This morning on the radio, I heard America's hit "A Horse with No Name". As usual when I hear it, I wonder what the following sentence mean.
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
Wikipedia says that it is "oddly" written and also written under influence (while this explanation seems disputed afterwards). So because it is so odd for me as a non-native English speaker, I just never understand the meaning of that one sentence in the song.
What bugs me most is the seemingly triple negation as well as the "for to". What would a correct version of the sentence be?
Best Answer
"There ain't no one" means "There is no one." The double negative is colloquial and is used incorrectly. As in "I ain't got no money" which means "I have no money" instead of the logical "I don't have no money = I do have some money".
Likewise I think the last "no" is also redundant, so "no pain" really just means "pain".
"For to" is a poetic and colloquial double usage. The meaning of "for" and "to" is similar; only one or other of them needs to be used, not both. The correct use of "for" and "to" is often confused. In some cultures, where the distinction is not understood, someone will use both. Poetically both words are used instead of one to provide an extra syllable so that the line has the correct beat or rhythm.
What is left is : "In the desert... there is no one to hurt or disappoint you. It is a place where you can escape life's troubles."