The origins of "No Horses" were created from a jam session that had been augmented with noise loops and a
Patti Smith-style vocal. Part of the instrumental was taken from an unused demo posted as a teaser video by the band in 2011. Manson would also describe "No Horses" as
freeform, noting that the track was less structured than any previous Garbage single. Shirley Manson told
Rolling Stone: "It's been my observation that when governments disregard their citizens for their own greed, the ensuing soundtrack usually kicks ass. Like
Nina Simone's "
Mississippi Goddam" or
The Clash’s "
Straight to Hell", "No Horses" made me realize that I'm not going insane, these really are fucked up times. The lyrics are powerful so the challenge was to add something visually that wouldn't ruin the individual's interpretation." On July 5, 2017, "No Horses" was debuted live as the opening song at Garbage's live set in
Saratoga, California, and remained on the setlist throughout the Rage and Rapture tour. "We open each show with "No Horses" and every night when we step on stage I get so excited", Manson stated after a few performances, "We get this incredible reaction to it because I think we've touched on something that other people are feeling." "No Horses" returned to the set on occasion during 2018's
20 Years Paranoid tour, and was performed on French television show
Quotidien. ==Music video==