dog days of summer

11 Things: Dog days of summer

Thursday, August 23, 2007

1. "Bulldog Front" (Fugazi, "13 Songs")

"My analysis: it's time to harvest the crust from your eyes ..."

Theme: General awareness.
Dedicated to: Generals (and the general population).

2. "Bulldog Skin" (Guided by Voices, "Mag Earwhig!")

"I heard the sound of certain trouble on the way ..."

Theme: General toughness.
Dedicated to: Anyone (who's ever been picked on).

3. "Dogs" (Pink Floyd, "Animals")

"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 ..."

Theme: General management.
Dedicated to: Suits (and ties).

4. "Dog Eat Dog" (AC/DC, "Let There Be Rock")

"It's a lie/ That's the truth ..."

Theme: General competition.
Dedicated to: A time when rock ROCKED (and Bon Scott).

5. "Too Many Puppies" (Primus, "Frizzle Fry")

"Too many puppies with guns in their hands/ Too many puppies in foreign lands ..."

Theme: General insanity.
Dedicated to: El Sobrante.

6. "Jingle of a Dog's Collar" (Butthole Surfers, "Electriclarryland")

"What do they know about love ..."

Theme: General addiction.
Dedicated to: Dedication.

7. "Hair of the Dog" (Bauhaus, "Mask")

"The man who was merciless tortured by thoughts/ Kept on thinking/ The man who was crippled with concern/ Kept on caring ..."

Theme: Genuine conundrums.
Dedicated to: Writers (who write to stop writing).

8. "Black Dog" (Led Zeppelin, "Led Zeppelin IV")

"Didn't take too long 'fore I found out/ What people mean by down and out ..."

Theme: General desperation.
Dedicated to: Lez Zeppelin (and Dread Zeppelin).

9. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (The Stooges, "The Stooges")

"And now I'm ready to close my mind/ And now I'm ready to feel your hand ..."

Theme: Generally can't explain it here.
Dedicated to: Lovers (and dog lovers).

10. "Rain Dogs" (Tom Waits, "Rain Dogs")

"Inside a broken clock, splashing the wine with all the rain dogs/ Taxi, we'd rather walk, huddle a doorway with the rain dogs ..."

Theme: Genuinely (lost).
Dedicated to: Being (found).

11. "Hound Dog" (Elvis Presley, B-side of "Don't Be Cruel")

"Ya, they said you was high classed/ well, that was just a lie ..."

Theme: Genuine blues.
Dedicated to: The hound dogs who were about to write (and tell me all about Big Mama Thornton, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller).

-Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/23/NSDIRLUHU.DTL

This article appeared on page G - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle