40 Dogs

Listen while you read: (Like Romeo and Juliet)

Well, if I spell it out, if I get it out
Will you hear me when I tell you about
What I have to say before it gets too late?
It's not as easy as I said it'd be
But there's something right about you and me
Something right about you and me

Well, you're the color of a burning brook
You're the color of a sideways look
From an undercover cop in a comic book
You're the color of a storm in June
You're the color of the moon
You're the color of the night, that's right
Color of a fight, you move me
You're the color of the colored part of The Wizard of Oz movie

We're like Romeo and Juliet, we're like 40 dogs, cigarettes
We're like good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily

All the boys taking you for granted
Tell you what they want with their eyes all slanted
I don't like the way they look at you
I don't like the way they talk to
I don't like the way they talk to you
I wouldn't let 'em talk to you like that

Put 'em up high, reach for the ceiling
Tell 'em I don't walk, damn it, I'm a-reeling
It ain't no crime, it's just dreams we're stealing
Anything to get more of this feeling

You take the high and I'll take the low
We'll get there before you know
We ain't got no time to waste
We got too much life to taste

We're like Romeo and Juliet . . . 

Sometimes you remind me of a moonbeam
Or the ghost of a moonbeam out on the beach
Down by the coast, slippin' through the net
Like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen

Come out tonight, come out with me, baby
We'll throw the careful into the crazy
Turn the sky black into a sky blue
Turn the close shave into a whoo-hoo
What I say is true, make a fire, gotta burn a few
Make a fire, gotta burn a few
We can do what we want to do

We're like Romeo and Juliet . . . 

~  Bob Schneider

How is it possible that it took me 280 posts to get to this song? (Yes, that's right, I've been writing these for 280 days. Props to me.) This is one of those songs that I never tire of; every time I hear those opening chords, I smile, knowing I am in for a good few minutes. "40 Dogs" appears on Schneider's eleventh solo album from 2009, Lovely Creatures. The song was named "Song of the Year" by the Austin Music Awards. Bob Schneider is an Austin resident and plays every Monday night at the Saxon Pub. I was in Austin a few years ago and hoped to catch Schneider there, but wouldn't you know it, he was out of town that week! (I did get to see James McMurtry at the Continental Club, though.)

So, is this a song about forty dogs? Despite the video which was filmed at a dog park, no! "40 dogs" refers to a 40 ounce can of malt liquor. Schneider used to purchase a 40 dog and a pack of cigarettes at the same time, so in his mind, they go together . . . you know, like Romeo and Juliet.

But aren't these lyrics fun? Especially the lines about color! I find it amazing that anyone can sing those lines without messing up (which may be part of why I am not a singer . . . that, and the fact that I cannot carry a tune).

We ain't got no time to waste / We got too much life to taste. Yep, that's my motto these days. Because seriously, it appears that the time is nearing when the whole world falls to the sea. But before it does, we can do what we want to do.

Are you with me? Let's go!