Songs about dogs are often as bright, unique and soul-nourishing as a canines’ own personality. Whether your dog is youthfully cute or comes with a streak of rabid madness, our playlist has a song to mirror the unique bond you both share.
Songs About Dogs
1. Big Mama Thornton – Hound Dog
Amongst one of the oldest pop songs about dogs, Hound Dog has been covered over 250 times, most notably by Elvis Presley in his revolutionary 1956 rendition. It all started with this version, recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1952.
Like other prominent black female blues-rock/RnB musicians of the mid-20th century, Thornton’s captivating original has been overshadowed by the multitudes of white male musicians who succeeded her, their covers achieving so well that Thornton was pushed into comparative obscurity.
This song brazenly lays the foundations of rock music; Thornton’s powerful, gravelly vocal tone seems to reverberate through the voice every rock musician since, not to mention her shameless, eccentric personality which is captured in Hound Dog’s ad libs.
2. Pink Floyd – Seamus
Seamus has a lazy Sunday afternoon atmosphere, formed of a single bluesy verse absorbed in a simple message; “I was in the kitchen. Seamus, that’s the dog, was outside. Well, you know the sun was sinking slowly, but my old hound-dog sat right down and cried.”
From the plodding country track to the lethargy of the vocalist, Pink Floyd illustrate their short story in a perfectly concise sonic flick, coated with the lamenting howls and barking of a dog who’s begging to be let in.
3. Neil Young – Old King
Neil Young’s Old King is a warm-hearted song about a passed dog named ‘King.’
While its country atmosphere conjures images of dogs running free through golden farmlands and rustic barn houses, Old King embraces the age-old ‘man’s best friend’ sentiment as an undying feeling that transcends the dog’s lifespan.
Young reminisces on his pet’s simple life, but, as a song about a dead dog, the happiness heard throughout Old King is merely a reflection of the nostalgic, encompassing joy of thinking back to a long-gone pet, while the present is somewhat dimmer;
“That old King was a friend of mine, never knew a dog that was half as fine. I may find one, you never do know, ’cause I still got a long way to go.”
4. Baha Men – Who Let The Dogs Out
It’s hard to remember anything about this song other than it’s iconic chorus. Probably the most famous of modern dog songs, Who Let The Dogs Out puts a spotlight on the crazy, excitable canine nature.
It roves between genres in fidgety dog-like fashion, blending hip-hop and reggae with growls, woofs and other barking mad ad-libs vocalised with pack-like aggression.
5. The Byrds – Old Blue
Old Blue tells the story of the life and death of a dog named ‘Blue.’ Against a retro country rock landscape, Blue’s cute, unsuccessful possum-chasing habits are brought back to life, while undertoned by the reoccuring thought he is gone.
The Byrds don’t take a mournful approach to grief, but instead mimic the loyalty that every dog posesses, “We lowered him down with a golden chain, and every link we called his name. Bye bye Blue, you good dog you.”
The song endearingly helps us redirect the joy dogs bring us in life back to them after death.
6. Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
Kate Bush’s hound metaphor is tied to the idea of being chased by love as something that is terrifying. While dogs and love are synonymous with goodness, both can rip you to shreds, a contrast which Kate embeds beautifully in the track.
Hounds of Love’s rapid pulsating rhythm mimics the haunting, speeding run of a hunting wolf pack, as much as the frightfully fast heartbeats of their prey running far from the enclosing terror.
Kate stylishly tracks her ‘oohs’ with the presence of a dog bark to craft a song covered in the scent of the hunt.
7. Jordon Frank – Chasing Butterflies
Chasing Butterflies is a quintessentially cute indie song about the blessings of a dog that has passed away. Jordon Frank refrains from sadness, instead dousing his song in gratitude, optimism and the wealth of happy memories shared with his pet.
From the beginning, “When I first saw you, I knew I had to take you home” to the end, “I won’t forget all you’ve done for my life, my only hope is, you’re up there chasing butterflies,” the song is like a love-letter to the one creature in your life who never lets you down.
While Jordan Frank wrote this for his own dog, ‘Keys,’ who died of lymphoma, he showcases his strength through grief so brightly that it reflects upon anyone struggling with a similar situation.
8. Duke Robillard – I’m Gonna Buy Me A Dog (To Take The Place Of You)
Duke Robillard’s gruff country track shows there’s no need for a woman when you have a dog by your side.
He shows off his pet to an ex in a song full of brutal yet comedic comparisons, “A dog wont cheat, a dog won’t lie, or spend my money on some collared guy… Those nasty things you do to me, my dog would never do.”
As the purity of a dog’s adoration takes the place of cruel-hearted human love, Duke meanwhile summons the canine nature of protection by teaching the dog to bite on seeing the ex, making a song itching with assertion for anyone who’s been wounded by a seething relationship.
9. Caninus – Fear Of Dog
Caninus present a stampede of obscure grindcore metal in their track Fear of Dog.
While many artists in our list have stylistically replicated barking and howling to conjure the ferocious nature of wild dogs, Caninus overshadows them entirely by bringing in two pitbulls as the band’s vocalists.
With metal and dogs sharing a mutual feral nature, brutal in attack and beastly in growls, it’s surprising no other metal bands have crowned their dogs as lead vocalists.
Caninus’ craft a track so barbaric that the silence following its ending leaves you feeling mangled and carcassed, like scraps of bloody flesh.
10. Mo Pitney – Just A Dog
Mo Pitney anchors his track in the simple line “It’s just a dog, right?” to lay bare the love of a dog through every one of life’s adventures.
A master storyteller, Pitney describes the beauty of rescuing an abandoned dog from the side of the highway, and the irreplaceable bond that forms quickly and deeply between you.
His track is achingly warm, threaded with potent lines like “Took half of my savings to save her, I didn’t think twice,” which resonate in the hearts of any devoted pet-owner.
Just A Dog demonstrates more perfectly than anything how a dog forms a part of the family with the same emotional bond as a human.