Meaning of “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall

It can be said that “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” is pretty complex. As far as the titular “black horse” is concerned, it is literal in a manner of speaking, as in KT having once come across such an animal gone wild during in Greece, and it was that occurrence which ultimately inspired her to write this track. 

But as far as the lyrics are concerned, its presence is obviously symbolic. And what it represents, for lack of a more concise way of making sense out of it, is an alternate path the vocalist had the opportunity to follow in life but didn’t. In other words, it seemingly symbolizes what Tunstall has intentionally left behind.

At the beginning of the second verse, when she gets to noting that her “heart had a problem in the early hours”, that is another literal reference, pointing to how KT experienced a heart murmur when she was born. 

However, by the time all is said and done that incident too, in relation to the “big black horse”, appears to serve as an experience that the vocalist was compelled to intentionally leave behind, or something like that.

KT Tunstall talks about “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree”

As explained by the singer/songwriter, this piece is supposed to be “a metaphor for good and evil”. According to another explanation she offered, “it tells the story of finding yourself lost… and a choice has to be made.” 

And it’s interesting that if you were to read the former explanation in full, KT, in a roundabout way, mentioned not wanting to be likened to “Phoebe” of Friends fame. 

And whereas she specifically said that in relation to playing in coffee houses, as said character used to, we will also take that to mean that as with Smelly Cat for instance the lyrics of some of Tunstall’s songs, such as this one, leave plenty for the listener to try to figure out on his or her own.

But making that observation is not meant to be any sort of diss towards “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”, because even if you can’t make sense of what’s being relayed upon first listen, it’s obvious that this piece deals with serious, may we say existential matters, which tend to be difficult to put into song to being with. 

But in closing, even if you listen to this track a thousand times, it would probably still be difficult to understand what KT is really getting at without reading her personal explanations of it.

“Well, my heart knows me better than I know myself
So I’m gonna let it do all the talking
(Woohoo, woohoo)
I came across a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
(Woohoo, woohoo)”

All of that said, of course when a White female singer gets to mentioning a “big black horse” in a romantic context, some eyebrows will be raised. And yes, at the conclusion of the first verse, Tunstall does depict this animal as a male who asks for her hand in marriage. 

With that in mind, it’s also interesting to note that the cover art to “Eye to the Telescope”, the album from which this track is derived, features KT wearing suspenders which are red, yellow and green, which also happen to be the colors of many African flags. But since she has offered a detailed explanation of what this track is about, there really isn’t much factual basis to move forward with that theory.

When was “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” released?

Track No. 4 on Tunstall’s debut studio album, “Eye to the Telescope”, “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree”, was officially released on February 21 of 2005 as the 1st of five singles from the said album.

Other singles released in support of the “Eye to the Telescope” album include:

• “Other Side of the World”
• “Suddenly I See”
• “Under the Weather”
• “Another Place to Fall”

The following record labels were responsible for the song’s release:

• Relentless Records
• Virgin Records

Song Credits

KT Tunstall single-handedly penned down “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree and entrusted Andy Green with its skillful production.

Grammy Nomination

In 2007, “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” got a nod for the Grammys’ “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” award. However, the song didn’t bag the trophy. It went to Christina Aguilera for her bop “Ain’t No Other Man”.