Vintage Album Review – Corb Lund’s “Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!”

When crowing on about our favorite contemporary country music singers and songwriters, never enough noise is made about Corb Lund. Maybe it’s because he’s from up in Canada, and so he’s out of sight and out of mind for some. Maybe it’s because some consider the meat of his career to be more in the past than in the future, and to put it in horse terms, they’ve put him out to pasture. But few have amassed a song catalog as quality and compelling as his.
Take for example Corb’s 2007 concept record released 15 years ago today, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!. An outright treatise on the use of horses in warfare, it’s as studied and knowledgeable as it is entertaining, especially for a subject matter that could have come across as dry and dense. But that’s the skill of Corb Lund— taking subjects that may seem fey or mundane, and making you feel his passion for them.
Corb Lund has always been aided in his pursuit of country and Western music by authenticity. From Alberta ranching stock, when Corb Lund starts composing songs about horses, he does so from a place of knowledge, reverence, and authority. As the title implies, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! pays tribute to the mounted cavalrymen of history, from the Cossacks, to the belligerents of the American Civil War, to the Englishmen who routed Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. It’s a tip of the hat to the last men that brought majesty to warfare before mechanization ran them off the battlefield.
The original Corb Lund songs “I Wanna Be in the Cavalry” and “Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier” are fit to include right beside the classic battle hymns of history. Whereas some songwriters suffice with two or three verses for a song, one of Corb’s virtues has always been stretching it to three or four when called for, while bringing more quality to the writing than less. The arc of this album’s concept is a classic one: The pride and gallantry soldiers feel as they march off to war, with thoughts of honor and heroism lifting their spirits, yet often only finding death and disease awaiting them on the battlefield.

Though not overtly anti-war, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! certainly resolves in that moral, ending in a rendition of “Taps.” Though written about soldiers of yore and released 15 years ago, the message of the album feels very relevant today as some continue to favor saber-rattling or outright war as opposed to leaving these things behind as relics of the past to be written about in song and story.
Though songs of horse soldiers bookend this concept album, some of the songs are more just about soldiers, or horses exclusively. “The Horse I Rode In On” and “Especially A Paint” are about horses and heartbreak. “Student Visas” is a song about military intrigue amid the Iran-Contra scandal of the 80s.
There are even a few songs that don’t fit the concept of the album at all. “Brother Brigham, Brother Young” is a historical commentary on Mormonism. “Hard On Equipment (Tool For The Job)” is just quintessential and hilarious Corb Lund songwriting at its finest, mixing character creation with vignettes from real life. Same goes for “Lament for Lester Cousins.”
These interludes help the concept of this album go down easier, so do the incredibly diverse soundscapes Corb Lund taps into. From music modes more native to the 1800’s and the Old World, to horn fanfare, to straightforward honky tonk songs, Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertins find the right mood for each tune, and tell the story through the music too.
During a week when the United States honors its Veterans, and in a year when war has returned inexplicably to the European continent, revisiting Corb Lund’s Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! seems pertinent as ever, and is just as enriching to listen to as it was 15 years ago. Just like our Veterans and the heroes of the past, the music of Corb Lund is not to be forgotten.
1 3/4 Guns Up (8.5/10)
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Purchase Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!
November 13, 2022 @ 9:27 am
Wow just really awesome the sound reminds me of Buck Owens and Johnny Cash, really great music, will have to pick this one up.
November 13, 2022 @ 9:42 am
I greatly appreciate this album.
Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! is a great song, especially for the history buffs among us.
Does anyone have recommendations for any other history filled country songs?
November 13, 2022 @ 1:51 pm
Steve Earle – Dixieland
Guy Clark – Soldier’s Joy 1864
Ian Noe – Barbara’s Song
Tom Russell – Ballad of Claude Dallas
All 4 mostly based on true stories.
November 13, 2022 @ 2:10 pm
White Mansions by Paul Kennerly. It’s not on any streaming, (I have my papas vinyl) but it’s on YouTube. British dude writing about the civil war from the viewpoint of a common southerner. You don’t get that much. Waylon and Jessi are on it. So is Clapton and the feller from the OMDD.
November 14, 2022 @ 8:50 am
I got that and The Legend of Jesse James on a double cd a couple years ago. Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, Emmylou and Charlie Daniels telling the story of Jesse James. Can’t go wrong.
November 21, 2022 @ 8:10 pm
I love the Legend of Jesse James album! “Wish We Were Back in Missouri” is one of the greatest performances of Emmylou Harris’ career and nobody knows about it.
November 14, 2022 @ 6:25 am
Bill Mallonee of the Americana act the Vigilantes of Love has a bunch.
– Eleanore
– Judas Skin
– Andersonville
November 14, 2022 @ 8:09 am
Ryan,Tuskegee Pride by Jason Ringenberg (of Jason & The Scorchers, the greatest cowpunk band of all time) from his record Empire Builders.
November 14, 2022 @ 9:23 am
Red Ball Express by Scott Miller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m7Q3uJgAZw
November 21, 2022 @ 8:20 pm
I’m glad Trigger posted this, I missed this record when it came out. The title track reminded me of Tom Russell, who loves historical allusions. In particular he wrote two truly spectacular songs about the fallout of Pancho Villa’s career in Mexico. “Tonight We Ride” is a quintessential cowboy anthem set in the aftermath of Pershing’s mission to Mexico and “Gallo del Cielo” is a cockfighting ballad about a cockfighting trainer fighting to regain his land “that Villa stole from father long ago.” First songs that came to my mind after hearing “Horse Soldier.” (Incidentally it’s a cryin’ shame Johnny Cash didn’t live to cover that song. If it had been written earlier it would have been a killer Highwaymen song, a la “American Remains” or something. Lots of verses, which they always needed.)
November 13, 2022 @ 9:45 am
Great review of my favorite Corb Lund album. “Student Visas” alone is worth the price of admission for me.
Should be noted that they still use horse soldiers, or at least they did in Afghanistan. Not sure if it was Army guys or Air Force combat controllers, but they had ’em on horseback guiding in the JDAMs dropped by the B-52s.
(Incidentally, if any of you here haven’t read Doug Stanton’s Horse Soldiers, the book that the movie 12 Strong was based on, you should remedy that with the quickness. It is utterlyfascinating.
November 14, 2022 @ 8:50 am
Corb even sings about the special forces (on those wily Afghan horses) in “Horse Soldier”.
November 13, 2022 @ 1:00 pm
Ryan if you want a fast history lesson for what it’s like to be like me a Viet Nam, vet try this on……………………….Charlie Daniels – Still in Saigion, Johnny Cash – Drive on, And Kris Kristopherson – Shipwrecked in the 80’s. Just a quick history lesson. Enjoy learning it’s contagious.
November 13, 2022 @ 1:08 pm
@Cosmic,
Not Ryan, but want to Thank you for your service.
????????
November 13, 2022 @ 1:26 pm
By coincidence I just made a Sailors & Soldiers compilation that includes Corb Lund. It is heavy with sea shantys though. Trigger, if this is inappropriate please delete my post.
https://krakenfiles.com/view/YcgPpkk1hf/file.html
November 13, 2022 @ 3:49 pm
Corb Lund is so underrated!
This is a great album by a great storyteller and singer!
November 13, 2022 @ 7:10 pm
Corb Lund is one of the greats. My kids like to listen to him, too, which is a win for me.
I think that Lund’s 2012 Cabin Fever album and Chris Knight’s 2012 Little Victories album were prescient views of where we have been for the last 7 or so years and where we are going. Let us pray that it ends
“I think I see a rip in the social fabric / Brother can you pass the ammo?”
– CL
“Came home from the town hall meeting, hate to say it didn’t go so well
Finally told ’em all I was goin’ home and they could all go to hell
I took my children in my arms, gonna keep ’em close to me
The world just keeps on changing’, I don’t like what I see”
– CK
November 14, 2022 @ 3:57 am
I always liked his song: Truck got stuck
That ‘hard on equipment’ is pretty funny
November 14, 2022 @ 5:02 pm
Thanks Trigger for bringing this back. This album started it all for me! I may have given up on new music and been stuck with Classic country and the local classic rock station forever if not for this. My brother (army vet) got me to buy this, and from there went on Pandora and discovered Turnpike Troubadours and Chris Knight and many others. Which led to this website and lots of awesome new music. Thanks Corb Lund!
PS in the northwest you are more likely to hear Corb on the Fox Rocks than on JR Country FM
November 16, 2022 @ 11:21 am
I love this album…but just realized that it isn’t available on Tidal. Anyone have any idea why?
November 16, 2022 @ 11:21 am
“I Want To Be In The Cavalry” is such a great time.
“Horse Soldier” would be a perfect song if he gave the Winged Hussars their own verse.
November 17, 2022 @ 2:46 pm
Corb is one of the most underrated artist in the music business. His songwriting is right up there with all the greats and he is an awesome entertainer. He ain’t no over priced cover singer a la George Strait, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan. They may be good singers but Corb is great artist. Horse Soldier was a great album that’s still relevant today and Corb has made some great albums since.
November 28, 2022 @ 1:43 pm
Love this album. Corb is an artist that my wife and I go back to often. His storytelling and musicianship are greatly appreciated and greatly underrated (in our opinion).