Songs About Animals

[Lisnaholic]

Inspired by the "Animals" thread in the lounge, I thought we could share some animal-centric music too. What have you got?

Specifically, this jimmy jazz post reminded me that the red fox is one of the more colourful creatures of British wildlife:-

 

Just seen a fox go past my house, back down and then back up again, walk up my drive, see me stood there and then ran off 😂

I love foxes BTW.

Trolls posted a thread once asking what we like and dislike about where we live and I should have said our range of wildlife. Nearly all of it is harmless and adorable.



Unfortunately these are really shy and run off but if they were not as scared I'd definitely feed them chicken wings.

Perhaps because of the drama and spectacle of fox-hunting, the fox has featured as a character in British life for centuries: they are in nursery stories and stuff like that. "Sly as a fox" shows how the animal has earned our (sometimes grudging) respect, and here's an old song in which the fox is clearly the hero of the story:-

 

Not easy to make a song about an animal interesting, but thanks to some touches of dry humour and great vocals, The Young Tradition live up to their name and make a traditional song sound fresh.

"Play on said Reynard with yer music still, while I trot away to me den-o"

[Lexi Darling]

First thing that came to mind was Peter Gabriel's classic hit "Shock the Monkey", which not only includes the titular animal, but several others as well, including foxes. Lots of bang for your buck with regards to animal references.

[Lisnaholic]

Lots of bang for your buck with regards to animal references.

Thanks, Mrs. Waffles ! That's a new song to me.
Like a lot of Peter Gabriel's material, there's a lot of interesting things going on, but I don't notice any strong "hook line" that makes me want to play it again in a hurry.

[jimmy jazz]

Hungry Like the Wolf is the first one I thought of. A great song. But I'm on mobile and too lazy to post it hehe x

You've all heard it anyway so who cares.

[Mindy]

[Lisnaholic]

^ That was a surprising performance for me, mindy.

Nellie The Elephant was a classic song for children, first recorded in 1956, afaik.
Here a curious version of a song from 1984:-

 

[Guybrush]

^I loved Toy Dolls' Nellie the Elephant when I was a kid 🙂 their album Dig That Groove Baby was one of the first CDs I listened to.

Here's a couple of songs by Gentle Giant. They got cats and dogs covered.

[Lisnaholic]

^I loved Toy Dolls' Nellie the Elephant when I was a kid 🙂 their album Dig That Groove Baby was one of the first CDs I listened to.

Is that so, Guybrush?! I heard the Toy Dolls' version for the very first time, when I posted it here the other day - but as I child I heard the 1956 version on the radio often enough, on the "Children's Favourites" Saturday morning slot, so it stayed popular for a good 10 years or more.

I liked the Gentle Giant Black Cat song, and here's another song that follows more blatantly the convention of using a certain violin style to evoke all things feline:-

With songs about animals, there's a whole sub-genre of "I'm singing about a horse, but just maybe it's about a woman". Are these going to be considered offensive soon, or will they always be defended by the argument, "What's the matter with you?! It's a song about a horse."

The Byrds - Chestnut Mare
Leonard Cohen - Ballad of the Absent Mare
Bob Dylan - New Pony

[Guybrush]

The Toy Dolls' version was somewhat popular here. You might hear it at a party or find it in the song menu at a karaoke bar. At least I do remember singing it with friends at a karaoke bar around the turn of the century 😅

Talking cat songs and covers, I also kinda like this cover of the Siamese Cat song famously sung by Peggy Lee for the Disney movie Lady & the tramp.

It's very 80s synth (maybe @Mrs. Waffles would find it interesting) and kinda fun. Dave Stewart is a particular hero of mine, though more for his earlier time in Hatfield and the North and National Health.

[Lexi Darling]

The Toy Dolls' version was somewhat popular here. You might hear it at a party or find it in the song menu at a karaoke bar. At least I do remember singing it with friends at a karaoke bar around the turn of the century 😅

Talking cat songs and covers, I also kinda like this cover of the Siamese Cat song famously sung by Peggy Lee for the Disney movie Lady & the tramp.

It's very 80s synth (maybe @Mrs. Waffles would find it interesting) and kinda fun. Dave Stewart is a particular hero of mine, though more for his earlier time in Hatfield and the North and National Health.

That is an interesting cover! You don't see too many covers of Disney songs in the rock canon.

I didn't actually know about that collaboration, but I love both artists. Dave Stewart is the man, he also played on the Khan album with Steve Hillage which is a stone cold prog classic. And Barbara Gaskin was the singer for the mega underrated prog/folk band Spirogyra, who are very worth checking out if you are unfamiliar.

Thanks for the rec!

[Guybrush]

That is an interesting cover! You don't see too many covers of Disney songs in the rock canon.

I didn't actually know about that collaboration, but I love both artists. Dave Stewart is the man, he also played on the Khan album with Steve Hillage which is a stone cold prog classic. And Barbara Gaskin was the singer for the mega underrated prog/folk band Spirogyra, who are very worth checking out if you are unfamiliar.

Thanks for the rec!

You're welcome 🙂

I have listened to Spirogyra, but not much. I know them both well, though. Barbara was also part of the Northettes who sang with Hatfield and the North (which Dave played in).

One of their beautiful songs written by Dave with vocals by The Northettes may have a thread appropriate title (if not in the lyrics)

Much of the music he wrote is so unusual and beautiful ❤️

I used to be very much into anything related to Canterbury scene and ran a Canterbury themed website / community for a while called The Polite Force. This is over ten years ago now.. as a community, it failed, but it put me into contact (if brief) with a few of the musicians from that scene, like Richard Sinclair and Mark Hewins.

I DMed briefly with Dave too.. a definite highlight in my life online 😄

[Meatwad]

Jessie you're a good dog ................. 

Paw - Jessie

[Meatwad]

Boris - Rattlesnake

[Lisnaholic]

^ Nice guitar track, Meatwad ! You reminded me of Fleetwood Mac's Rattlesnake Shake, a song they played on many occasions. The one I've chosen is, for me, the Goldilocks version: not too short, like the 2-and-a-half minutes, why-bother "pop" version, and not too long like the live jam they sometimes did, that requires a listening commitment of 24 mins.

 

Jessie you're a good dog ................. 

^ I was relieved to see that this track had more    than "..you're a good dog..." : I thought you might've been posting something sentimental in the style of "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" (although, to Lobo's credit, the dog named Boo only features in the title line):-

[ribbons]

Just a few monkeys to add to the barrel here. 🐒

The Rolling Stones – Monkey Man

Steely Dan – Monkey In Your Soul

The Beatles - Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey