Exactly why do people hate Dog Years again?

[Segue Myles]

I liked this song when it first came out. I thought it was different, catchy.

 

I hadn't listened to it for quite sometime until last summer when our 12 year old dog died. He had passed away in the night and I found him in the morning. He was my rock through some difficult times.

 

Man, to listen to this song that day - well - it made me chuckle, laugh, cry. That's when I realized the purpose of this song - for me anyway. It helped through the first few days. It's just a silly song, nothing more and nothing less. So what if it's cheesy. It brought a smile to my face that day when I was hurting......I'm fairly certain that even Rush is allowed to do that from time to time......They don't always have to be about alienations and reservations, self reflections and inspirations. They don't always have to be about retrospectives and worldly perspectives. They don't have to be about the past, present, or future. They can just be...silly...and like everything else they have attempted in their careers...that's ok...........

 

http://www.reinventioninc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/stuart_smalley_al_franken-620x300.jpg

 

Awwww

[savagegrace26]

I could accept it being a funny song if it was just trying to be a funny song...but Neil tried to turn it into a philosphical treatise on the perception of time...

[KennyLee]

It was a swing and a miss. No big deal. They can't all be gems... I mean most of them are gems but if they try for something clever and fail, they fail. They know when they missed the mark.

 

Dog Years was a fail. Case closed.

[LedRush]

I think it's musically very well done. The lyrics are just kind of there for me and don't bother me or detract from the music. I do love the "people look to Sirius" line although I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean on a literal level. That wordplay is cool.

Sirius is also known as the "dog star" in the constellation Canis Major (The Great Dog).

 

Not their most horrendous song - that's probably Anagram. The line "seven years go by as one" has always resonated with me, especially as I get older.

 

Edit: add Canis Major

 

I know what Sirius is. It's also the brightest star in the night sky. But what does people look to Sirius mean? Does it have any meaning in itself? Or did he write that just for the "look too serious" wordplay?

 

The dog days of summer are called that because of a belief that Sirius somehow caused them. People look to Sirius as the cause of the dog days, and people look too serious because it is viewed as a bad time of the year where evil things happen.

[goose]

Rush is my favorite band ever, so I can understand a fan trying to defend them to detractors. Hooooowever: The lyrics of Dog Years are NOT witty, or ironic, or funny, in my opinion. They are just general things Neil knows about dogs tossed together in a salad bowl and tossed around.

 

"Chasing cars in doggy heaven." Really?

 

"When all the bones are buried, there is barely time to go outside and play." Why in the hell is the dog burying bones INSIDE to begin with?

 

Musically, it's okay. The slower "tortoise" section is really quite well done. The lyrics just suck the enjoyment out of the song for me.

 

Ok...the fact the doggies bury bones inside their homes makes me like this song even more...

It makes me wonder if he's only talking about dogs, or maybe it's a playful jab at human behavior. Gee, maybe.

[goose]

I think it's musically very well done. The lyrics are just kind of there for me and don't bother me or detract from the music. I do love the "people look to Sirius" line although I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean on a literal level. That wordplay is cool.

Sirius is also known as the "dog star" in the constellation Canis Major (The Great Dog).

 

Not their most horrendous song - that's probably Anagram. The line "seven years go by as one" has always resonated with me, especially as I get older.

 

Edit: add Canis Major

 

I know what Sirius is. It's also the brightest star in the night sky. But what does people look to Sirius mean? Does it have any meaning in itself? Or did he write that just for the "look too serious" wordplay?

 

The dog days of summer are called that because of a belief that Sirius somehow caused them. People look to Sirius as the cause of the dog days, and people look too serious because it is viewed as a bad time of the year where evil things happen.

And good things, like the flooding of the Nile river. The phrase is a remarkably compact comment on the superstitious nature of Man.

[goose]

I could accept it being a funny song if it was just trying to be a funny song...but Neil tried to turn it into a philosphical treatise on the perception of time...

Wrong.

 

It's a tongue in cheek commentary on the dilemma of the Modern Man. In that sense, it succeeds in many ways.

 

ETA: It does seem that it fails in its accessibility. Too esoteric, even for RUSH fans.

Edited July 22, 2014 by goose

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

I could accept it being a funny song if it was just trying to be a funny song...but Neil tried to turn it into a philosphical treatise on the perception of time...

Wrong.

 

It's a tongue in cheek commentary on the dilemma of the Modern Man. In that sense, it succeeds in many ways.

 

ETA: It does seem that it fails in its accessibility. Too esoteric, even for RUSH fans.

Dog Years is not too esoteric, anyone in the world could understand what he's saying if they read the lyrics

[goose]

I could accept it being a funny song if it was just trying to be a funny song...but Neil tried to turn it into a philosphical treatise on the perception of time...

Wrong.

 

It's a tongue in cheek commentary on the dilemma of the Modern Man. In that sense, it succeeds in many ways.

 

ETA: It does seem that it fails in its accessibility. Too esoteric, even for RUSH fans.

Dog Years is not too esoteric, anyone in the world could understand what he's saying if they read the lyrics

Well, judging on the TRF posts over the years asking about Sirius, why Neil thinks dogs only think in terms of low-level buzzing, why Neil was so lazy as to write "tail between his ears" simply in order to make a rhyme...I think you may be wrong.

[bobo32]

 

 

It shouldn't need to be said, but here's why this song doesn't work:

 

In a dog's life

A year is really more like seven

And all too soon a canine

Will be chasing cars in doggie heaven

 

It seems to me

As we make our own few circles 'round the sun

We get it backwards

And our seven years go by like one

 

Dog years --- It's the season of the itch

Dog years --- With every scratch it reappears

 

In the dog days

People look to Sirius

Dogs cry for the moon

But these connections are mysterious

 

It seems to me

While it's true that every dog will have his day

When all the bones are buried

There is barely time to go outside and play

 

Dog years --- It's the season of the itch

Dog years --- With every scratch it reappears

Dog years --- For every sad son of a bitch

Dog years --- With his tail between his ears

 

I'd rather be a tortoise from Galapagos

Or a span of geological time

Than be living in these dog years

 

In a dog's brain

A constant buzz of low-level static

One sniff at the hydrant

And the answer is automatic

 

It seems to me

As well make our own few circles 'round the block

We've lost our senses

For the higher-level static of talk

This is exactly why I love this song.

Typical goober lazyness. The only way to be lazier is to post the song and type "See?" He did spare you all a five paragraph snoosefest though.

Truthfully, none of the tunes on T4E seem at all personal or intimate. From the detached aloofness of the title track and "Totem", to the can't-think-of-a-topic mentality of "Dog Years", "Half the World", and "Color of Right", to the attempt-to-capture-the-social-buzz of "Virtuality", the album just falls flat.

 

Even something as seemingly initmate as "Resist" is built around an unoriginal thought (first penned by Oscar Wilde) and I really don;t believe Neil has had any trouble resisting temptation to any great extent. Neil and Oscar Wilde are diametric opposites in personality, whimsy, and where they stick their cocks.

 

In fact, the only songs with even a shred of personal depth and "flesh and blood and fire" are "Time and Motion" and "Carve Away the Stone".

 

Compared with the open-heart surgery emotion of VT and the powerful explorarion of gender identity of CP, T4E comes across as Neil clutching at lyrical straws and, ultimately, sinking.

Good grief have a beer chill out or get some sleep. The album has many high points and the song is light hearted look at how a dog and mans life differ. If I remember the story right, they wrote this while slightly hung over so take it for what it's worth. On the other hand lay off Resist, Half The World and the title track. They are well written and hAve wonderful messages that are delivered in classic rush artistry

[Spaghetti Lee]

On the other hand lay off Half The World and the title track. They are well written and hAve wonderful messages that are delivered in classic rush artistry

 

"Half the World" f'n sucks. Sucks hard. As in colostomy drainage suckage. Yep, that's the image that "Half the World" imparts on the mind. And ears. Yuk.

[The400Boys]

it's meaningless.

Here are one person's thoughts:

http://serene-musing...s-analysis.html

Edited October 21, 2020 by The400Boys

[Mithrandir]

it's meaningless.

Here are one person's thoughts:

http://serene-musing...s-analysis.html

YES! f***ing awesome analysis!!!

[The400Boys]

I will add one more idea regarding the song: There's the analogy about how the farmer's oxen have to have equal strength so that the plow moves straight. While I like it, this was not the best pairing between music and lyrics. (And that is why some people above find the line about the turtle from the Galapagos partially redeeming -- there's less music so it's less of a mismatch)

 

Had the words been in a different format -- printed in a poetry book; spoken by a beatnik with bongo drums (like that episode of the Flintstones) -- it might have come off better.

[Texas King]

Lyrics are really bad.

Musically it's an OK song.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Texas King

[Nova Carmina]

it's meaningless.

Here are one person's thoughts:

http://serene-musing...s-analysis.html

 

Is it possible this guy has never heard Donovan's "Season of the Witch"? That song is a much more plausible lyrical allusion for "season of the itch" than Marilyn Monroe's film, the number seven notwithstanding.

 

Here's my criticism of "Dog Years" -- I can remember almost nothing about it. Even reading the lyrics again in that guy's analysis brought back no memories of the chorus, no snatch of the guitar riff, no catchy intro, no quirky line delivery, nothing. This song is eminently forgettable.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Lyrics are really bad.

Musically it's an OK song.

 

That’s pretty much where I am.

 

I know the lyrics were meant to be playful but I’m just not feeling them that way.

[_hi_water._]

Music: 9.50

Vocals: 9

Lyrics: 7.50

Production: 10

 

Total: 36.00/40.00

90% (A-)

Edited October 22, 2020 by _hi_water._

[driventotheedge]

Music: 9.50

Vocals: 9

Lyrics: 7.50

Production: 10

 

Total: 36.00/40.00

90% (A-)

Production on T4E is so damned good. Last well produced Rush album imo.

[zepphead]

Music: 9.50

Vocals: 9

Lyrics: 7.50

Production: 10

 

Total: 36.00/40.00

90% (A-)

Production on T4E is so damned good. Last well produced Rush album imo.

I agree totally about the production on T4E.

Had they decided as a hidden bonus track to record 10 mins of me, breaking wind into a megaphone, the production would have been spot on. It would not have made it a good song though.

(I hasten to add .... don't go hunting for that bonus track .... it sadly didn't happen. )

Dog Years is just a forgettable song.

Edited October 22, 2020 by zepphead

[goose]

Lyrics are really bad.

Musically it's an OK song.

 

That’s pretty much where I am.

 

I know the lyrics were meant to be playful but I’m just not feeling them that way.

And I find that strange. There are so many puns, what else could be the intent.

 

Then again, for me there's the "tortoise from Galapagos" part, which throws a bit of a wrench in things. I still enjoy the song for what it is, much more than say the sappy stuff like Half the World or Resist.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Lyrics are really bad.

Musically it's an OK song.

 

That’s pretty much where I am.

 

I know the lyrics were meant to be playful but I’m just not feeling them that way.

And I find that strange. There are so many puns, what else could be the intent.

 

Then again, for me there's the "tortoise from Galapagos" part, which throws a bit of a wrench in things. I still enjoy the song for what it is, much more than say the sappy stuff like Half the World or Resist.

 

What I meant was: The lyrics are meant to be playful but I’m not feeling particularly playful listening to them. I always thought Neil was trying TOO hard to be playful instead of them being written in a fun way.

[_hi_water._]

This was one of the more creative songs on TFE IMO

[JARG]

It's a fun romp. Another in Peart's "I think a lot about aging" series of songs.

[_hi_water._]

It's a fun romp. Another in Peart's "I think a lot about aging" series of songs.