TS - Songs about cats or songs about dogs?

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I seriously doubt there are enough high-quality cat songs to offset the likely domination of Rufus Thomas "Can Your Monkey Do the Dog?" Hank Williams "Move it on Over" and George Clinton "Atomic Dog." But I'm interested in arguments to the contrary.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Thursday, 2 February 2006 00:38 (eighteen years ago) link

Dog songs are good and reliable, but I think cat songs are more interesting. I also think cats are more interesting than dogs, though.

The Cure, "Lovecats"
Weakerthans, "Plea From A Cat Named Virtue"
Red House Painters, "Wop-A-Din-Din"
Queen, "Cool Cat"
Ted Nugent, "Cat Scratch Fever"
Big Black, "Kitty Empire"
Prince, "Alphabet St."

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 2 February 2006 00:45 (eighteen years ago) link

i like cats and dogs equally, but this dog song is pretty good even if it was written by a pseudowoodpseudonymph.

Sadie-Joanna Newsom

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 2 February 2006 00:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Stray Cat Strut!

― musically (musically), Thursday, 2 February 2006 00:51 (eighteen years ago) link

as far as 60s psych goes, "Phenomenal Cat" and "Lucifer Sam" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Martha My Dear"

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 00:51 (eighteen years ago) link

"Prince, "Alphabet St."

uh, how is this song about cats exactly?

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 00:52 (eighteen years ago) link

"Cat! We need you to rap!"

"Leave My Kitten Alone" counts as both!

― phil d. (Phil D.), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:00 (eighteen years ago) link

But Cat is just the name of the rapper! Calling a bandmember out doesn't make the song about cats - that seems like a bit of a leap to me.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:02 (eighteen years ago) link

i need great songs about DOGS
Songs About Dogs?
Dogs v. Cats

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:03 (eighteen years ago) link

I mean when George Clinton calls out Bootsy on a song, does that make the song about shoes?

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Depending on how far down the sexual-metaphor avenue one wants to travel with this, there's a crapload of tasteless songs to choose from, such as "Pink Pussycat" by Devo and "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?" by the Cramps. On more neutral ground, Engineers have a B-side called, for whatever reason, "Cats of Justice". And there's always the immortal Cat-Shaped Hole In My Heart benefit compilation on Projekt.

On the canine front, "Hounds of Love" by Kate Bush and "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton spring to mind. Laurie Anderson has a few: "Running Dogs", "Walk the Dog", "Dog Show". Pet Shop Boys: "I Want A Dog." Mark Eitzel: "Seeing Eye Dog."

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:14 (eighteen years ago) link

There's a type of shoe called a bootsy?

x-post

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:16 (eighteen years ago) link

Other Prince songs about cats: "Scarlet Pussy," "P Control" ("oh, pussy!!!") and "Gett Off" ("something about a litter box with a mirror and a tongue inside").

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:18 (eighteen years ago) link

The trouble with these threads is that we always seem to blur the lines between songs that are about a given thing and those which just make reference to it. Which is fine, I suppose... but finding songs that address these animals as a topic is more challenging. I mean, does "Mammal" by They Might Be Giants count? They are a subset of the song's topic, after all.

Or maybe I'm just over-thinking this (probably).

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:21 (eighteen years ago) link

hmmm

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 2 February 2006 01:23 (eighteen years ago) link

oooh Scarlet Pussy is a good one!

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 02:25 (eighteen years ago) link

Cats dealt a disadvantage by the Monkees' "Shorty Blackwell." (Which actually was written about Micky Dolenz's cat.)

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 2 February 2006 03:23 (eighteen years ago) link

"La La La, He He Hee" is the ultimate Prince cat/dog track.

― Richj (Rich), Thursday, 2 February 2006 04:46 (eighteen years ago) link

dogs dealt a severe disadvantage by henry gross's "shannon" (which actually was written about his friend carl wilson's dog).

cats dealt 25 million points by the awesome "the cat came back."

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 2 February 2006 04:57 (eighteen years ago) link

CocoRosie's "Bear Hides and Buffalo" features a cat meowing throughout, but the song is not about kitties per se. It makes me miss my cat when it comes on the iPod, though. Aw, etc.

― brittle-lemon (brittle-lemon), Thursday, 2 February 2006 04:58 (eighteen years ago) link

cats dealt another 25 million points by peggy lee's "the siamese cat song."

cats win.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 2 February 2006 05:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Local H's Pack Up The Cats is very underrated.

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 2 February 2006 06:25 (eighteen years ago) link

herman düne, "black dog"

― sibsi (sibsi), Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Depending on how far down the sexual-metaphor avenue one wants to travel with this, there's a crapload of tasteless songs to choose from, such as "Pink Pussycat" by Devo and "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?" by the Cramps. On more neutral ground, Engineers have a B-side called, for whatever reason, "Cats of Justice". And there's always the immortal Cat-Shaped Hole In My Heart benefit compilation on Projekt.
On the canine front, "Hounds of Love" by Kate Bush and "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton spring to mind. Laurie Anderson has a few: "Running Dogs", "Walk the Dog", "Dog Show". Pet Shop Boys: "I Want A Dog." Mark Eitzel: "Seeing Eye Dog."

-- Myke. (spa...), February 2nd, 2006.
you rock for picking pet shop boys ( not chihuahua)

― retrogurl, Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:37 (eighteen years ago) link

puppy love
was dog a doughnut
and zz top ruff boy .lol

― retrogurl, Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:39 (eighteen years ago) link

I Intentionally Ran Over Your Dog

YOU'RE DOG WAS YOUR ONLY FRIEND
YOU DEPEND YOUR LIFE SAVING FIXING IT'S BROKEN LEG
YOU LOVED IT MORE THAN YOU'RE PARENTS LOVED YOU
AND THEN I RAN IT OVER

YOUR DOG WAS DUMB, AND NOW IT'S DEAD
MY TIRE-TRACKS ARE TATTOOED ON IT'S HEAD
MY TIRE-TRACKS ARE TATTOOED ON IT'S HEAD

I DRAGGED IT 50 YARDS DOWN THE STREET
AND YOU RAN AFTER ME IN TEARS
I ALMOST CRASHED BECAUSE I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD
THEN I TURNED AROUND, AND TRIED TO HIT YOU

YOUR DOG WAS DUMB, AND NOW IT'S DEAD
MY TIRE-TRACKS ARE TATTOOED ON IT'S HEAD
MY TIRE-TRACKS ARE TATTOOED ON IT'S HEAD

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:40 (eighteen years ago) link

Dogs, Terry Jacks' brilliantly titled "Put The Bone In" wins it by a wet nose.

All those who have tears, prepare to shed them now:

http://media.putfile.com/Terry-Jacks---Put-The-Bone-In

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:44 (eighteen years ago) link

johnny cash, "dirty old egg-sucking dog."

cats still win, though.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 2 February 2006 13:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Might be fun to expand the thread into a nonspecific canine vs. feline thing - lotsa good songs out there about lions and tigers and ~~bears~~ wolves that could alter the outcome.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 2 February 2006 15:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Cats win cuz of Funkadelic's "The Rat Kissed the Cat"

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 16:33 (eighteen years ago) link

Chester by Essex Green

― Romolo Tobias, Thursday, 2 February 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Possibly one way to settle the debate is, not by seeing which animal has more songs, but thinking about whether the cat or the dog lends itself to more metaphors. As much as I like dogs, it does seem to be that, in the early going, dogs are mostly used in these songs to suggest loyalty or companionship. Cats are good for sexual meanings, independence, and...what else?

― brittle-lemon (brittle-lemon), Thursday, 2 February 2006 16:43 (eighteen years ago) link

broadcast - "black cat"

― inert false cat (sleep), Thursday, 2 February 2006 16:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Old 97s, "Murder (Or a Heart Attack)" -- about Rhett's cat, or so I heard

― belle haleine, Thursday, 2 February 2006 17:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Definitely, Rhett Miller said as much as a show.

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 2 February 2006 18:05 (eighteen years ago) link

Sorry, s/b "at a show".

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 2 February 2006 18:09 (eighteen years ago) link

Gene Vincent - Cat Man

Dirtbombs - The Sharpest Claws, & also (I'm not your) Scratching Post

― autovac (autovac), Thursday, 2 February 2006 19:35 (eighteen years ago) link

"Cats are good for sexual meanings, independence, and...what else?"

BAD LUCK, Egyptian mythology, magic/witches/spirits, etc.

Another great one is Muddy Waters' "Tom Cat"

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 February 2006 20:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Dogs, Terry Jacks' brilliantly titled "Put The Bone In" wins it by a wet nose.

OMFG. Just listened to the link. I'm speechless.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 2 February 2006 23:34 (eighteen years ago) link

As for the theory that dogs are somehow a less versatile symbol than cats, I'd like to remind the jury of "Hellhound on my Trail", "The Hungry Wolf" (following the lead of expanding the question to all sorts of canids and felids), "Howling at the Moon" and for fucks sake it's right there in the header "Atomic Dog."

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Friday, 3 February 2006 02:31 (eighteen years ago) link

adam and the ants dog eat dog
janet jackson black cat
swoop rockdog
prodigy smack my bitch up .lol.

― retroboy, Friday, 3 February 2006 02:49 (eighteen years ago) link

"The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel.

...what?

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Friday, 3 February 2006 02:58 (eighteen years ago) link

"Cool for Cats," Squeeze
"What's New Pussycat," Tom Jones (Whoooaaa-uh-wo-oooaahhhh)
"Black Cat on the Line," Cephas and Wiggins

― novamax (novamax), Friday, 3 February 2006 14:22 (eighteen years ago) link

Uh, how about Big Mama Thornton / Elvis "You Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog"? And Zep's "Black Dog"? And, well, just about anything by Snoop Dogg (not to mention The Buckinghams' "Ballad of Snoopy And The Red Baron")? And, of course, "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo"? And the dog in "Mr. Bojangles"? And "If Dogs Run Free"? And Was (Not Was)'s "What Up, Dog"? And, a great, great song, Happy & Artie Traum's "The Hungry Dogs Of New Mexico"? And, far more obscurely, Juana Molina's great "El Perro", The Low Road's "Just Another Dog In This Town", and the appearance of Dr. Buzzard's cockapoo in "I'll Always Have A Smile For You"?

Dogs win.

But I have to say that I enjoy "A Plea From A Cat Named Virtute" and "Murder (Or A Heart Attack)" a whole lot. And "Stray Cat Blues". But with cats, you have to deal with "Cats", and lots of points come off for that.

― Vornado, Friday, 3 February 2006 17:45 (eighteen years ago) link

jacktronix - 'kitty kitty bang bang' with sounds like cats meowing

― nique (nique), Friday, 3 February 2006 21:03 (eighteen years ago) link

"Hound Dog," great as it is, is cancelled out by the answer track "Bear Cat."

And I say this as a dog booster.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Saturday, 4 February 2006 02:35 (eighteen years ago) link

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