I wish I had not woke up today
Everyone mistakes the things you say
Take the simple truth and
Twist it all around
Make it sound important
Make it seem profound

Dog new tricks
Nothing you learn will stick
Dog new tricks
You make me feel so worthless

Everyone I know has gone away
Died or left or just forgot to stay
Sometimes took for granted
Sometimes turned away
Sometimes didn't say what
I meant to say

Dog new tricks
Nothing you learn will stick
Dog new tricks
You make me feel so worthless

Nothing you learn
Nothing you learn
Nothing you learn
Nothing you learn

I never would have pegged you
For what you have become
Everyone lies
Everyone cheats
Not like you've done

Dog new tricks
Nothing you learn will stick
Dog new tricks
You make me feel so worthless

Dog new tricks
Nothing you learn will stick
Dog new tricks
You make me feel so worthless (nothing you learn)

Nothing you learn
Nothing you learn
Nothing you learn


Lyrics submitted by sawg

Dog New Tricks Lyrics as written by Shirley Ann Manson Douglas Elwin Erickson

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Dog New Tricks song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    Wow...vintage Garbage! Dog New Tricks has some of the coolest lyrics ever. My favorite part would have to be the lines "I wish I had not woke up today Everyone mistakes the things you say Take the simple truth and Twist it all around Make it sound important Make it seem profound." The beat is also driving, which suits the lyrics really well.

    AliceInVelveton September 29, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think it's about someone fucking up big time and doing it over again until she's sick of it but htey try and act like a better person and she's not taking any of it

    Kitty_Vomiton April 29, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think its about an ex who she kept taking back, even after all his lies. While being in the relationship, she devoted so much time and energy that she lost touch with many of her friends. No she is alone, dealing with the frustrations that this person caused her.

    kmk_natashaon April 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    to me, this is about someone who, no matter how many times you tell them something or answer them about certain things, they never get it through their thick skull. they twist around everything you say to prove whatever point they're trying to make. they claim to understand, they claim to listen, yet days later, they're asking you the same goddamn thing.

    it's like some people, no matter how much time passes or how many times they're told something or whatever, they never LEARN a damn thing. "nothing you learn will stick," indeed.

    delialon May 27, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It's about a liar and a cheat who will never change their ways. She put her trust in them, she believed them, but they betrayed her and she's finally realised she needs to walk away and they're not worth bothering with.

    missmeon November 15, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    To me, it's more precisely about someone popular, or well-respected, that everybody think of as clever, deep, etc (everyone mistakes the things you say...), but is actually pretty shallow and is repeating easy truths to make themselves seem deep, which would refer to the "dog new tricks". Like something you teach to a dog to amuse yourself, that person is shining in society by metaphorically sitting, rolling over, catching the ball... The "you make me feel so worthless" part would be about how she feels belittled by this person's pretending to be so much better than her. It actually might be someone that she appreciated before and became that way to make themselves popular in society (I would have never pegged you...), so it stings even more.

    lullaby12on November 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Ye I think its about a lying cheating bf ;-)

    supervixenPgrrlon December 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    To me it's not necessarily about a boyfriend (though it could be) but about someone who is condescending, treats you as less, and eventually becomes one of those people who has abandoned you.

    No matter how you try to explain yourself and be understood, they stand by their ways and stubbornly refuse to see anything from your point of view and would rather judge.

    porcelainzon July 14, 2013   Link

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