the line for his son in battle.
If the help of a blind man would do any good
The singer is saying that he would even accept help from a blind man if that meant he can save his son or help him at all.
Last night I went to his room for a while
The singer reminisces about the previous night when he went to his son's room for a moment.
And touched all the things that he used as a child
The singer touches things in his son's room that his son used as a child, signifying the passage of time.
And I rocked the cradle where he used to lay
The singer rocked his son's cradle, longing for the time when his son was small and near.
And found his tin soldiers and threw them away
The singer disposes of his son's toys, recognizing that his son is no longer a child and must face the reality of the war.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bobby Bond
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jo-Anne Flavel
My all time Henson song, charted here in Australia with the A side Row, row, row. Went as high as 22.
dti466
Beautiful song! I am glad I found it.
Vicki Erickson
Almost 2020 and American boys are still dying overseas. Prayers for all our boys in Service.
StevieB1362
This is a great war protest song. Surprised it didn't more air time during the wars. But I would've buried the tin soldiers with the son instead of throwing them away.
Faye Wright
this is a beautiful song why so much negativity and hate do you have to spew such hate