"Riding with Private Malone" is a song written by Wood Newton and Thom Shepherd, and recorded by American country music artist David Ball. It was released in August 2001 as the first single from his album Amigo. The song reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts chart, and #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Ball's first Top 40 country hit since "Look What Followed Me Home" in 1995. USA Today referred to it as "the country song that tapped most subtly and profoundly into the emotions of its audience" after the September 11 attacks, even though it was released to radio a few weeks before the attacks.

Wood Newton is an American songwriter and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Newton was born in Hampton, Arkansas, and graduated from Hampton High School in Hampton, Arkansas in 1964. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1970.