I just thought of a topic that I can’t believe we’ve never discussed before: songs about pets! The only song I can think of that is truly about a pet is the Shaggs classic (and alleged Jon Hunstman fav) “Foot Foot”. Maybe “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo”. So let’s add in songs where pets play a prominent role. I’ll go with these, in order:
“Move It on Over” (whole song)
“Mr. Bojangles” (“the dog up and died, up and died”)
“Stray Cat Strut” (maybe a stray is not technically a pet, I don’t know)
“Born On the Bayou” (“I can still hear that hound dog barking”)
“Devil Woman” (don’t remember the exact lyric but there’s a scary cat)
Update. An all-pet-themed name that tune.
What else?
greylocks
Bron-y-Aur Stomp, about Robert Plant’s “blue-eyed merle”
El Tiburon
Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphy. Ok, maybe a horse is technically not a pe in the traditional sense. But still..also too a tearjerker.
MattF
How about those lines from Gillian Welch’s “The Way That it Goes”:
Well, Miranda ran away
Took her cat and left LA
That’s the way that it goes
That’s the way.
She was busted, broke and flat
Had to sell that pussy cat
That’s the way that it goes
That’s the way.
Ed in NJ
Well, my wife’s name is Shannon, so I’m partial to that song by Henry Gross about the dog that drowns. Terrible, hilarious, and very catchy song all in one.
flickeringlamp
Old King by Neil Young.
MikeJ
I did an all pet name that tune at Cleek’s once, but I don’t know where the thread with the answers is.
kindness
Black Dog Led Zep.
JC
Not really about pets, Atomic Dog but good party song!
Bow wow wow yippy yo yippy yay!
JenJen
@El Tiburon: That was one of my favorite songs when I was a girl, but I was also a little horse-crazy back then.
Another good pet song? “Martha, My Dear” by the Beatles, which was allegedly about Paul McCartney’s Old English Sheepdog.
LIBrad
Under My Thumb with a squirming dog and a Siamese Cat even referred to lyrically as a “pet.”
Then there’s this, since i used to have a catahoula:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5yMt5jdI9g
MikeJ
Here’s the results of that NTT thread I mentioned.
The Golux
Just off the top of my head:
Beatles: Martha, My Dear
John Hiatt: My Dog and Me
Guy Clark: Queenie’s Song (a very sad song about finding your dog shot dead)
Ripley
“Old Shep” – Elvis
david mizner
The obvious one is Cat Stevens’s I Love My Dog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWT2qHVftGk
It’s very corny and excellent.
Suffern ACE
Not exactly about the cat itself, but buying “store bought catfood for that mean-eyed cat” is one of the reasons the couple splits up in “Mean-eyed cat.”
metricpenny
Michael Jackson’s “Ben” didn’t make your list? ::vapors::
wapsie
“Put the Bone In” by Terry Jacks
The infamous b-side to “Seasons in the Sun”.
Jack the Second
Cake, Tougher Than It Is.
The more you try to shave the cat / the more the thing will bite and scratch / it’s best, I think, to leave the fur / and to listen to its silky purr.
JC
Ben – your favorite rat
Mark D
How the heck is there no Hound Dog by Elvis listed as of yet?
Or is it a metaphor of some sort …
sal
Seamus, Pink Floyd (Meddle)
Mandy, Barry Manilow, allegedly about his dog, at least in some stories.
Now I Want To be Your Dog, Iggy & the Stooges
Pete
“Aw Bruiser” by P.W. Long is a great, sad song.
Mnemosyne
Since I’m feeling seasonal, there’s Leon Redbone’s “Kitty Cats’ Christmas.”
Wasn’t Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” supposedly written about his dog?
joeyess
Martha My Dear (The Beatles)
The song was written by McCartney about his English Sheep Dog, Martha.
wapsie
It’s a stretch, but “At the Zoo” by Simon & Garfunkel.
BigHank53
Presidents of the USA: Kitty.
There’s also a tearjerker of bluegrass song about a dog mistakenly killed by his owner. Can’t remember the title at the moment.
Suffern ACE
“Kitty” by the Presidents of the USA. Though I’m not a fan of the song.
Comrade Mary
Yeah, Ben! Willard has the perfect campaign song out there, doesn’t he?
Belle and Sebastian
John Cole goes Countrypolitan
david mizner
@sal:
I’m not sure I want to be Your Dog qualifies. If it does, then maybe NIN’s I Want to Fuck You Like An Animal does too?
Corbin Dallas Multipass
The Miles Davis/Fishbone Mashup “Lyin Ass Bitches Brew”.
Both songs were actually about female dogs.
MikeJ
Hey DougJ, you’ve participated in NTT in the past, you have the knowledge and compatible taste of the core gang. Why don’t you guest dj a round?
Cleek has a new (much harder) round going on now, but he’s usually open to somebody else doing the work.
somethingblue
Dr. John, “How Come My Dog Don’t Bark When You Come Round?”
mistermix
@El Tiburon: Horse with No Name, then, but that’s not really about the animal.
How about: Even a Dog Can Shake Hands, Warren Zevon
There’s a band called Dogs Die in Hot Cars.
And Ben Folds, Dog “My dog wears a path on the same line”
Suffern ACE
“”Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War”
wapsie
The Monkees, “Gonna Buy Me a Dog”
DougJ
@MikeJ:
I’d love to sometime.
Tom
Isn’t “Jet” about/inspired by another dog of his?
joeyess
@Tom: could be…..
jeffreyw
I can’t believe this one hasn’t been called-o.
The Golux
@El Tiburon: Also about horses, and marginally about pets: Steve Earle’s “Me And the Eagle”. It also has this amazing lyric about an eagle pulling a salmon from a river, from the salmon’s perspective:
“Shuddered as the world turned from silver to blue.”
JMC
“Lilly” from Pink Martini’s “Hang on Little Tomato” album.
Lilly comes when you stop to call her
Lilly runs when you look away
Lilly leaves kisses on your collar
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, stay!
wapsie
The Royal Guardsmen, “Snoopy vs the Red Baron”
Judas Escargot
Quiche Lorraine, by the B52’s.
I don’t own a poodle. This song is one of the many reasons why.
Gin & Tonic
“Move it on Over”? Hank Williams, I think, more popularly covered by George Thorogood.
ETA: I should read the top post more carefully, I guess.
Ken B
“Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog”
Pete
Also, Seth by Big Black. it’s about a dog trained by its owner to be racist.
Comrade Mary
Bloodhound Gang, of course
The Fall: Laptop Dog
This song has a half-pony, half-monkey just to please you
Kinky Beats
Brad Nowell wrote “Lou Dog Went to the Moon” after his dog went missing around Long Beach for a week. The Dog was eventually found outside a bar I used to frequent :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAjI9GlKSEc
Ryan S
Cat Scratch Fever… Duh duh dunnn
Suffern ACE
John Denver’s Grandma’s Featherbed would hold three kids, four hound dogs, and a piggy. Assuming that the pig isn’t a pet, but the hound dogs probably are.
the Buhjaysus
Nick Drake’s “Black Eyed Dog”
I missed it if was already used…
Satanicpanic
Rolling Stones- Under My Thumb “she’s the sweetest, pet in the world…”
bin Lurkin'
The Buoy’s Timothy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGNdvKvbxYQ
DougJ
@Kinky Beats:
I should have gone with “What I Got” as well. I love that song and Lou Dog is featured prominently in it.
JC
I cheated.
Tom
@joeyess
Just googled it and that seems to be the case. Also found the first explanation that makes sense for the line “I thought major was a lady suffragette”: It’s a reference to Bowie (Major Tom + Suffragette City + Ziggy S. looked like a girl).
MikeJ
Laika? Either the band or Neighborhood #2 (Laika) by Arcade Fire.
cervantes
Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own
He had a yellow cat which wouldn’t leave its home;
He tried and he tried to give the cat away,
He gave it to a man goin’ far, far away.
But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn’t stay away.
Away, away, yea, yea, yea
The man around the corner swore he’d kill the cat on sight,
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,
Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found.
But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn’t stay away.
Away, away, yea, yea, yea
And so on. People keep making up verses.
joeyess
How did everyone miss this one?
Harry Nilsson’s “Me and My Arrow”.
Napoleon
As others have mentioned Martha, My Dear is about Paul McCartney’s English Sheep dog
I heard an interview with the writers of the song (Leiber and Stoller)and it was originally for and sang by some woman singer whose name I do not recall off the top of my head. The “hounddog” was her sleeping around husband.
Anyways Elvis did the song and they hated it (but learned to live with it when the biggest royalty checks they had ever seen rolled in) and in the interveiw one of them said something along the lines of “suddenly when Elvis sang the song, the song was about a dog”.`
By the way, the songs writers were one of the best songwriting duos of the last 60 years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Leiber_and_Mike_Stoller
Napoleon
@Tom:
Paul had said it was about a pony he owned.
Pappy G
‘Jessie’ – Paw
Wannabe Pearl Jam from Kansas. This is my favorite of their songs.
Tom
Big Mama Thorton.
Tom Hilton
Sister Double Happiness, Bobby Shannon
Roky Erickson, Two-Headed Dog
Camper Van Beethoven, The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon
joeyess
Tbogg put up Me and My Arrow when his basset hound Satchmo died.
Made me weep a bit, he did.
wapsie
There’s that Pink Floyd song that mentions a mouse who hasn’t got a house, who’s called Gerald, who’s getting old but he’s a good mouse.
Rosalita
Does Pheobe’s “smelly cat” count?
Tom
Speaking of which, there’s “Seamus” off Meddle. Not one of my favorites off maybe my favorite album of theirs.
spudsfan
Emmylou Harris, “Big Black Dog” off her last album.
Roy G.
Rufus Thomas – Walking The Dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ljrTtfJ9XY
Also, I think Scooby Doo qualifies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_C2HJvtRDY
Napoleon
@Tom:
Here she is singing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XUAg1_A7IE
trollhattan
Okie dokie, since you asked.
“Dirty Love” –Zappa
[THE POODLE BITES! (Come on, Frenchie) THE POODLE CHEWS IT! (Not a speck of cereal!) THE POODLE BITES! (Come on, Frenchie) THE POODLE CHEWS IT! (Nothing but the best for my dog!)]
“Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” –Primus
You’re welcome.
Steved
Big black dog. Emmylou Harris
Ben Cisco
“A Horse With No Name” from America.
__
No, maybe the song wasn’t specifically about the horse, but I don’t care, it’s a cool song.
scav
How’z bout Randy Newman’s Simon Smith and his Dancing Bear?
wapsie
Incredible String Band, “Good Dog”
the Buhjaysus
The Kinks “Phenomenal Cat”
Citizen_X
“Walking the Cow” by Daniel Johnston, and every other song of his that mentions a cow.
Plus “I Had a Dream” and “Monkey In a Zoo,” and any other song of his where he depicts himself as a pet monkey.
DMcK
Chestnut Mare by the Byrds. Either a song about a horse, or a REALLY creepy love song…
tamied
@joeyess: Aw, when did Satchmo die?
PPOG Penguin
Jane Siberry, “Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1hjM-VknFc).
wapsie
“put a chain around my neck and lead me anywhere”
Worst Elvis (and teddybear themed) tune ever
the Buhjaysus
Slint-Rhoda
trollhattan
@wapsie:
Good memory. That’s from “Bike” on the first album, which also had “Lucifer Sam” about Syd Barrett’s cat.
bin Lurkin'
Black Cat Moan. -John Mayall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg9u1Ffv19M
Bullfrog Blues -Rory Gallagher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuLaWgbu24M&feature=related
scav
Go old. How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
Alexandra
Dirty Old Egg-Suckin’ Dog by Johnny Cash
joeyess
@tamied: oh, it’s been a couple of years now.
DMcK
Surfin’ Bird!
Citizen_X
Fluffy, by Gloria Balsam. Enjoy.
ETA: I just listened to the whole damn thing. I dare you.
Citizen_X
Cat Scratch Fever?
wapsie
Another stretch, but what the hell…
The Pharoahs, “Little Red Riding Hood”
(Belongs more on a Furry Playlist I’ve been mentally compiling, consisting of songs from a beast-character”s perspective. Jethro Tull’s “Bungle in the Jungle” is another. Duran Duran has a wolf’s view song too.)
wapsie
Another stretch, but what the hell…
The Pharoahs, “Little Red Riding Hood”
(Belongs more on a Furry Playlist I’ve been mentally compiling, consisting of songs from a beast-character”s perspective. Jethro Tull’s “Bungle in the Jungle” is another. Duran Duran has a wolf’s view song too.)
Karounie
More B52s – 52 Girls (Rock Lobster B-side)
I read somewhere that the “girls” named in the song were their pet goats.
wapsie
Monkees, “Porpoise Song”.
bemused
@joeyess:
Love it. I have “The Point” narrated by Ringo on dvd.
Grover's Bathtub
“Youth Culture Killed My Dog” – They Might Be Giants
“Charly” – The Prodigy
“Sheila” – Morphine
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
Elvis Old Shep
tomvox1
Al Stewart “Year of the Cat”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqZc7ZQURMs
Late model Byrds, “Old Blue”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIFplonFHT8
Even later model Byrds, “Bugler”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q36cCm3OMbI
Temple of the Dog, “Call Me a Dog”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRFdJIoTsq4
Bowie, “Diamond Dogs”, Pink Floyd, “Dogs”,
Rocky Erickson, “Two Headed Dog”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqwnrn0iKCo
Iron & Wine: “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog)”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKFTEdhPQ9A
Iron & Wine, “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYUFcxBq1y4
Belle & Sebastian, “Dog on Wheels”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9AKgGFlQzY
Big Momma Thronton, Elvis Presley, “Hound Dog”:
Rufus Thomas, “Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog)”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfSO2qjX6fo
Rufus Thomas, “Walking the Dog”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6AZNywvF-s&feature=related
To name a few…
wapsie
“We are the Moles” by the Moles. A wonderful, weird little record. Moles are pretty philosophical, it turns out.
punkdavid
Most of my choices have already been named,
but there is a cool little song on Jane’s Addiction’s album Kettle Whistle called “My Cat’s Name is Maceo”, and Maceo Parker plays trumpet on the song.
joeyess
@bemused: yeah. that’s a sweet cartoon attached to the perfect song, isn’t it?
ed_finnerty
Old Blue
Shawn Phillips
wapsie
“If You Want to Be a Bird”, Holy Modal Rounders (on the soundtrack of “Easy Rider”)
Comrade Mary
@DMcK: Take it away, Lester!
dobrojutro
Fabuley – Holy Rollers (do entire albums count?)
Great cover: http://www.allmusic.com/album/fabuley-r9477
Tony J
If you insist. Dig the groovy effects in this Eurotastic paean to equine beauty from Ireland’s most trusted religious figure.
Comrade Mary
Umm, moderator, please hope me? FYWP took offense at something I quoted from Lester Bangs in the post just before this one.
the Buhjaysus
@wapsie:
Speaking of moles…howabout,
Simply Saucer–“Mole Machine”
cathyx
I’ve got one called Cho Cha by The Teadybears. And yes I know the double entendre with what a cho cha is in Spanish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPKSrc3ajFk
Porco Rosso
Phenomenal Cat by the Kinks is a great song, been listening to Village Green all day.
bemused
@joeyess:
Yes. My friends & I loved Harry Nilsson songs when we were teens. Still do.
Continental Op
Stray cat: animal or metaphor? I thought the song was about about a single heterosexual male cruising for women.
realbtl
Wasn’t there a traditional folk song that went something like:
The cat came back, the very next day.
The cat came back, it wouldn’t stay away.
Or have I lost too many brain cells over the years?
bemused
I was curious why one of our sons named his new black kitty Frankenstein thinking a Halloween theme but it was ‘inspired’ by “Another Saturday Night”.
jayackroyd
I don’t suppose Iggy (I wanna be your dog) or the Dead Kennnedys Rawhide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEPBEsqxgXI) actually count. But they’re worth remembering.
All I really got is Me and My Arrow, which has already been taken, but is a dog song that meets the Cole/Lily standard.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Not a dog song but the barking dogs at the beginning of Been Caught Stealing by Jane’s Addiction would always cause my lab to cock his head a few times whenever it came on the radio.
Omnes Omnibus
Do the Dog by the Specials?
Comrade Mary
The Cat Came Back (via NFB)
jfxgillis
The Weight. (Rock of Ages)
jayackroyd
Speaking of dead Kennedys, I’m reading Bill James’ true crime book. He plumps for the theory that JFK was killed, accidentally, by a Secret Service guy grabbing an AR-15.
cathyx
And then there was a song called “Wildfire” that I despised and my best friend loved to death. It should have made the worst song of all times list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3OnSQc48s&feature=related
Villago Delenda Est
Totally OT, but…
1%ers who steal from the 1% get in trouble. If you steal from the 99%, no harm, no foul.
EvolutionaryDesign
Well, I’m WAY late to the party, but Suicide Machines “Sometimes I Don’t Mind” is the best song about a dog ever.
muskrat Susie, muskrat Sam
We know we’re no one’s pets, but hey.
joeyess
@jfxgillis: what a great line in an even greater song. thanks. I haven’t heard that thing in years.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was thinking about that one, too…But it’s a stretch.
And since I’m very unlikely to chat with you until the game is over: GO PACK GO!
and and and
Frank’s Wild Years by Tom Waits…”Never could stand that dog…”
MattW
Crowded House frontman Neil Finn wrote a bittersweet song called “Lester” about how he was affected when his dog survived being hit by a car. From their Afterglow album:
“I will change if Lester lives,
not mess him ’round,
just ’cause I own him.
He was nearly wiped away,
but he had good luck and strong bones
inside and behind him.”
Richard W. Crews
IF “I wanna be your dog” counts, then so does Taste’s ” wish I was your catfish.”
And for the oldies : “Patti Page (?) “How much is that doggie in the window?”
janeform
Radiohead: The Tourist “It barks at no one else but me…”
Ok, not a pet, but it is a dog.
Laura
A different sort of rescue animal:
“The Snake” by Al Wilson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ZBqpEUbik
Omnes Omnibus
@ Temp. Max McGee: And a Happy Thankgiving to you too.
Donut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RBSrUtX0bA
“Stubb (A Dub)” – by Mr. Bungle
East Coaster
“My dog died just yesterday and left me all alone”
Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen
Summer
Sweet, sweet song, Luce’s “Buy a Dog.”
Adolphus
A little late to this wonderful thread, so a lot of people have mentioned my first round draft picks.
I would mention that there was once a compilation album of Goth songs about dead pet cats called A Cat Shaped Hole in My Heart.
Also Convoy singer CW McCall once had a song about Roy his favorite cat that ends “Yeah Roy was a Good Ole Boy…… until the dogs got him.”
And for my money the absolute best song that is a eulogy on a recently passed pet is by the little remembered band Klaatu called All Good Things Must End with this memorable lyric:
I know it sounds a trifle odd to those who’ve never had a dog
but I never had a closer friend than you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNFCKfyOKcc
Omnes Omnibus
A Man You Don’t Meet Everyday by the Pogues.
feebog
Deep in the weeds, but my good friend Michael Wesley Hughes wrote and recorded a song with Blues Highway called, “When I die Pretty Baby, I want to Come back as your dog” He actually wrote some of the lyrics one Saturday while we were playing golf. Wish I could take some credit for helping him with the lyrics, but he axed all my (mostly crappy)suggestions.
Stephen1947
I went hunting for renditions of the old country standard, “Old Blue” – came across the funniest possible version – enjoy!
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: You are from Wisconsin right? I have an phone interview this coming week for a company based in Madison.
Violet
An entire thread and no one mentions Mitt Romney’s favorite song about his dog: “Who let the dogs out (on the roof of the car)”.
Omnes Omnibus
@ schrodinger’s cat: I am in Madison. Would you move here if you get the position? Kick ass (I have been told it is bad luck to say “Good luck”).
bemused
@Stephen1947:
A great find. What fun!
Adolphus
The more I think about it, Country and Western, before it became all disco-y and pop music, really has some of the best dog songs.
Red Sovine Old Rivers
Tom T. Hall Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine
Johnny Cash, Elvis and others Old Shep
Jeff Carson Real Life
I even think there was a compilation album of country songs about dogs. It is probably the favored topic of C&W songs after trains, rain, momma, prison, and trucks.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks. I don’t know yet. I have never been to Madison. Only been to Chicago in the midwest. How are the winters? are they worse than New England?
ETA: I am not even conducting an active job search, they found me, I am curious.
Litlebritdifrnt2
OT – on the offchance that Mistermix reads the comments, COOK YOUR TURKEY UPSIDEDOWN! It will be the moistest turkey you have ever eaten. Bullshit with all this brining mess. Prepare it as usual and put it breast side down in the roaster. You can flip it for the last 20 mins or so if you want to brown the breast skin. I guarantee you that the meat will fall off the bone. When you cook it the normal way all of the juices settle down to the back (and who eats that?) my way all of the juices settle into the breast meat. One year we had a couple of single friends over for dinner and one of them asked if he could “grab one of the legs” I said sure and he grabbed the bone, pulled and the bone came away minus any turkey. He looked at it and said “I have never seen that happen before”.
Quick disclaimer, this only works if you are not wed to the “perfect turkey on the table” idea, sometimes the bird is so moist and perfect that it sort of falls apart, (a common refrain at my house when I do the 20 minute flip “me turkey fell apart again!”)
Craig Dees
“He’s a Good Dog” by Fred Eaglesmith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd3QV0lwMXk
schrodinger's cat
@Litlebritdifrnt2: Good idea! I will try it, I once brined and then marinaded the bird , it was quite moist, your method sounds easier.
marv
The Roches – “damned old dog”.
“Do I wanna be a dog –
Cut the heat out of me”
I still think that’s one of the best records money can buy
Quaker in a Basement
Beatles – Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey)
Jager
Shannon by Henry Gross, its about Carl (Beach Boy) Wilson’s Irish Setter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kSrV_CubiQ
Violet
OT – Does anyone know if Extra Fine Granulated Sugar will act the same way in a recipe (baking) as regular Granulated Sugar? Somehow I managed to grab a pound of sugar and when I was pouring it into the container I thought it seemed very fine. Checked the package and sure enough in very fine print about the giant “GRANULATED” was “Extra Fine.” UGH. It was in a pile with what looked like regular sugar.
I have to bake and don’t know if I should go back to the store to get proper sugar. I hate it when companies do stuff like that. If it’s different from regular sugar it should be written in large letters to make it really obvious.
KSE
Magnetic Fields’ “Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long”. It’s a highly metaphorical pet but that still counts, right?
Oh also Momus – “I Am A Kitten”
Kilkee
Ok, VERY obscure, but there’s an Irish tune sung by Andy Irvine called “The Humours of the King of Ballyhooley,” in which he proposes to his beloved by boasting thusly: “I have a house beyond yon hill, two fine greyhounds and a ferret…”
Chicks dig it!
Omnes Omnibus
@ schrodinger’s cat: I guess it would depend on where in NE. Certainly, they are harsher than CT. Northern VT or ME, maybe not.
Cain
@Comrade Mary:
Hah,I sang that song at our wedding reception. My dad got it a long time ago..it’s the only song I know all the words too!
Also:
Heart – Dog and Butterfly
and for John Cole:
PInk Martini – Lilly
The prophet Nostradumbass
An oddball one, Rupert Krikor Chang, the Oohlas.
KSE
I could probably fill out a pretty good mix CD here just on cats…
The Dirtbombs – I’m Not Your Scratching Post
Big Black – Kitty Empire
The Kinks – Phenomenal Cat
The Birthday Party – Catman
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Lion Cut
Max Romeo – Play With Your Pussy (one of those filthy-but-not songs, like “Big 10 Inch Record”)
Dan Deacon – Crystal Cat
Shannon and the Clams – Cat Party
The Lonesome Organist – No Place For My Kitten
Aaand no idea if this will work but this one is definitely not about an actual cat:
2 Cat Walk final v3.mp3
bemused
@Litlebritdifrnt2:
I’m definitely going to do this. It’s such a simple, logical method, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it myself before.
Steeplejack
Van Morrison, “Redwood Tree”:
One of my favorite Morrison songs. Interesting demo take here.
Linda Featheringill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-V4ytkl2p0
Cross-Eyed Cat
by Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter.
TangledThread
@Violet: It should be fine. Unless your recipe wants something really specific like sanding sugar or confectioner’s sugar, extra-fine/ superfine/ “regular” all work the same, cup for cup.
Source: “The New Food Lover’s Companion, 3rd. ed.”, Sharon Tyler Herbst (Barron’s).
Steeplejack
@PPOG Penguin:
I like that song.
Bill Murray
Mega City 4 — “Scared of Cats” and “The Dog Lady”
Wesley Willis “Suck My Dog’s Dick” and “Beware of Dog”
dedc79
Band of Horses – Ode to LRC
James Gary
Belly – “Slow Dog.” More of an ex-dog in the song, but still a dog.
Lobo – “Me And You And A Dog Named Boo.”
Nick Drake – “Black-Eyed Dog.”
Stephen Malkmus – “Jenny And The Ess-Dog.” Featuring Tré, a “retriever with a frayed/ ban-dan-a round his neck.”
TV On The Radio – “Love Dog.”
Blue Öyster Cult – “Baby Ice Dog.” FYI: the, shall we say, not-exactly PC lyrics to this one were written by noted misogynist Patti Smith.
Apologies to anyone who posted any of these earlier. Also, I can enthusiastically second the efficacy of roasting one’s turkey breast-up, having done it myself for years.
PS. And let’s not forget “My Girl’s P***y,” — as you might suspect from the title, a smirking double-entendre tune from the 1930s later covered by R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders.
Steeplejack
Just finished reading the thread. Hmm–no mention of Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey.” Not a pet, but not as much of a stretch as some of the other songs mentioned.
Hewer of Wood, Drawer of Water
Bron yr aur stomp by Led Zeppelin w
the Buhjaysus
If we’re talking just animals(not pets per se)
MC5–Skunk(Sonically Speaking)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLhe5n4RQYM
the fenian
The great Tom T. Hall’s “Old Dogs, And Children, and Watermelon Wine.”
Nalbar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxRRsYipeGM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Ole Red
LIBrad
For a real tear-jerker, how about “Feed Jake” by Pirates of the Mississippi?
I’m standin’ at the crossroads in life
And i don’t know where to go
You know you’ve got my heart,babe
But my music’s got my soul
Let me play it one more time
Tell the truth and make it right
And hope they understand me
Now I lay me down to sleep
And pray the Lord my soul to keep
If i die before I wake,feed Jake
He’s been a good dog
My best friend right through it all
If I die before i wake,feed Jake
cintibud
Stewball.
He might win.
Paul
Nick Lowe’s Marie Provost, and her hungry little dachshund.
Roy G.
I almost forgot ‘Old Blue’ a cover from the original off the American Anthology of Folk Music, sung by David Johansen and the Harry Smiths:
http://www.cmt.com/videos/david-johansen/133956/old-dog-blue.jhtml
Redshift
@Adolphus:
Yes! You beat me to it.
The Raven
Hee. Try Bill Sutton’s Stray Dog Man (warning: horrible audio, but listen to it anyway.)
Scamp Dog
How about Del Shannon’s “Runaway”? If you think about the lyrics, it makes a bit more sense for “I wonder where she will stay, my little runaway” to be about a dog instead of a girlfriend. Also, there’s nothing in the lyrics to contradict my theory, so I’m claiming it as a dog song. :)
ErikaF
No one’s mentioned “Delilah” by Queen (on the Innuendo Album). It was written by Freddie Mercury, and was about his pet cat.
Lojasmo
Dan Mangan
“So Much for Everyone”. A truly moving song. Every Person Here should listen.
The Fat Kate Middleton
Oh… nobody’s mentioned the song I have to sing to two year old granddaughter: ” … and Bingo was his naaame-o.” I have to sing that a LOT.
And my son (Daddy) just played “Me and My Arrow” three times last night, just reminiscing about his childhood days. He so loved the cartoon version of it.
Karen
“Dead Puppies” – Ogden Edsel
“Yellow Snow” – Frank Zappa
“Dog and Butterfly” Heart
MoeLarryAndJesus
“Me And My Friend The Cat,” Loudon Wainwright III.
maidhc
“Walking My Cat named Dog”, Norma Tanega
“Henry Thomas (My Cat Henry)”, Lovin’ Spoonful
“Tom Cat”, Rooftop Singers
THE
Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport by Rolf Harris has several animals in it. Mostly marsupials.
THE
The Unicorn Song by the Irish Rovers has lots of animals in it and Unicorns!.
THE
Puff the Magic Dragon, was definitely a pet.
imonlylurking
Cowboy Junkies did a song called Horse In The Country:
“I got a horse, out in the country-
I get to see him,, every second Sunday.
He comes when I call-yeah, he knows his name.
Someday I’ll saddle up, and the two of us will ride away.”
Diana
no-one seems yet to have mentioned Crosby Stills “Our House” (apologies if someone has):
Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
‘Cause of you
does it say something about most guys’ relationships to their pets that songs about dogs tend to be actually about dogs, but songs about cats tend to be metaphors?
anyhow, two comments:
Litlebritifrt2: you give new meaning to the term, “flip the bird.”
Violet: if you’re just mixing the sugar in with something else to bake it, it’s probably fine. If you were melting pure sugar for caramel or chocolate, you might need to adjust the melting point, because chances are it will melt faster at certain temperatures. For ordinary home baking, however, I’d not worry.
Skipjack
I happened to be listening to Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” when i stumbled on this thread. That’s not actually about a pet, unless you mean a pet human.
“Mandy” by Mannilow leapt to the top of my brain and I’m surprised DougJ didn’t include it even as a joke.
I’ve got one though that is openly about the singer’s cat with no subtext whatsoever, and it’s dumb as a bag of hammers but also one of my favorites of theirs. The coda sums up their musicality more than most anything else they’ve done:
Edgar by the Lunachicks. It’s awfully awesome, or the other way around, much like the band.
“Lookin’ at you with your loving eyes
So young but you seem so wise
Eatin’ food before Miso can
Chewin’ plastic on the garbage can
Love a nip when you wanna get high
Piss in the shower cause you’re so fly!”
sal
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Tom Jones
THE
Born Free was a song about a Lion.
priscianusjr
OK, here’s one nobody thought of — and I’ll bet you all know this tune, too: “The Whistler and His Dog” by Arthur Pryor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwrX-Skl4Bg
BongCrosby
I’d like to offer pub rocker John Eddie’s “It’s A Wonderful Life,” with the lyric:
I got a dog
And that dog ain’t got no fleas
You know he smells like a rose
At least he does to me
He don’t get in the trash
And yeah it’s understood
Don’t bring me the paper less the news is good
I swear
It’s a wonderful life
Basically, in the setup, the singer has a great girlfriend, great car and a great dog, and “it’s a wonderful life.”
At the end of the song, his girl runs off with some guy, they steal his car and run over his dog.
Okay, so maybe it’s not the most Thanksgiving-y song in the world.
Adolphus
@THE:
Which, btw, was written by children’s poet and all-around talented songster Shel Silverstein who also wrote I Saw Polly in a Porny with a Pony, which is about someone’s pet, I suppose.
Nina
Sugar Hiccup, Cocteau Twins
Rock Lobster, B52s
THE
@Adolphus:
it always makes me laugh that the Irish Rovers are a Canadian band
Nina
Bottle of Smoke, Pogues
Mnemosyne
@THE:
Back when I was a kid, the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago had a segment on one of the local kids’ shows and that was the theme song. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the Irish Rovers version, though.
Amir Khalid
200 comments listing songs about pets, and nobody’s thought to mention Bitch School by Spinal Tap? Tsk, tsk. you guys are slipping.
Eric k
Anyone mention Animals by Pink Floyd? An entire album, it even has barking dogs
Sourmash
Hello?!?! “The Weight”:
Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, “I will fix your rack, if you’ll take Jack, my dog.”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man.”
He said, “That’s okay, boy, won’t you feed him when you can.”
And John Hiatt’s “Dust down a country road”:
There’s an old dog staring
At the dust down a country road…
Cause he ain’t much good for nothin’
‘cept staring at the dust
Lord I wonder what he’s looking at
Sneaking up on us.
Two great ones.
celiadexter
“Bow Wow”, Johnny Guitar Watson.
someofparts
Nellie McKay – The Dog Song, or something like that.
Nina
And who can forget ‘Domestic Animal’–Jazz Butcher. Can’t post another link so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfZ3dyruvNY for the thing itself.
“Turkey in the straw” for a Happy Thanksgiving.
THE
Dances With Wolves
Hugh
Too many comments to see if this was included. Sorry if it’s a repeat.
Me and My Arrow – Harry Nilsson
Death Panel Truck
“Black Cat Moan,” Beck Bogert Appice.
Nylund
Isn’t “Used to love her” (but I had to kill her) By Guns’n’Roses about putting a dog to sleep?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXzr5Ip4vP0
quannlace
How about the old chestnut of all time-
“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?”
wrb
Catfish John?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81doCdMzwE
“mama said don’t go near that river
don’t be hanging round no catfish John
come the morning I’d always be there”
Guy really dug his fish.
wrb
Of course the is Little Red Rooster, but I don’t know if it counts being a song sung by a chicken rather than one about a chicken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaP0QuW5KOw
tworivers
The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon – Camper Van Beethoven
tworivers
Also, “Horse Out in the Rain“, by Moby Grape.
John Revolta
Cat in the Window- Petula Clark
Jealous Dogs- Pretenders
Catfish Blues- Muddy Waters
Big Electric Cat- Adrian Belew
Walkin’My Cat Named Dog- Dr. Hook
dj spellchecka
the story: “dog dreams”
No bad dog, no stay, no basement, no way, no choke chain, no dry food, no fetch game, no, no, no . . . no sit, lie down, roll over, shame…shame on you.
Me and Rex took the car….ha, ha, stay home. Stay.
We’re gonna go through everyone’s garbage and have the dinners we deserve.
We’re gonna find some great smelling bitches and see if they meant what they said from the end of the leash.
Dog dreams, dog dreams, please don’t hose us off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq6bkTOyikk