Dogs (17:05)

“Dogs”, originally composed as “You Gotta Be Crazy”, is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on the album Animals in 1977.

During the part which includes Rick Wright’s synth solo, the sounds of dogs barking can be heard; this sound effect was created by processing the sound using a vocoder.

Guitarist David Gilmour and bassist Roger Waters share vocal duties in the song. Gilmour sings the majority of the song, but Waters takes over during the last two verses. On performances of the track on the band’s 1977 “In the Flesh” tour, Gilmour would sing almost all of the song except for the last verse, use electric guitar for the whole track (instead of the acoustic guitars) and performed an extra guitar solo.

Dogs are used to represent the megalomaniacal businessmen who destroy themselves and those around them by obsessing over their egos and their careers. A number of comparisons are made and metaphors used to show how close these businessmen are with dogs, for example “Got to be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed” the meat representing deals and opportunities for the businessmen. It is a long, increasingly haunting song at over seventeen minutes.

The final verse explores a number of aspects of business life and how it compares to dogs, for example taking chances and being “trained not to spit in the fan”, losing their individuality “broken by trained personnel”, obeying their superiors “fitted with collar and chain”, getting treats for good behaviour “given a pat on the back”