Straydogs

I am currently in Athens, my hometown and I can´t help noticing again how many straydogs roam the streets of this city. You can see them every where-waiting outside restaurants and bars, crossing avenues when the light is green (yes, they actually do that a lot of them!) and sleeping lazily on the sun. You could think that it´s a pity that all those dogs have to live on the street without someone to provide them love and care but you would be surprised when saw how fat are some of them!
No wonder I wrote a song called straydog then. Since I was a kid I would always bring straydogs at our suburban flat. My parents were not always happy about it. Most of those dogs did not stay long...they would stay in our garden for a couple of weeks maybe, maybe longer, and then they would dissapear, never to see them again, leaving my heart broken. Two of those straydogs stayed longer: Timmy stayed for a year and a half and Mabrook stayed for...I do not even remember, something like 10 years. Sometimes they would go during the mating season and they woul leave me a ball of nerves...till they would re-appear, tired, thin, hurt and full of fleas but always willing to be part of the family again. Both of them were lost for ever during mating season. Instead of thinking that they travelled too far from home and got lost or even worst, that they got hit by a car, ate poison or died from general post-mating weakness, I prefered to believe that they simply found true love with some cute elegant bitch and that they leaved happily and free everafter, roaming the streets all day, chasing cats and cars, laying on the sun and barking at the moon.
I tend to get drawn by people who remind me of straydogs-people who have this hopeless and lost quality on their faces and personalities, people who give the impression that they do not go anywhere in particular. People who leave unexpectedly and return with a needy look on their face and offer affection but you should watch them out when mating season arrives. Sometimes I even get to think that maybe I am a straydog myself , lazy and wondering, looking for cats to chase and a moon to howl to.

Recently we did this videoclip with Manolo Vasquez. The song is from the first record. I post it here, with the lyrics, after having encountered dozens of happy straydogs yesterday. Their eyes were full of love, need , yearning ... and full of freedom as well. Well, at leat till Winter comes along, they will do fine . Then it will be a whole diferent story I guess. Who wants to be alone when days are cold and rainy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2GUOIK0nXs


When we met you had a straydog with you, tied on a leash
you asked me to take you home, I said I could not possibly do it
'cause my parents wouldn´t ever want
a straydog, filthy and full of fleas on their sofa
but I couldn´t resist your brown eyes
so I took in both of you, I took in both of you
through the back door

you were a straydog yourself
you were found in the park looking hungry and lonely and beaten up
I took you home, tied your wounds, gave you a warm bath and two arms
to hold you through the night
they say when a stray dog looks at you
in his brown eyes you can see his past, his gratitude
and unconditional love....and that's how you seemed to look at me
that's how you seemed to look at me
that's how you seemed to look at me.

I had finally a friend to spend the winter with
you liked to play a lot and lick my salty tears
I even put you in my bed, much to my parents complaints
but soon you turned out to be more of a capricious poodle
than a friendly mongrel and started showing your teeth!
I thought I'd found unconditional love but this straydog bit me hard
so I gave you a kick in the arse, so I gave you a kick in the arse
I gave you a kick in the arse and I let you go...

...but then we met again,after a long long time and once more
you were with a stray dog / you asked me to take you home I said no no, no I couldn't do it! 'cause my flatmates wouldn't ever want a dirty canine full of fleas in our home
but as far as I'm concerned, I'd still let you in
I'd still let you in through the back door ...through the back door....
through the back door...how could I say no to a straydog?
how could I say no to a straydog? how could I say no to a straydog?


have a beautifull summer everyone!