Slow Dog by Belly is a really cool song. It’s got a really poppy sing-along chorus, and an oddly discordant verse, with some great guitar sounds.
What’s the song about? I have no clue, although I vaguely recall Tanya Donnelly saying at one point that it was about rape. That could be something else entirely however.
I did find this bit of information:
Re: Slow Dog — Mariah Carey hadn’t surfaced yet when I wrote this song. This is a very old song that I sat on for a while. The first time I heard her name was when a couple of the Pavement guys (who got the demo from someone who worked at 4ad at the time) said they liked the song I wrote about Mariah Carey. So Mariah became Maria. I always missed Mariah.
And of course, the lyrics:
Meet him by the road.
Theres a dog went running,
Picking through spit out leaves
A dog wont even touch.
Meant to shoot that dog long ago,
Just cant leave that dog alone.
Maria carry a rifle.
Maria carry a dog on her back.
That dog is hit again.
That slow dog is hit again,
With his see-thru skin,
The kind of skin you can see through.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot a-a-a-a-a-a.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a.
Heal me by a river.
Man retires his wife says,
But she was so sad and sick.
His heart breaks in the mud.
Thought Id leave this world by twenty-one.
Couldnt leave that dog alone.
Maria carry a rifle.
Maria carry a dog on her back.
That dog is hit again.
That slow dog is hit again,
With his see-thru skin,
The kind of skin you can see through.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot a-a-a-a-a-a.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot again.
Hes shot a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a.
Maria carry a rifle.
Maria carry a dog on her back.
Maria carry you on her back
