Loudon Wainwright III – “Man & Dog”
Loudon Wainwright III has always had a special place in his songs and in his heart for ragged way that animals–dead or alive–have the capacity to show up the foibles and fears of humans. Over forty years ago, he hit an olfactory nerve with “Dead Skunk,” a tongue-in-cheek tune describing the ways that carcass “stinking to high heaven” on the side of the road called our own discomfort with our bodily decay. Why else would we roll up our windows? As long as we seal ourselves off from the smell, it doesn’t exist and we can’t be reminded of the stink of our own death and decomposition.
On his latest album, Haven’t Got the Blues (Yet), Wainwright follows up his “death and decay opus” (2012’s Older Than My Old Man Now) with a 14-song set that deals with diverse topics including depression, drinking, gun control, senior citizens, and pet ownership.
Wainwright’s dog Harry served as the inspiration of “Man & Dog,” and this typically hilariously poignant song chronicles an urban love story between a man, a city, a woman, and a dog.