Dogs (song) 2622039 223833208 2008-07-06T01:30:11Z Parsecboy 1879095 moved [[Dogs (Pink Floyd song)]] to [[Dogs (song)]]: needless disambiguation; per request at [[WP:RM]] {{Refimprove|date=April 2008}} {{Song_infobox | Name = Dogs | Cover = | Artist = [[Pink Floyd]] | Album = [[Animals (album)|Animals]] | Released = [[January 23]] [[1977]] | track_no = 2 | Recorded = April-November [[1976]] | Genre = [[Progressive rock]] | Length = 17:04 | Writer = [[Roger Waters]] and [[David Gilmour]] | Label = [[Harvest Records]] (UK)<br />[[Capitol Records]] (US) | Producer = Pink Floyd | Tracks = #"[[Pigs on the Wing|Pigs on the Wing 1]]" #"Dogs" #"[[Pigs (Three Different Ones)]]" #"[[Sheep (song)|Sheep]]" #"[[Pigs on the Wing|Pigs on the Wing 2]]"}} "'''Dogs'''", originally composed as '''"You Gotta Be Crazy"''', is a song by the [[England|English]] [[progressive rock]] band [[Pink Floyd]]. It was released on the album ''[[Animals (album)|Animals]]'' in [[1977]]. [[Dog]]s are used to represent the megalomaniacal businessmen who destroy themselves and those around them by obsessing over their egos and their careers. During the part which includes Rick Wright's synth solo, the sounds of dogs barking can be heard; this sound effect was created by processing the sound using a [[vocoder]]. Guitarist David Gilmour and bassist Roger Waters share vocal duties in the song. Gilmour sings the majority of the song, but Waters takes over during the last two verses. On performances of the track on the band's 1977 "In the Flesh" tour, Gilmour would sing almost all of the song except for the last verse, use electric guitar for the whole track (instead of the acoustic guitars) and performed an extra guitar solo. == Concept == {{Original research|date=February 2008}}[[Dog]]s are used to represent the megalomaniacal businessmen who destroy themselves and those around them by obsessing over their egos and their careers. A number of comparisons are made and metaphors used to show how close these businessmen are with dogs, for example "Got to be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed" the meat representing deals and opportunities for the businessmen. It is a long, increasingly haunting song at over seventeen minutes. The final verse explores a number of aspects of business life and how it compares to dogs, for example taking chances and being trained "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 word "Who", which prompted comparison to Allen Ginsberg's poem [[Howl]]<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:jzfpxzldldhe Review of the song Dogs], [[Allmusic]]</ref>. The song concludes with these "Dogs" working themselves to death until they are "found dead on the phone" having been dragged down by "the stone", a metaphor for "the weight they used to need to throw around". ==Early versions== During their tour in 1974 Pink Floyd played three new songs in the first half of the shows, followed by the whole of the ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'' album. Those three new songs were "You Gotta Be Crazy" (which would later become "Dogs"), "[[Shine On You Crazy Diamond]]" and "Raving And Drooling" (which would later become "[[Sheep (song)|Sheep]]"). During 1974 performances of "You Gotta Be Crazy", [[David Gilmour]] would sing the song in a faster speed than the versions on the 1975 US tour and the ''[[Animals (album)|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 (album)|Animals]]''. Both "You Gotta Be Crazy" and "Raving And Drooling" were originally planned to be on the album following the tour ''[[Wish You Were Here (album)|Wish You Were Here]]'', but the plans were changed (which later became a point of dispute between Gilmour and Waters, as an early sign of their later animosity) and they both ended up in different forms on ''[[Animals (album)|Animals]]''. During live performances as part of Roger Waters' recent solo tours, he and the other musicians would play a hand of poker during the breakdown in the middle of the song. David Gilmour's vocal parts are sung by [[Jon Carin]]. == Trivia == * The acoustic guitar in the beginning of the song was played by Gilmour in D standard tuning, meaning the guitar strings would be tuned as DGCFAD. * The main guitar solos are performed on two guitars harmonising, in the original recording both of these were played by David Gilmour and then played over one another. * The acoustic guitar and dog barking section of the song was featured on the TV show [[WKRP in Cincinnati]] on the episode "Turkey's Away". ==Cover Version== *A cover of "Dogs" by Los Angeles based Pink Floyd tribute band Which One's Pink? appears on 2003 Pink Floyd tribute album ''[[A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd]]'' == Personnel == *[[Roger Waters]] - [[Bass guitar]], [[singer|vocals]] *[[David Gilmour]] - [[Vocals]], [[acoustic guitar|acoustic]] and [[Fender Telecaster]] [[electric guitar]]s *[[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]] - [[Rhodes piano|Fender-Rhodes piano]], [[Hammond organ]], [[Mini-Moog Synthesizers]], [[ARP String Synthesizer]], [[backing vocals]] *[[Nick Mason]] - [[drum kit|drums]], [[percussion]] == Sample == {{multi-listen start}} {{multi-listen item|filename=Dogs.ogg|title="Dogs"|description=|format=[[Ogg]]}} {{multi-listen end}} ==External links== *[http://home.att.net/~chuckayoub/pink_floyd/lyrics/dogs.html Dogs Lyrics] *[http://pinkfloydhyperbase.dk/unreleased/index.html#yougotta You Gotta Be Crazy] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:1977 songs]] [[Category:Pink Floyd songs|Dogs]] [[Category:Dog songs]] [[Category:Progressive rock songs]] [[ca:Dogs]] [[fi:Dogs (kappale)]] [[fr:Dogs (chanson de Pink Floyd)]] [[hu:Dogs]]