Dogs And Thunder

i know i'm misinterpreting this song, but there's meaning in misreadings as well:

for me, this song unleashed a torrent of emotion when i was recovering from sexual assault. the lines "at least you don't feel/fear it anymore" unlocked something in me and made it possible for me to begin to move on, to deal with my pain.

i told sarah this after a show once, and she told me that she loved hearing about when people find things in her songs that she didn't even know she'd put there, gave me a long hug, and then told me that the song was indeed about her dog, Shadow, who died when she was young, but that the loss and grieving and reconciliation were definitely the themes of the song.

i'm really glad i got to have that conversation with the artist herself, but no matter what, i'm glad i got to read the song my way, even if i knew it was "wrong" because of how much it literally changed the course of my life.

I heard this song for the first time at a small show at Poor David's Pub Dallas. The audience was pretty quiet. I don't think Sarah could see with the stage lights how much we loved her music. She looked slightly uncomfortable. When she finished her set the applause was fierce. Those that were not familiar with her music, or had only heard her hit Basement Apt. walked away from that show big Sarah fans. This song was such a gift to those of us that had memorized her CD. I had to find it online and download it since it has not to my knowledge been released....if the lyrics are wrong forgive me.

glytter girl -- the first time i heard this was also in concert! i knew (and had memorised and was obsessed with!) a bunch of her songs when i went but i was pleased to discover a few new ones, like dogs and thunder. this song actually has been released, but from when she was the lead singer for her old band weeping tile. she has a bunch of great song from her weeping tile days (westray, in the road) but they're often overlooked and can be hard to find. good luck!

glytter_girl> It's actually a Weeping Tile song (Sarah's former band). It was released under that name a few times. Definitely check them out. Awesome stuff.

So, what I wonder about this song is who dies? It is a 16-year-old person who commits suicide? Or is a 16-year old dog? If it's her dog, it seems that she's the one who shoots it... intentionally perhaps because it was suffering? Then she goes to talk to her ex who owned the dog with her, but he doesn't care nor take the time to talk to her. The death of the dog causes her to reminisce on the days when she was happy with her ex and the dog was alive and healthy.

Does anyone actually know?

Also, apparently the main character, Stephen, of James Joyce's Ulysses was afraid of dogs and thunder. I've never read the book, but perhaps someone who has would be able to make a connection there. The words "dogs and thunder" are such a unique combination that the similarity is hard to go unnoticed.

laluz33 - I think it's about a dog, because they "dug a hole in fall" but "she's gone just before the new year" (a few months apart) so they probably knew the dog would have to be put down in the near future.

However, I don't think it necessarily has to be a dog because of the chorus, since dogs run and hide when it thunders, I think it's just an interesting reflection on something that happens. Maybe her mind just wanders.

laluz33 - and I don't agree about Stephen's fears of dogs and thunder, because the song is definitely about wondering why dogs run when it thunders... why else would the chorus talk about what dogs hear?

i find evidence of the song being about a dog there;

it wouldnt be about a suicide because the gun mentioned it a riffle and that would be highly unlikely to use that type of gun. And a riffle would be most likely be the type of gun to kill a dog since most people who live in an area where shooting the dog would be accepted would be a rural setting.

plus she refers to it as not our kind when she says "she'd seen 16 years of our kind"