1) an Austral… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least nine artists with the name Paul Kelly:
1) an Australian singer-songwriter
2) an American film and TV composer
3) an American soul singer & songwriter
4) an Irish folk singer and songwriter
5) a member of British bands Birdie and East Village
6) a member of English rock band Northern Uproar
7) an English multi-instrumentalist for The Islanders
8) an American bass player
9) a member of The Martial Arts, BMX Bandits and How to Swim
1) Paul Kelly is an Australian singer-songwriter, based in Melbourne, and widely considered as an icon of Australian music. He has released music under his own name and as Paul Kelly and the Messengers, Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys. His output has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output comfortably straddles folk, rock, and even some country. His lyrics, simply and laconically voiced, have managed to speak to Australian experiences and history perhaps more broadly and directly than any other artist.
2) Paul Kelly is an American composer based in New York City. He is the talent that brings music to the world of film, TV, and advertising. He has been sought after by renowned directors, like Oliver Stone, for his blockbuster films, Savages, Any Given Sunday, Comandante and Oscar-Nominated short film Everything In This Country Must. Glowing reviews that Kelly has received, can be seen in the following from Thom Jurek, Soundings in Film, who say, “His moving sound constructions are full of emotions and moods — not all of them pleasant — and his takes on funk, rock, and blues are not journeyman, but those of a musician who takes these art forms seriously and seeks to represent them accurately in his utterances. Kelly may be a sketcher, but his sketches stand on their own outside the realm of the image,” and Frank O. Gutch Jr, Evolution In Film, who give glowing context to the work of Kelly in the following, “Paul Kelly knows what music is. He knows that it can be a setup, a climax, or an anticlimax. He knows the value of music applied to other media. More than that, he knows music. Not at all unlike a classical composer or even the rock band which plays beyond the fringe, he creates music for a reason.”
Visit http://paulkelly.com for more information.
3) Paul Kelly (born Paul Laurence Dunbar Kelly in Overtown, Miami, Florida, USA on 19 June 1940) is an American Soul singer, musician and producer. He is best known for the song "Stealing in the Name of the Lord", which was a hit in 1970. And in 1974 another hit with "Hooked, Hogtied & Collared" from the album with the same title. He also wrote "Personally", which has been widely-covered, and was a hit for soul singer Jackie Moore, as well as country singers Karla Bonoff and Ronnie McDowell. Other songs have been covered by gospel artists, including The Mighty Clouds Of Joy and The Staple Singers.
4) Paul Kelly (born 1957 in Dublin) is an Irish folk singer and songwriter. He has played Irish traditional music, bluegrass and country, and is equally at home in a variety of different styles of music.
5) Paul Kelly is a British member of Birdie and East Village
6) Paul Kelly is a member of English rock band Northern Uproar
7) Paul Kelly is an English multi-instrumentalist for The Islanders
8) Paul Kelly is an American bass player
9) a member of The Martial Arts, BMX Bandits and How to Swim
I Won't Be Your Dog Anymore
Paul Kelly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And it tastes like turpentine
I've been leaving muddy footprints
Up and down the Morgan line
Crows are crying all around me
In a sky where the sun refuse to shine
I've been taking scraps from back doors
I've been fighting over morsels
And I've been slinking back again
I've been building up a reputation
On the levee all across the plain
No I won't be your dog
Your low riding dog anymore
Now the mangrove sun is sinking
And the moon is bloody red
Every gun is clean and loaded
Lying by a feather bed
Far and wide goes my description
And the price is rising on my head
No I won't be your dog
Your low riding dog anymore
I've been drinking muddy water
I've been keeping way down low
All I hear is my own breathing
All I see is a distant glow
All I have is tearing me up
Wearing me down just won't let me go
No I won't be your dog
Your low riding dog anymore
No I won't be your dog
Your low riding dog anymore
The lyrics to Paul Kelly's song "I Won't Be Your Dog Anymore" paint a bleak picture of a person who has been living in poverty and desperation. The opening lines describe the taste of muddy water, a sign of how low the singer has sunk. The muddy footprints suggest that the singer has been wandering aimlessly, perhaps searching for food or shelter.
The crows crying around the singer create a sense of sorrow and foreboding, which is further amplified by the sun refusing to shine. The singer's only source of sustenance appears to be scraps from back doors and hiding in the cane, indicating a life of scavenging and hiding from authorities.
The second verse highlights the singer's struggle for survival and the lengths they have gone to in order to stay alive. However, the singer seems to have reached a breaking point and refuses to continue living as a lowly creature, subservient to the whims of others. The third verse is a statement of defiance, with the singer announcing that they will no longer be treated as a dog or be at the mercy of their circumstances.
Overall, "I Won't Be Your Dog Anymore" is a powerful commentary on the human condition and the struggle to maintain dignity in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been drinking muddy water
I've been making poor choices and it feels like I'm consuming something harmful
And it tastes like turpentine
It's causing me pain and discomfort
I've been leaving muddy footprints
I've been making a mess of my life and my surroundings
Up and down the Morgan line
I keep making the same mistakes over and over
Crows are crying all around me
I'm surrounded by sadness and death
In a sky where the sun refuse to shine
I can't see any hope or positivity in life
I've been taking scraps from back doors
I've been accepting whatever life throws at me, even if it's not enough to survive
I've been hiding in the cane
I've been avoiding my problems and responsibilities
I've been fighting over morsels
I'm living a life of scarcity and competing with others for basic necessities
And I've been slinking back again
Even when I try to stand up for myself, I keep falling back to my old ways
I've been building up a reputation
I'm known for being a loser and a failure
On the levee all across the plain
My reputation and my problems are known to everyone around me
No I won't be your dog
I won't be someone's pawn or victim anymore
Your low riding dog anymore
I won't stoop low to please someone else or to survive
Now the mangrove sun is sinking
I'm reaching the end of my rope and I'm getting desperate
And the moon is bloody red
Everything around me feels ominous and violent
Every gun is clean and loaded
Everyone around me is ready to harm or betray me at any moment
Lying by a feather bed
People who have it good are willing to go to great lengths to keep their comfort
Far and wide goes my description
My reputation as a loser and a victim is spreading further and further
And the price is rising on my head
The consequences of my mistakes and my struggles are becoming more and more severe
I've been keeping way down low
I've been trying to hide and avoid attention, but it's not working
All I hear is my own breathing
I'm feeling isolated and alone
All I see is a distant glow
I can't see a way out of my problems or a brighter future
All I have is tearing me up
Even the little that I have is causing me pain and suffering
Wearing me down just won't let me go
My problems and my struggles are consuming me and won't go away
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PAUL MAURICE KELLY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind