“Dog days.” This is the name given in English to hard, dark times associated with resentment and hardship. Who among us hasn’t said in a difficult time: “I’m tired as a dog”, “Damn this dog’s life!” or “I hate this dog’s work!” And who doesn’t feel sincere joy when they see that this time is over, and feel like a dog freed from a chain and a hard collar, who is finally allowed to run on the grass? That’s the sentiment behind the song “Dog days are over”, “Dog days are over”, written by British indie band Florence and the Machine for their 2009 debut album called “Lungs”. Fans of the band assure that listening to this song helps them to deny painful worries and fears and breathe a full breath, like an office worker after a hard day’s work or a schoolchild on the first day of vacation. “All troubles come to an end, all hard things pass sometime,” says this song following the biblical wise King Solomon and the world-famous guru of positive thinking Dale Carnegie, who helped the citizens of the USA to overcome the hardships of the Great Depression. Maybe this song will help you too.
The story behind the song “Dog days are over”
The members of the famous band, Florence Welch and her friends, assure that they did not expect such success and did not count on the popularity of their debut. After all, they recorded their compositions in a tiny studio “little bigger than a dog box”, expecting every day to be asked to leave for non-payment and have to urgently look for another room to work together, or maybe even forget about music and devote themselves to more mundane activities that allow them to earn their guaranteed bread and butter. “We felt like stray dogs,” the musicians recall. But the triumph of the debut composition, equally warmly received by listeners and critics, made the members of Florence and the Machine real stars of the scene. Already in the first three years after the debut a lot of cover versions were released, and the number of reprises, colorful videos and just songs based on “Dog days are over” remains unknown even to the most ardent fans. Suffice it to say that “Dog days are over” tops the charts even in China, whose authorities are in no hurry to abolish censorship control and every now and then harshly criticize everything that comes from the “insidious West!” It is said that this song was loved even in North Korea, one of the most closed states on the planet, separated from the rest of the world by an impenetrable “iron curtain”.
The meaning of the song “Dog days are over”
This song persuades the listener not to give in to despair and not to give up, even if it seems that the whole world has turned against you forever. And yet, the lyrics are not relaxing, nor do they call for blissful inactivity in the hope that hard times will end on their own. “Run fast, run for your mother and for your father, for your children, for your beloved brothers and sisters,” the song urges, energizing you with energy, perseverance and determination. – Hard days will soon pass, try to keep up, leave behind your worries and unquenched desires, run faster if you want to survive.” In short, the atmosphere of this song is reminiscent of the excitement of horse racing, which is so beloved by Americans, a stubborn, stubborn and adventurous people. Indeed, the song’s heroes hear the horse’s stomping, urging them to grit their teeth and run with all their might to the finish line looming far ahead. Triumph, praise and awards await them there, and most importantly, the opportunity to finally relax and rest.
However, when Florence Welch and the other members of Florence and the Machine are asked to explain the meaning of the lyrics of this song, they say that it is impossible to put into words. Who is the girl who killed her lover with kisses and flushed him down the kitchen sink? Why did “happiness overtake her like a shot to the head”? And who are these mysterious horses that either carry the song’s characters along, instilling courage and hope in them, or are about to trample them? “The most important thing in our song is its spirit, the determination to fight for victory despite the hostile world and their own fears,” the musicians explain. – These feelings cannot be expressed in words, but can be entrusted to music, which, like poetry, conveys every movement of the heart.
