Dogs

The Dogs are cutthroat business men who will do anything to achieve their means. But in the end, everything they've done in life is all for naught because they will either become "just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer" or they'll be pulled down by the weight of the stone. The stone is the dirty tricks they pulled throughout their life to achieve everything they want, but just as karma works, they are dragged down by all of that. Kinda like the corporate scandals where the guys at Enron are being dragged down by the weight of their stone.

To understand any of the songs fully, you need a full understanding of what the album is about So here it is, even though some of it may be obvious.

Animals ----Capitalist nations are nations made up of sheep that are owned by pigs, and competed for by dogs

Dogs Cutthroat businessmen and always in vicious competition like dogs fighting for scraps that the masters (pigs) give them Either end up "sad old men dying of cancer" or "pulled down by the stone" All that competition actually give them no fulfillment in the long run The stone -- dirty tricks the pull and bad things they do to others to get ahead (conscious?) Probably not conscious -- more like getting caught breaking the law -- Enron or Bernie Madoff

Pigs (3 different kinds) Heads of society who pull the strings and control all the dogs and especially the sheep

1. James Callaghan - prime minister. Fat dude -- big man pig man Mining industry - keep on digging
2. Maggie thatcher Bus stop rat bag -- "a man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure."
3. Mary whitehouse Media censorship advocate -- pirate radioesque Hey you whitehouse

Sheep Play on the bible: The Lord is my shepherd (but not primarily a religious commentary) Pigs: the "good" shepherd We are all just sheep in the flock mindlessly feeding on grass ignorant of our masters controlling our every move Dogs/wolves competing to pick off the sheep but we are ignorant until it is too late

The following are lyrics written by Roger Waters in 1974 titled "you gotta be crazy" then reworked into "Dogs" for the Animals album. This might add some insight to the meaning.

You gotta be crazy, you gotta be mean You gotta keep your kids and your car clean You gotta keep climbing, you gotta keep fit You gotta keep smiling, you gotta eat shit

You gotta be small to be a big shot You gotta eat meat to stay at the top You gotta be trusted, gotta tell lies You gotta be able to narrow your eyes

You gotta beleive they've gotta beleive you You gotta appear easy to see through Gotta be sure you look good on the TV Gotta resemble a human being

You gotta keep one eye over your shoulder Gonna get harder as you get older Gotta fly south and hide in the sand Gotta forget that you're gonna get 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 loose the weight You used to need to throw around So have a good drown As you go down Alone Dragged down by the stone

Gotta be sure, you gotta be quick Gotta divide the tame from the sick Gotta keep some of us docile and fit You gotta keep everyone burying this shit

You gotta get you started early Processed by the time you're thirty Work like fuck 'till you're sixty five And then your time's your own until you die

I gotta admit to a lot of confusion Pain in the head is the child of collusion Gotta resist the creeping malaise You gotta beleive in the way you get out of the maze

But you, you just keep on pretending You can tell a sucker from a friend But you still raise the knife to Stranger, lover, friend and foe alike

Who was born in a house full of pain Who was sent out to play on his own Who was raised on a diet of shame 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 bridle and bit Who was given a seat in the stand Who was forcing his way to the rails Who was offered a place on the board 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

..

I find the "Animals" album to be vastly underrated. After all these years, I find myself listening to it most of all.

I've worked in radio since 1984 and what a wonderful interpretation of a certain segment of broadcasting this is for me, personally. There are several departments to a large broadcasting operation. They are very, very segmented .. it's almost like high school with the different social classes. There's engineering (these are the smart guys that work on the transmitter and fix the mixing boards and the transponder on the tower).. there is accounting, which schedules the commercials and keeps track of all of the accounts and pay structure (these are the math whizzes) .. there is, of course, several layers of management (these are the inept clumsy geeks that can't do anything right. And that, actually, is the truth. All their wives are hideous ugly and they are pitiful creatures, tormented even) .. there is talent, which is on-air (and that is broken down in to "news guys" and "music guys") .. and then there is sales.

"Dogs" so flawlessly describes the salesmen that it is spooky.

I first went on the air for a paycheck in 1984 and it has never changed with these guys. And all of us jocks so look down on these guys. And this song captures it perfectly.

One of the reasons I wanted to get in to radio was that old tv show "WKRP in Cincinnati". That show is so amazing in it's caricature of the radio industry. And this song was played during an episode. I don't think it was by accident. Obviously, WKRP writers had a close connection with radio. And they must have felt the same way as me about "Dogs" from the "Animals" album. Mr Carlson asks Johnny Fever in the episode that this song is in "Is that dogs barking on that record?" and Johnny goes, "I hope so".

They probably didn't mean it the way some of us in radio take it but, man, they hit it dead solid center, night in the ruts, when it comes to salesmen in broadcasting.

POW Outta the park .. Gone.

..

I agree that Animals is their best album. There are songs I like better off of other albums, but Animals is just...I can't really explain it. Whether or not it is the best is definitely debatable, but it is easily their most underrated album.

I'm just going to try to explain my interpretation of this song in general, you clould probably write a whole essay about each line so i'm not gonna bother with that (if i would then it will definitely become tl;dr...)

The first two verses are probably things that "dogs" should do if they want to become "succesfull". This is probably said by a "pig" because they are dogma's that should not be doubted. Because "dogs" are thaught (by "pigs") that this is the right way to life their lives, they believe it and start living like the pigs told them to do.

The third and fourth verse is probably about what will happen to you when you start living like a "dog". The 4th is my favourite verses so i'll elaborate a litte bit here. In the 4th verse "you" are becoming heavier and heavier (you reep the harvest= more weight, blood turns into stone = more weight, you can'tloose the weight you used to throw around = the more of a dick you were in your career the more weight you'll have in the end) all this weight (=guilt, resentment, loneliness) causes you to drown (= get depressed).

The 5th verse is the doubts that dogs have during their careers. But they resolve this doubt by convincing themselves that they are doing the right thing.

The 6th verse explains how the dogs convince themselves about doing the right thing. They pretend that no person is perfect and that no one has a real friend (just like themselves). Dogs think that they will be done/happy/rewarded if they become the best. In order to become the best they have to isolate (=kill/hinder) the winner (= the person who is the best at this moment).

The 7th, 8th and 9th verse should probably two equally long verses (including the final repetition of the last line). The 7th verse is about how pigs manipulate dogs into their servants and who they choose as servants. The pigs choose the insecure/scarred(=born in a house full of pain) and weak/dumb (trained not to spit in the fan) (if you spit in a fan your spit will fly back in your face) so they could order them around (told what to do by the man) and tame to their liking (broken by trained personnel). When they are done with their training (=the first two verses aswell) they reward the dog (given a pat on the back) for his obedience (collar and chain)

The last verse is about the consequences of the training for the dogs. The dogs become selfish (breaking away from the pack) and their family starts to hate them (only a stranger at home). This makes the dogs realise that they weren't the ones opressing, they were oppressed themselves (ground down = being oppressed). The egocentric behaviour of the dogs made them so alone that no one was around when they died (found dead on the phone). In the end the dogs are suffering because of the system they kept in place themselves (dragged down by the stone).

Well, it still turned out to be quite a long story... Luckily PF fans are usually very patient.

ONE OF THE BEST SONGS EVER MADE

Pink Floyd is my favorite band no doubt about it and i have no idea what this song means i listened to it so many times but one part gets to me because my friend is all alone dying of cancer so it has great meaning to me

"Just another sad old man All alone and dying of cancer."

genius song if i say so me self

It inspired "The Wall" because during the "In the Flesh" tour in promotion of "Animals", he spit on a fan. That was when he decided to write "The Wall" to save him from becoming the character Pink.