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clubbedougan Group: Members Posts: 24 Joined: Aug. 2002 Posted: Nov. 08 2002, 14:31 Why is the track 'horse-back' not credited on the CD, is it a Part 2 of 'Part 2', I think it really fits the Christmas-feel of Part 1. Brilliant track. Michael. -------------- Where will we go when we grow old? Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Nov. 09 2002, 19:22 Well, yes, it's a little bit strange. The CD (even cheap Disky copies of it) has got three tracks, but the cover only lists two... Ommadawn Part One and Ommadawn Part Two.    Who knows... maybe Mike, when originally conceiving Ommadawn, thought about ending Part Two with the horse song, but then he found out it didn't link too well with the fairly high-spirited 'la-la-la' finale of Part Two and just singled it out... but the people at Virgin who turned Mike's albums into CDs were careless enough not to list it on the cover, not even in the remastered edition. But AFAIK the song is listed on Side 2 of the vinyl LP.   P.S. What is there in Part 1 of Ommadawn that makes you think of Christmas? I can't find anything at all... -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Nov. 09 2002, 19:59 The labelling of the LP is a tiny bit odd, in that some things are mentioned on one part of the packaging and not the rest - like the fact that Paddy Moloney is credited on the LP label but not on the sleeve which lists all the other musicians, which would lead me to believe that some things were done at the last minute (certainly Mike delivered the album very, very close to the deadline). The label on side 2 of the LP simply lists 'Part 2 (17.17)'. The observant amongst you will note that the time given there is that of Part 2 and On Horseback combined. The only mention of On Horseback is on the sleeve, which mentions "The words to the horse song on side two by Mike Oldfield and William Murray". It seems to me like Ugo's theory is close to the truth - that the song was intended to be seen as part of Part 2, though I'd personally think that it was intended all along for it to be separate from the rest of Part 2. The Boxed LP has it listedon the label in the same way, though the composer credits say "Composed by Mike Oldfield except On Horseback which is Music: Mike Oldfield; Lyrics Mike Oldfield/William Murray". I think that the first time it was seen as 'On Horseback' was when it was released as the B side to In Dulci Jubilo. So, even though it may not have been listed separately on the LP, the track has a name (which may have been given to it by Virgin), so there ought to be no excuse for it not being listed on the CD - it's simply carelessness, I should think. Back to top

clubbedougan Group: Members Posts: 24 Joined: Aug. 2002 Posted: Nov. 10 2002, 11:01 Well, like some tracks it has a pastural feel and i guess the track reminded me a little of Christmas when I first heard it. A little like another favourite track of mine called 'Clubbed TO Death II', it sounds very good at Christmas time etc. snow, blizzards and such. -------------- Where will we go when we grow old? Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Nov. 12 2002, 05:15 Well, it sort of is carelessness, but it probably has something to do with them just looking at the LP and not bothering to check. It's like Platinum, why do NO CDs list Into wonderland after all this time!?! I do have he Boxed LP, which does say that some bits were recorded a week before the deadline, and then they would have had to edit, mix etc. so I can understand the rush. The CD people probably just copied straight from the LP without checking or thinking. It reminds me of Pink Floyd's The Wall, where the song Hey You was moved to a different place so late that the lyrics were still in the wrong place on the LP. That also wasn't corrected for the CD I have. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

MO fan Group: Members Posts: 177 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Nov. 17 2002, 18:03 My opinion is that 'horse-back' was not credited on the album so that it caught the listener out, without a WARNING. One minuite we were in Ommadawn heaven the next a sing-a-long song, never to be forgotten. For weeks that 'oh and away we go' kept cycling through my brain, could not sleep for fear of a 'replay' . Well mike should be proud of this one as cetain songs when triggered cause it to 'sing' in your brain for weeks, and that I one of them, but at least its good . Triggers for this song are 'snow' 'horse-back' 'mentioned on forums, oh no!' Other songs in this catogory are 'klingons off the starboard side', 'birdy song' Oh no! I trigged them all again. Signing off before I hemorage, Cheers MO fan Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Nov. 18 2002, 17:48 Wasn't that "...starboard bow" ? -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

MO fan Group: Members Posts: 177 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Nov. 19 2002, 10:31 Side! Bow! Your so right, no wonder these 'loop' tunes cause the brain to hemorage, star treking across the........ Opps! here we go again Cheers MO fan Back to top

Sharon Unregistered Posted: Jan. 15 2003, 06:23 Some find it strange to be here, on this small planet, and who knows where. But when it's strange and full of fear, It's nice to be on horseback... ...I'd rather be with you than flying through space... Yeah, really great song. Thank you, Mike. Back to top

Brewer Group: Members Posts: 60 Joined: July 2002 Posted: Jan. 26 2003, 20:35 Yeah i love this song as well. It was a double A-sided single with "In Dulci" but it never got a play on the radio at the time. Prob because it was released at xmas at "IDJ" had a more xmas feel. Just watch any prog from "Eastenders to Emmerdale" and they all have "IDJ" playin in the background at xmas. Royalties from that alone would keep and ordinary person goin, me thinks. LOL I have been listening to this song for the more than a quarter of a century and i still hear things in it. I am nearly sure that i have at least one version, or have heard one version that he speaks "To be on horseback" at the very end as the song fades. I do remember hearing it before and i cant seem to hear it again. Prob the drugs i was takin at the time, LOL. Any one esle hear it? I also love the different harmonies that MO sings in the chorus. Superb piece of music. -------------- Maker of MOs favourite beverage No trees were harmed in the creation and sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced Back to top

KDK Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Feb. 13 2003, 18:46 Hi there, i'm new here and wanted to say i think Ommadawn is maybe the best MO's album, and definitely Horseback is a great song...must say the whole album sounds X-mas like, or so sounds to me, maybe 'coz i got it from my mom as a X-mas present a long time ago...Cheers! KDK -------------- Jedi Master and Superior Intellect! Back to top

Man In The Rain Group: Members Posts: 405 Joined: April 2002 Posted: Feb. 20 2003, 21:03 I would say that On Horseback is pretty integral to the composition as a whole, in that it personifies that free and childlike innocent spirit that Mike was attempting to evoke the rebirth of at the end of part one. Its so great, you really can't be cynical about it at all, just take it as it is. As has been mentionned, on the original vinyl label, it just lists Ommadawn Part Two and the time includes On Horseback. Although its separate to the instrumental part, it is part of Part Two, forming an ending like Sailor's Hornpipe does to Tubular Bells. And its an awful lot less annoying than The Beatles' Yellow Submarine! Ollie -------------- Hergest Ridge 165 - Ommadawn 038 - Incantations 243 Back to top

amerach Group: Members Posts: 1 Joined: April 2003 Posted: April 07 2003, 02:10 Christmas 1976.  Sussex by the Sea, UK.  I was 13, and had heard a very catchy single a few times on radio, by someone called Mike Oldfield.  A girlfriend of one of my brothers had very kindly bought me his latest album for Christmas - surely the single must be there?  On Boxing Day I settled down with some mince pies and listened to side one - very strange, meandering, powerful music, to be sure, but no catchy single.  Flipped over the album, same story.  The frienzied bouzouki section reaches its climax and stops.  Oh well, back to the drawing board...and then, seemingly out of nowhere, the gentle, fingerpicked chords of one of the most simple, touching songs I've ever heard arrive, almost like an afterthought... 'I like beer, and I like cheese' Well 26 years have passed and I'm quite partial to both beer and cheese meself, now...but that moment set me off on a lifetime's fandom of MO.  Within days I'd bought a second hand copy of Tubular Bells, then Hergest Ridge, then had to wait a whole two years for the somewhat disappointing Incantations.   Never mind - some ground was picked back with 1979's Xmas offering Platinum, then the very patchy QE2...not to mention Five Miles Out..but then the magnificent Crises restored fully my faith in the man and his music. Have you noticed that, over the years, MO slips in and out of your spectrum, but occasionally releases something to put him right back at the top of the heap - it's happened repeatedly to me, with firstly Crises, then my personal favourite ever, Amarok, then TBII, then Songs of Distant Earth, then Voyager.  Pity 'Three Loonies' wasn't up to snuff, but hey, after the quality of the past three decades, who's complaining!!   Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: April 07 2003, 17:41 Quote (amerach @ April 07 2003, 02:10) then had to wait a whole two years for the somewhat disappointing Incantations.   Never mind - some ground was picked back with 1979's Xmas offering Platinum, then the very patchy QE2...not to mention Five Miles Out..but then the magnificent Crises restored fully my faith in the man and his music. [...] it's happened repeatedly to me, with firstly Crises, then my personal favourite ever, Amarok, then TBII, then Songs of Distant Earth, then Voyager.  Pity 'Three Loonies' wasn't up to snuff, but hey, after the quality of the past three decades, who's complaining!!   Mmmh... while we both share our love of Ommadawn, I can't understand any of this. Incantations disappointing?? QE2 patchy? (Platinum not patchy?) Five Miles Out? What's wrong with it? Crises better than Five Miles Out and QE2? And Voyager?? Voyager better than Tres Lunas - well, not really, except of course for Mont St. Michel... Strange how opinions can differ... Then maybe, not strange   Back to top

LivingForever Group: Members Posts: 95 Joined: Oct. 2003 Posted: Oct. 13 2003, 10:32 Quote (Brewer @ Jan. 26 2003, 20:35) I am nearly sure that i have at least one version, or have heard one version that he speaks "To be on horseback" at the very end as the song fades. I do remember hearing it before and i cant seem to hear it again. Prob the drugs i was takin at the time, LOL. Any one esle hear it? Yes, I think all copies of the song have this at the end - very quietly? Sounds like Mike or William Murray saying 'I'd rather be On Horseback'... James -------------- http://giggingforever.blogspot.co.uk Back to top

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