Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Lately the smoke from the burning bushes,
Has the eye and the mouth tasting ashes,
For the price we've the haze of Olympus,
Ambling by the Children's Farm,
Imitating the river's calm,
Liberated, the heart, from alarm
On this dog's day.
While it lasted the morning long,
Came the feeling of something wrong,
As you knew that it would before long,
A grave expectation,
So the hackles did raise some,
O it never stays under even on
A dog's day,
You start looking for targets for your arrows,
A bloody sheath for your eager blade,
Dark clouds for the sun to shroud
On this dog's day.
Hills become mountains, sheer cliffs beside,
Fickle elation meekly turns its tail, digs a hole and dies.
The shrill cries of battle from gamboling spawn,
Terriers come at a clip across the lawn,
The mothers' competitions, the fathers' stifled yawns
In this hazy picnic season, light beer and gentle treason.
Why would it give rise to an anger?
Could this city outdo its own languor
While tumbling bodies of children figure
As targets for your arrows,
Little marks for your seasoned eye,
Such a violence underlying this dog's day.
Why don't you dispense with your secrets,
Give your rambling blood a rest,
Let the world be kind to you on this dog's day.
Has the eye and the mouth tasting ashes,
For the price we've the haze of Olympus,
Ambling by the Children's Farm,
Imitating the river's calm,
Liberated, the heart, from alarm
On this dog's day.
While it lasted the morning long,
Came the feeling of something wrong,
As you knew that it would before long,
A grave expectation,
So the hackles did raise some,
O it never stays under even on
A dog's day,
You start looking for targets for your arrows,
A bloody sheath for your eager blade,
Dark clouds for the sun to shroud
On this dog's day.
Hills become mountains, sheer cliffs beside,
Fickle elation meekly turns its tail, digs a hole and dies.
The shrill cries of battle from gamboling spawn,
Terriers come at a clip across the lawn,
The mothers' competitions, the fathers' stifled yawns
In this hazy picnic season, light beer and gentle treason.
Why would it give rise to an anger?
Could this city outdo its own languor
While tumbling bodies of children figure
As targets for your arrows,
Little marks for your seasoned eye,
Such a violence underlying this dog's day.
Why don't you dispense with your secrets,
Give your rambling blood a rest,
Let the world be kind to you on this dog's day.
Lyrics submitted by Loial
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Great version of a great song,
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some of the imagery in these lyrics make me think of the port arthur massacre. probably way off but beautiful song anyway.
I think you're right. Just after skimming the Wikipedia article I can see many similarities. A calm, a bloody sheath for a dagger, a calm, children - targets for the arrows, and anger from a dog's day.
Skimming through weather records of the Porth Arthur area, Aprils aren't all that hot (it's the middle of autumn so the traditional idea of a dog's day would be extremely rare), but considering that Richards is from Hobart, Port Arthur is a likely basis for the song (it could also be applied to any mass murder in general). The fact that the cafe where many of the shootings occured is called the "Broad Arrow Cafe" augments this.
Also I think the final line "let the world be kind to you" echoes "A Streetcar Named Desire", where one of the characters says "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." She was raped, so the idea is that if you accept the kindness of strangers, you're going to have to accept their unkindness too.