Chestnut Mare
The Byrds Lyrics

Always alone
The horse is always by herself and not with any other horses.

Never with a herd
The horse is not part of a group of horses.

Prettiest mare I've ever seen
The singer thinks the horse is the most beautiful female horse he has ever seen.

You'll have to take my word
The artist wants someone else to believe his opinion of the horse's beauty without seeing the horse for themselves.

I'm going to catch that horse if I can
The artist is determined to capture the horse.

And when I do I'll give her my brand
The singer will mark the horse with his brand to show that she is now his.

Well I was up on Stony Ridge
The singer was in a specific location called Stony Ridge.

After this chestnut mare, been chasing her for weeks
The artist has been pursuing the chestnut mare for several weeks now.

Oh I'd catch a glimpse of her every once in a while
The artist would occasionally see the horse but never catch her.

Taking her meal, bathing, fine lady
The horse was doing normal horse activities like eating and bathing.

This one day I happen to be real close to her
One day, the singer was very close to the horse.

And I saw her standing over there
The artist noticed the horse standing in a particular spot.

So I snuck up on her nice and easy
The singer approached the horse slowly and quietly so as not to scare her away.

Got my rope out
The singer took out his rope to catch the horse.

And I flung it in the air!
The singer threw his rope toward the horse to try to catch her.

And we'll be friends for life
The artist hopes to be friends with the horse forever.

She'll be just like a wife
The artist will treat the horse like a spouse/partner.

And she takes off, running up onto the ridge
The horse ran away and went up a hill.

Higher than I've ever been before
The singer and the horse went up higher than the singer had ever been previously.

It's a sidewinder, all coiled and ready to strike
The horse saw a snake and was frightened by it.

She doesn't know what to do for a second
The horse was unsure how to react to the snake.

But then, she jumps off the edge, me holding on
The horse jumped off a cliff with the artist holding on for dear life.

Above the hills, higher than eagles were gliding
The singer and the horse were in the sky, above the hills, and at a height comparable to eagles.

Suspended in the sky
The artist and the horse were not falling, but had reached a point of suspended motion in the air.

Over the hill
The horse and the singer went over a hill.

Straight for the sun we were riding
The horse and the singer were galloping directly towards the setting sun.

My eyes were filled with light
The singer's eyes were overwhelmed by the brightness of the sun ahead of them.

Below was a bottomless canyon
Below the horse and the artist was a canyon with no visible end or bottom.

Floating with no sound
The horse and the artist were moving without making any noise.

Ghosts far below
The singer saw figures below them which looked like ghosts.

Seemed to be suddenly rising
The 'ghosts' below appeared to be moving towards the singer and the horse, which was unexpected.

Exploding all around
The situation felt overwhelming and chaotic to the artist and the horse.

We were falling
The horse and the artist were falling from a high location.

Down this crevice
They were falling through a narrow passageway in the earth.

About about a mile down it seem
The depth of the fall seemed to be about one mile.

And it's our reflection that's
The red thing they saw below them was a reflection of themselves.

This little pool of water about six feet wide and one foot deep
The 'red thing' was a small pool of water that was not deep.

And we're falling down right through it
The horse and the singer fell through the pool of water they saw below them.

We hit, we splashed it dry
The horse and the singer landed in the pool and caused all the water to evaporate.

That's when I lost my hold
The artist lost his grip on the horse during the fall.

And she got away
After the fall, the horse escaped from the artist's grasp.

But I'm gonna try and get her again some day
The singer is still determined to capture the horse and will try again in the future.

I'm going to catch that horse, I'm going to catch that horse, I'm going to catch that horse, if I can
The singer ends the song with a repetition of his determination to capture the horse.