"Dirty Paws" as written by Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar Thorhallsson....
Jumping up and down the floor
My head is an animal
And once there was an animal
It had a son that mowed the lawn
The son was an OK guy
They had a pet dragonfly
The dragonfly it ran away
But it came back with a story to say
Her dirty paws and furry coat
She ran down the forest slope
The forest of talking trees
They used to sing about the birds and the bees
The bees had declared a war
The sky wasn't big enough for them all
The birds, they got help from below
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow
So for a while things were cold
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men
And that's how the story goes
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws
My head is an animal
And once there was an animal
It had a son that mowed the lawn
The son was an OK guy
They had a pet dragonfly
The dragonfly it ran away
But it came back with a story to say
Her dirty paws and furry coat
She ran down the forest slope
The forest of talking trees
They used to sing about the birds and the bees
The bees had declared a war
The sky wasn't big enough for them all
The birds, they got help from below
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow
So for a while things were cold
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men
And that's how the story goes
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws
Lyrics submitted by Macuahuitl
"Dirty Paws" as written by Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir Arni Gudjonsson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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When Spring starts, paper wasps create nests that grows while housing several generations of workers. At the end of Summer, the Queen produces eggs which will develop into insects that will leave the nest to mate and start the process over again next year.
Once this generation leaves, those nest's life is basically over. This means anything left behind is ripe for picking, and crows seem to have the uncanny ability to know just when this time occurs to gobble up the larvae and bugs lying around.
Of course, paper wasps also create nests in the ground as well. Just as the crows and jays do, coyotes, skunks, and foxes will dig up these nests to eat those protein-rich larvae as well. Coincidentally, coyotes, skunks, and foxes are known to eat grass as well.
Once more: Dragonflies are carnivorous bugs that prey on other insects and have been known to eat bees and wasps.
This song is about a young (I'll say Fox) growing up and having their own pup. Growing up a bit, the pup now hunts small bugs and berries but usually sticks to grass as it's the most abundant source for him around the area. While out searching for food, this pup spots a dragonfly and chases it around semi-playfully leading the fox to a nearby forest.
As I've said before, Foxes will dig up nests and eat the larvae and whatever else after the next generation ups and flies away. Well, the pup loses interest in the Dragonfly and runs off to search for these nests. He wasn't alone, though. Birds and other animals alike were eating what was left of both the nests and bugs.
They didn't get all the nests, though. Those left behind in the nests that were still intact didn't dare leave them (either due to self-preservation or just instinct since their duty was finished). Outside what few nests remained was a feeding frenzy of birds and animals; the most notorious one being the Pup that followed the Dragonfly. After most wasps (including the Queen) eaten or somehow killed, this story ends with that Dragonfly flying back to where the Pup first saw it.
tl;dr It's a song about the feeding frenzy that occurs in forests over 'left-over' nests.
The folk song is a story of how the bees were destroyed by a war between them and the birds and cats.
Bees were introduced to Iceland from Norway.
To return to WWII the song states that "Dirty Paws" (The title character), the creatures of snow, and the Birds killed the "queen bee and all her men". This is problematic for the WWII interpretation as the allies did not kill Adolf Hitler but rather he committed suicide. To further this thought: Iceland was neutral in WWII and actually protested against the British invading their territories.
I think the most logical answer is that this is a simple story of the Bees declaring an unnecessary war and the friendship of the birds, the creatures of snow, and Dirty Paws battling with and ultimately winning against the Queen Bee and her men. Oh and of course the lovely intro about a Man/Woman and his/her son's dragonfly telling the story.
So the band's prime lyrical thrust may be that man's monstrous arrogance will bring him down. With that in mind, the dragonfly can be seen as the enslaved pet of a man, man's cruel harnessing of another species that should fly free. Man is depicted with an animal head because he is in fact an animal too, though he may be in denial about this.
In the dragonfly's story, the "bees" are a metaphor for man, who seeks to dominate the earth with "killing machines." The dragonfly's story looks forward to a rebellion and overturning of the power of the bees. That is, it looks forward to a time when man will cease to dominate the earth and live in harmony with it instead. The fertile metaphor of "the birds and the bees" is used to emphasise how species, that should work together to make an abundant earth, do not because of the betrayal of nature by those busy machine building mechanical "bees," that is, us. The "beast with the 4 dirty paws" is, in turn, a metaphor for nature fighting back against man's arrogance.
"Dirty Paws" is a parable seeking harmony in nature, which has been disrupted by man's arrogance.
Jumping up and down the floor, ~my head is an animal~
THEN the story begins. We are being directed to look at the entire story through the lens of metaphor. Just my humble opinion :-)
"Jumping up and down the floor" - who jumps up and down the floor? A child playing!
It plays or imagines being an animal ("my head is an animal") or just imagines some scenes from lives of personificated animals.
So everything is happening in the song (=child's imagination) and can be interpreted quite literally - a family of animals, who have a son, and a lawn, a pet dragonfly, there are magic trees, "bad" bees, furry friends, etc.
Sometimes young minds romanticize the idea of war and being a hero. And sometimes it IS epic and fantastical, but sometimes (most of the time) it's tragic and devastating even for those who won. I think that this song is just stating that, or, in other words, saying: what is is, and what will be will be.
That was probably super confusing, but oh well. :/ I have different theories about this song other than the one above, but this one was the most interesting to me.
Anyways, that's just my two cents. Love this song btw - cuz you totally needed to know that ;)
For anyone wondering:
The song is about WW2.
Germany was the bees
France and Britain were the birds
Americans as dirty paws
Russia as creatures of the snow
"The forest" is Europe
"The holes" are the trenches
"The killing machines" are the newly introduced artillery and turrets
The U.S. was called 'dirty paws' because of the presence in most international wars
And "The four dirty paws" are the wars that were 'popularly' fought - Revolutionary, Civil, WW1, and WW2.