Many of the Lost Dogs albums include at least one or two cover songs. Songs covered by the Lost Dogs include Bob Dylan's "Lord, Protect My Child," Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will," The Beatles' "I'm A Loser," and Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More." They have also recorded a number of Traditional or Gospel standards such as "Dust On The Bible," and "Farther Along."
In March, 2000, shortly after the release of their Gift Horse album, Gene Eugene died in his sleep at The Green Room, his recording studio in Huntington Beach, California.
2003 saw the release of the band's first DVD, Via Chicago, a black and white concert film released by Lo-Fidelity Records. A follow-up DVD, Via Chicago (All We Left Unsaid), containing additional songs from the concert, was released in 2006.
Although the loss of Eugene is noticeable, the remaining three Lost Dogs members continue to tour and record new albums. In 2004, the band got together with longtime friend Steve Hindalong to produce a special album for their summer tour. The result was entitled Mutt, and included new acoustic versions of nine songs originally written and recorded for each band member's regular rock bands, with one new song. The following year, the band would release one of their most unusual recordings to date, the almost entirely instrumental Island Dreams.
The band's most recent project, Old Angel, was released May 2010. The band — including the newest official "dog," drummer Steve Hindalong — once again hit the road for a national tour in support of their new album.
Reasonable Service
Lost Dogs Lyrics
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There on dwells all in the heart of man
Oh consuming fire lay waste the dross
Upon this table purge us
Though the sacrifice we'll fear
Forsake us not Lord draw us near
For we never fail to find you here
In our reasonable service
Now the least that we can do
Is the least that you require
Living sacrifices on
The sacrificial fire
Cleanse these earthen vessels Lord
Of every false desire
And when we fail the do the least
Help us in our unbelief
Chorus
And in the measure of our faith
Let our minds keep on renewing
Not conforming to this world
Until this worlds undoing
And by your tender mercies Lord
Your perfect will pursuing
We become an offering
Made holy through your suffering
In the servitude of love
Drifts a fragrant scent well pleasing
As the strength of grace compels us on
To a worship without ceasing
To count as loss all we hold dear
Is Christ in us increasing
And through the fire gold will remain
To live is Christ to die is gain
The song "Reasonable Service" by Lost Dogs is a prayer to God to purify the souls of men, to cleanse their desires and make them holy. The song starts by acknowledging that within every human soul, an altar exists where all their thoughts, fears, desires and secrets reside. The lyrics then call out to God, the consuming fire, to burn away all the impurities from this altar, so that men can serve God with purity, without fear. It suggests that through this process of purging, the fear of serving God will be replaced with the joy of serving Him.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the need to constantly renew one's mind and maintain a spirit of sacrifice. It urges men to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God, and to count all that they hold dear as loss. The last line of the chorus reminds us that Christ suffered so that we could be made holy, and therefore, we should embrace our own suffering as a way to grow closer to Him.
Line by Line Meaning
In every soul an altar stands
There is a sacred place in every person's soul
There on dwells all in the heart of man
All that is important to us resides in this sacred place
Oh consuming fire lay waste the dross
The divine fire should burn away all impurities and distractions within us
Upon this table purge us
Use this sacred place to purify us
Though the sacrifice we'll fear
We may be afraid of what we need to sacrifice to purify ourselves
Forsake us not Lord draw us near
We ask for your help and guidance to stay close to that sacred place
For we never fail to find you here
We can always find you in this sacred place
In our reasonable service
In the act of purifying ourselves, we are offering reasonable service to God
Now the least that we can do
The least we should do
Is the least that you require
What you ask of us is not much
Living sacrifices on
We need to offer ourselves as living sacrifices
The sacrificial fire
The fire of purification
Cleanse these earthen vessels Lord
Purify us humans who are made of earth
Of every false desire
Take away our impure desires
And when we fail the do the least
When we fail to do the little that is asked of us
Help us in our unbelief
Support us when our faith is weak
And in the measure of our faith
The strength of our faith
Let our minds keep on renewing
May our minds and thoughts remain pure
Not conforming to this world
May our minds avoid being influenced by the world's impurities
Until this worlds undoing
Until this world becomes undone
And by your tender mercies Lord
Through your loving kindness, God
Your perfect will pursuing
Following your perfect will
We become an offering
We offer ourselves
Made holy through your suffering
Made holy because of your pain and sacrifice
In the servitude of love
In the act of serving with love
Drifts a fragrant scent well pleasing
The pleasant aroma of this service
As the strength of grace compels us on
As the power of grace motivates us
To a worship without ceasing
To keep worshiping without stopping
To count as loss all we hold dear
To consider losing everything that we hold dear
Is Christ in us increasing
In doing so, we allow Christ to become a greater part of us
And through the fire gold will remain
Even after being purified by fire, the valuable parts of us will remain
To live is Christ to die is gain
Life is found in Christ, and death is an opportunity to achieve ultimate gain
Contributed by Chase C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.