As most of you know, I’m a huge fan of dogs and animals in general. Will I hug a King Cobra? No, but I do love animals. Dogs (yes, I’m counting the prairie variety as well) are part of that list, and I’ve probably been closer to dogs than to any other animal. I started to think…hmmm…what are some songs that were about dogs? I’ll keep this brief except for the Neil Young description…he rambles a bit.
The Bottle Rockets – I Love My Dog
The Bottle Rockets came out of Festus, Missouri, in the early 1990s. They were part of the wave that later got labeled alt-country. At the time, it was just a bunch of bands mixing country, rock, and whatever else they grew up on. Brian Henneman had been around the scene already, even doing a stint as a guitar tech and occasional player for Uncle Tupelo, which put him right in the middle of that movement as it was forming.
Just a person, and their dog, and the sense that the dog might be the most dependable thing in their life. There is some humor in this, but it never turns into a jokey kind of song. I also love the jangle that came with this song. I’m going to revisit this band in the future. It’s hard to resist this video, especially with Carlene Carter and her dog Sparky starting it off!
This is such a cool video and song. Many happy humans, along with their owners.
Cat Stevens – I Love My Dog
This song was released in 1966 as a single and the following year on Stevens’ debut album Matthew and Son. He wrote the lyrics to the music of Yusef Lateef’s song The Plum Blossom. He credited the song to Lateef, and they shared the songwriting royalties. The song peaked at #28 in the UK, #47 in Canada, and #118 on the Billboard 100 in 1966.
Beatles – Martha My Dear
Our Saint Bernard was named after this song. Paul McCartney wrote this song about his English Sheepdog. Paul got the dog in 1966, and Martha lived a long life with Paul until 1981. Paul had Martha’s descendants, but I’m not sure about them currently. Paul has said that the riff to this song is one of the most difficult ones he came up with on piano. The song has a special place in my household. In fact, she is under my feet now as I type this.
Neil Young – Old King
This one is about Neil’s dog named Elvis. It was released in 1992 on the Harvest Moon album. This Neil Young quote is from a concert talking about this song. It’s rambling…but it’s Neil!
Neil Young: “This a song about my dog. His name is Elvis. Elvis is riding on Jimi Hendrix’s bus now. He traveled with me for many years. Well, I changed his name to ‘King’ in the song to avoid any confusion. Elvis had quite a nose. That was his whole thing, was his nose. But, you know, he was very sensitive about it. I’ll tell you a little story about him. He used to go on the road with me all the time, and, you know, he kind of smelled like a hound, ’cause… he was a hound. But it smelled good to him, and uh, you know, we would take him to a veterinarian’s place or something, and they’d clean him up a little bit so when he got on the bus, he wasn’t too comfy, you know?
After a while we all kind of got used to each other on the bus, so it was okay, but right at first he was a little strong, so. . . so anyway, once, uh, someone took him that usually doesn’t take him and took him to some fifi dog place. He came back smelling, uh, kinda like some bad toilet paper or something? Non-environmental and all. It had this odor to it that was like,(groaning)’oh no, wow.’ He kind of smelled like one of those things that hang on people’s mirrors, you know, that smell? Anyway, it was bad for me, but to him it was hell, ’cause he was, you know, sensitive.
And uh, so I was sleeping on the side of the road, I was on my way out to Eureka, California to play this gigantic gig… And ah, uh, you know, he woke me up, it was about six o’clock in the morning, I get this nose, you know, ‘snnnfff, snnnffff, snnff, snnff,’ He woke me up… I’m going, ‘What’s happening?
It’s this, this big nose, it’s lookin’ at me, kinda, you know, desperate. You know, I said, ‘God, you smell terrible. You stink.’ And he knew he stunk. He wanted off the bus. He said, ‘I want to go roll in some cowshit on the side of the road. So, you know, he was a smart dog, and he was purebred, actually, he was a beautiful hound, and uh, he had all his senses that he needed, he knew how to get back. You know, hounds will circle, uh, an area, and keep going in wider and wider circles, and they count how many times, somehow they know how many times they’ve been around it, so when they come back in they just count it like the, like the lifelines on a tree or somethin’, you know, you just come right back in and, right to the core and that’s where you started from, you know. Anyway, he knew that. He taught me that. And uh, so, I said, ‘Okay Elvis, take a shot.
He took off, I let him go. And uh, there’s only one thing that can go wrong if you do that. That’s if it rains, then, and then he can’t find his way back, ’cause he can’t smell over the little rains, you know. He just loses it. So, he lost it, he got lost. It’s like three o’clock in the afternoon, we’re still waiting for him to come back, and we gotta go to the gig pretty soon or we’re gonna be late, you know, and I’m going, ‘Shit, I lost my dog. What am I gonna tell everybody?’ You know, I can’t leave him behind, I can’t, you know, what can I do? So I went out hunting for him.
There was a railroad track there, and I walked up and down the railroad track. I was going all by myself up there, from the railroad track, (in a loud, anguished shriek) ‘Elvis!!!!’ And uh, I couldn’t hear a thing, not a hound around, and uh, so I gave up after a while, ’cause this Rolling Stone guy was following me around, taking random notes. You know, I saw him write it down, you know, I was out on this railroad track in the middle of nowhere yelling out Elvis, and uh, so I got, I knew that wouldn’t be good for my image.
“So I went back to the bus, and uh, I got out my lucky shirt, which I don’t have with me tonight, you may have noticed. I know, but it’s too hot for my lucky shirt. So anyway, I, he, I took it out there, and I put it down by the bowl, put his bowl out there, and left the shirt; he’d come back eventually, you know, find his way back to the shirt. And I’d figured after the gig I could come back. So, I get back on the bus to take off. So I’m leaving, and this guy in a pick up truck pulls up and says, ‘Hey Neil, what’re you doing?’ Well, so, I told him, I’m not gonna tell it again here, I told him, and then, uh, then uh, he said ‘Well that’s okay, Neil, I’ll, me and, I’ll go get my wife, and we’ll wait, we’ll wait right here until he comes back, and then we’ll bring him to you in Eureka.’
“I said, ‘Wow, what a great guy, you’re, you’re great.’ Yeah, so he did. You know, so I took off, and uh, just before, uh, I was about half an hour late – nothin’ like Guns n’ Roses or nothin’, but uh. . . but I lost my dog… What did they lose, you know what I mean? So, uh, so I, so I got there. Ah, hey, that’s rock n’ roll, you gotta do what you do. And ah, you know, just as I was going on he called me and said they found him.
Pink Floyd – Seamus
This blues song goes beyond writing a song about a dog. It features a dog singing! This song was on the 1971 album Meddle. The band was moving away from the early psychedelic singles and into longer, more intricate pieces, and this track, though, shows another side built around a simple, short blues pattern.
The song was about and featured Steve Marriott’s dog Seamus, whom Gilmour was dog-sitting for. Gilmour played the harmonica while Seamus was howling away. So that I’m straight on this…seventies rock stars dog sat! I would have never guessed.
I’m playing this loud…Martha is looking around everywhere.
***BONUS***
Lobo – Me and You and A Dog Named Boo
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