While listening to the radio recently, the DJ was introducing the song Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. He mentioned that the songwriter was inspired while traveling overseas to see goats in olive trees. Thinking that singing about goats might not be such a great mental picture, singer/songwriter KT Tunstall decided to write about a black horse and a cherry tree instead. If you travel where there are olive orchards as I did while in Greece, you will find that olive trees are a favorite place for goats. The olive farmers trim the lowest branches of the trees to prevent the goats from jumping up and eating the year's harvest as they would wipe it out in no time. Therefore, you'll see goats all around the base of the trees working like vacuum cleaners eating the fallen olives.
The next time you hear the song Black Horse and The Cherry Tree, think about the little goats that could have been famous instead of the horse. And remember....the only reason you have any olives to eat is because the goats didn't get them first.
