Musical Cats and Dogs and Badgers
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Two of the best things to happen to humanity, in my view, were music and animals. Music was, on the whole, created by talented members of humanity while animals were created by, well, they were just here – often before we were too. Of course, some animals create music as well. Whale songs springing eternally to mind.
The number of human made songs containing animals in the song is impressive. Dogs and cats leading the field by a country mile.
I have no idea why what passes for my mind began contemplating this sort of thing, but it did.
I started to wonder what other animals had featured in successful modern music. I know we had Swan Lake and stuff like that, but, ignoring classical music and so forth, which I don’t as a rule because I like much of it, I started wondering, for no apparent reason, if any unusual or more obscure animals had featured in hit records or, at least, songs from the 60’s onwards.
From Elvis singing “Hound Dog” to Al Stewart warbling “Year Of The Cat”, dogs and cats are well covered.
I decided I wanted to find either an animal that had never been included in a modern song ever. Or a modern song including, preferably in the title, the most obscure animal possible.
You know what? I really need to find something else to spend my time on. This retirement lark can send you loopy.
So, what about, say, horses?
Loads of them, from America and “A Horse With No Name” to “Wild Horses” from The Rolling Stones.
No. Animals that you wouldn’t expect to pop up in music. How about Badgers?
To my surprise there are a few. Few have ‘Badger’ in the actual title but, I mistakenly decided not to restrict the animal mentioned to the title.
Kilburn and The High Roads – before becoming Ian Dury and The Blockheads – had “The Badger and The Rabbit”. A band I’d never heard of called The Dead Milkmen had a song in 1987 called “The Badger Song” – never heard of that either.
Still, badgers get a mention.
What else can we think of then?
Spiders, snakes, chipmunks, bears. They all get in there.
Obscure, obscure.
I know! Tortoise!
Oh. Ry Cooder. Damn!
Hippopotamus! That will get em.
Damn it! Sparks had an album called that with the title track of the same name. Bugger.
Aardvark! That must be the one!
Arrrrgh! Alan Sherman – who??? In 1965 he had an album out that included “The Laarge Daark Aardvark Song”. Damn him! Whoever he is. It might not be technically modern music in the sense of pop or rock, but 1965 is recent enough to count.
Oh come on. There has to be an animal that has passed musicians by. I won’t sleep tonight wondering at this rate.
Reindeer! Yes! Songs with reindeer predate pop and rock and anything 60’s onwards. Must be!
No. “Leroy The Redneck Reindeer” by Joe Diffle? Who can be called Joe Diffle and have a song about bloody reindeers??
How about Manitou. What are they again? Sort of fat seals or something like that aren’t they? I’ve seen them on TV and love them, even if I’m not entirely sure what they are. That has to be – oh no.
EmilieEDA “The Manitou Springs Song”.
All right, I know it isn’t pop or rock, it’s country. Well, I don’t want to offend country music fans by leaving them out.
Got it! Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat.
No way has anybody ever ever ever included a Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat in a song.
Right. Quick Google and –
You are joking right? ABC Rural? Schoolkids in Australia sang a song about “William The Hairy Nosed Wombat?”
I will now give up and find something useful to do with my nights. Now you know how I spend my evenings. Never wasted are my evenings.
Can you find any animals not in song? Any animal?
I will be mightily impressed if you do. I will also be relieved that I’m not the only one spending evenings doing this.
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😂😂🤣😂🤣😂… Wrong end of the stick Jess! I’m after animals – real ones – that have never been in songs 60’s onwards!
Come on you oldz, not one of you came up with Puff the magic Dragon, La Cucaracha, Mary Had a Little Lamb, The Itsy Bitsy Spider animal songs for a start. Turn in yer oldz card at the door right now. These were just off the top of my pointy head 🙂
Mmmm… They are members of the Weasle family though… Iggy Pop “Weasles – Beat Em Up”….
Fisher ‘cat’ too you say?
After due and fair consideration by the judge, me, the decision is :
Good try but it is a Weasle and Weasles are in songs. The Ramones and quite a few others have sung about them
If we use Fisher Cat instead, not only is it covered by ‘cat’, having Googled the thing, apparently it doesn’t fish and isn’t a cat!
Wow! Thanks Stacey! Interesting beast!
Loudon Wainright III did “Dead skunk in the middle of the road”, there’s a porcupine song and the P-P-Platypus Song by Steve Axtell, muskrat love and a couple of bluegrass groundhog songs…. the obly critter I can’t think of a song about is a fisher, a member of the weasel family, often called a fisher cat.
Irish Rovers 1967 and Kenny Loggins 1994. 😁
The Unicorn. No songs about the Unicorn. Too bad…I love Unicorns 🙂
Good call Bill… But I found a 2015 song called Thylacine… Latin for Tasmanian tiger.. Thylacenus something or other… Close!
Neil, Since you are looking for obscure animals you might try the Tasmanian Tiger. Some scientists are convinced that there are still since of this beast roaming in the wilds of Tasmania. Just a thought.