"Only the Horses" is a song by American band Scissor Sisters. The track is the first single from their fourth studio album, Magic Hour. It premiered on April 6, 2012, on BBC Radio 1, and was released to various iTunes Stores as a single on April 13, 2012, in Europe and was released on May 13, 2012, in the United Kingdom.
Scissor Sisters worked with producers Boys Noize and Calvin Harris on the track, after having met Harris while working with Kylie Minogue on her eleventh studio album, Aphrodite.
Music video Directed by Lorenzo Fonda and produced by Ross Levine, the music video for "Only the Horses" was released on April 19, 2012, and features a quartet of horses running through the desert in slow motion. Attached to the horses are long hempen ropes, and over the course of the video it becomes clear that the other ends of the ropes are attached to metal plates set in a decorated triangular panel. As the ropes run out of slack, the equestrian imagery is intercut with slow-motion reversed footage of paint cascading over people (the band members, with Jake Shears covered in pink, Del Marquis in yellow, BabyDaddy in green and Ana Matronic in blue). At the end of the video (quite evidently a homage to John Huston's, The Misfits), the taut ropes pull the plates from the panel and fountains of paint shoot out.
Critical reception Lewis Corner of Digital Spy blog gave the song a positive review, stating:
"Only the horses can find us tonight/ Only the horses can bring us back home," Jake Shears belts over Calvin's usual mix of gleeful synths and fluorescent beats, though still retaining much of the band's camp and carefree vibrancy from when we first fell in love with them. The result is much like the song's interesting choice of a saviour; a number that canters along powerfully enough to last the distance. .Scissor Sisters: 'Only The Horses' - Single review. Digital Spy
Track listing
Charts Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for "Only the Horses" Chart (2012) PeakpositionBelgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders) 21Global Dance Songs (Billboard) 34 Italy Airplay (EarOne) 1US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard) 8
Year-end charts Chart (2012) PositionItaly (FIMI)33 Italy Airplay (EarOne) 3
Certifications
Release history +Release dates for "Only the Horses" Country Release date Format Label AustraliaApril 13, 2012SinglePolydor Finland France Japan New Zealand Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland Australia May 13, 2012 EP Germany Ireland New Zealand United Kingdom United States May 15, 2012
References