Now that opening line means a lot of things.For starters, this is what my Dad said to me when he glanced at the playlist.The song playing was 'Dogs' from the album 'Animals'."A 17-minute song", he said,"you've got to be crazy!Is it even legal to make songs that long?".Wise guy,my Dad!Usually it's me who comes up with such wisecracks,but I'm not easily amused when listening to Floyd.Anyway,call it serendipity or whatever,the song too starts with the same line,"You gotta be crazy,you gotta have a real need..." ,so for a second I wondered, did Dad intend it to be that witty?naah...he never heard of Floyd, so he was indeed astonished.
I,for one, had listened to Meddle before Animals, so I had the experience of a 23-minute number with me and the length of the song was certainly not what I had in mind when venturing out to listen to this one. However,I did find the title interesting.What could a song named Dogs be about? The song starts off with a catchy,fast paced acoustic guitar rhythm before the vocals start.Gilmour's mark is all over the song as it relies heavil on the guitar and contains many beautiful solos.In that sense, I think it's one of Floyd's underrated songs.The entire album in fact,focuses much more on music than perhaps any other Floyd album,and if it wasn't for Waters' amazing play of words, one could've missed the lyrics entirely.But not here.As a matter of fact,this happens to be my favourite Floyd song lyricswise.As is pretty well known,the album is inspired from George Orwells' classic Animal Farm.Like the book,in the album too,animals represent different sections of the society.Dogs are supposed to represent the ruthless businessmen who'll stop at nothing to make themselves rich and more powerful at the expense of others.The lyrics convey this beautifully.Sample this,for instance
"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."
Waters' words always seem to me to have a subtle anger or at times a helplessness hidden,which at times makes for a highly effective satire,as in this particular song.I find those element badly missing in the post-Waters Floyd albums.True,they are less cynical and more cheerful in content,but somehow,I miss the madness badly.
