Dogs - The Pink Floyd

Song Choice:- I simply love 'Dogs' from the 1977 Pink Floyd Album 'Animals'. It's an album that's very much overlooked as it's bookended by there 1975 Album 'Wish you were here' and their 1979 Double Album 'The Wall' - It's every bit as good and if not better in my opinion and well worth a visit just for 'Dogs' and 'Sheep' which are amongst my all-time favourite tracks.

I totally agree with Waters lyrics in his analysis of business acumen and impending loneliness brought on by living in a 'Dog-Eat-Dog' world and to that end I beleive we are ALL dogs.

You see everyone's crazy in one way or another and also very needy but we still look after #1 when it really matters and our natural instincts always prevail.

Lyrics:- Dogs (Waters, Gilmour) 17:06

You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need.
You gotta sleep on your toes, and when you're on the street,
You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed.
And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight,
You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.

And after a while, you can work on points for style.
Like the club tie, and the firm handshake,
A certain look in the eye and an easy smile.
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to,
So that when they turn their backs on you,
You'll get the chance to put the knife in.

And yes as the paranoia sets in and the years roll by it does get tougher, believe me, and it's far too easy to alienate everyone around you if you are not careful and this loneliness leads to destruction I've found.

You gotta keep one eye looking over your shoulder.
You know it's going to get harder, and harder, and harder as you get older.
And in the end you'll pack up and fly down south,
Hide your head in the sand,
Just another sad old man,
All alone and dying of cancer.

And when you loose control, you'll reap the harvest you have sown.
And as the fear grows, the bad blood slows and turns to stone.
And it's too late to lose the weight you used to need to throw around.
So have a good drown, as you go down, all alone,
Dragged down by the stone.

And then when it really gets really tough you stop believing everyone, including yourself and hence believe everyone else is a Dog too.

I gotta admit that I'm a little bit confused.
Sometimes it seems to me as if I'm just being used.
Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise.
If I don't stand my own ground, how can I find my way out of this
maze?

Deaf, dumb, and blind, you just keep on pretending
That everyone's expendable and no-one has a real friend.
And it seems to you the thing to do would be to isolate the winner
And everything's done under the sun,
And you believe at heart, everyone's a killer.

Waters vitriolic rant finishes off with a very harsh set of comments on how folk get groomed to destruction by those who are empowered around them, to finally self-destruct under the pressure projected onto them by their world around them. My word he was bitter!

Who was born in a house full of pain.
Who was trained not to spit in the fan.
Who was told what to do by the man.
Who was broken by trained personnel.
Who was fitted with collar and chain.
Who was given a pat on the back.
Who was breaking away from the pack.
Who was only a stranger at home.
Who was ground down in the end.
Who was found dead on the phone.
Who was dragged down by the stone.

It's worth thinking on though, and as you listen to 'Dogs' or 'Sheep', consider why you are chasing with the pack and not out there fighting your own battles. Getting dragged down by someone else's stone isn't a good way to spend your time and I can smell DS not BS a mile off...when it comes to marking my territory.

Tell me, are you a Dog? Are you fighting? Are you getting dragged down?

More tomorrow...

Rory Coleman - 989 Marathons - 243 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,519 Days' Alcohol Free

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Caerdydd, Cymru