Dogs (Pink Floyd song)
| "Dogs" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Pink Floyd from the album Animals | |
| Released | 23 January 1977 |
| Recorded | April–November 1976 |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 17:04 |
| Label | Harvest Records (UK) Capitol Records (US) |
| Writer | Roger Waters and David Gilmour |
| Producer | Pink Floyd |
| Animals track listing | |
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"Dogs", originally composed as "You Gotta Be Crazy", is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on the album Animals in 1977.
Contents |
[edit] Musical composition
The song was written in 1974 by David Gilmour with the title "You Gotta Be Crazy". Waters modified the lyrics in some parts and changed the title to "Dogs". David Gilmour and Roger Waters share vocals in the song.
"Dogs" is the only song on Animals on which Gilmour sings.
[edit] Concept
The final verse explores a number of aspects of business life and how it compares to dogs, for example taking chances and being "trained not to spit in the fan", losing their individuality ("broken by trained personnel"), obeying their superiors ("fitted with collar and chain"), getting treats for good behaviour ("given a pat on the back"), being better than everyone else ("breaking away from the pack") and getting to know everyone but spending less time with family ("only a stranger at home"). Every line of this verse begins with the words "Who was", which prompted comparison to Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl".[1] (The sung lyric, "Who was given a pat on the back," was originally listed erroneously on the album sleeve—but not on the CD liner notes—as "Who was given a seat in the stand.")
[edit] Early versions
During 1974 performances of "You Gotta Be Crazy"—which can be heard on the bootleg album Getting Better all The Time, as well as the Immersion Box Set and the Experience Version of Wish You Were Here—David Gilmour would sing the song in a faster speed than the versions on the 1975 North American tour and the Animals album. "You Gotta Be Crazy" was about the problems one had to deal with in life. The lyrics were modified by the time the song was played live in 1975, and then the lyrics changed again when recording Animals.
Once in a while I would find something uncomfortable to sing. The first lot Roger wrote for "Dogs" when it was called "You Gotta Be Crazy", were just too many words to sing. ... "Dogs" had so many words, I physically couldn't get them in. [We] just cut out two-thirds of his words, to make it possible rather than impossible.
[edit] Personnel
- Roger Waters — lyrics, bass guitar, vocals, vocoder
- David Gilmour — music, vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Richard Wright — Fender-Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, Minimoog, ARP String Synthesizer, backing vocals
- Nick Mason — drums, percussion
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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