Wye Oak (née Monarch) is a duo of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, formed in mid… Read Full Bio ↴Wye Oak (née Monarch) is a duo of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, formed in mid-2006.

Wasner and Stack have been playing music together and apart in Baltimore, MD, and chose their name from the honorary state tree of Maryland. If Children is the culmination of many months of recording, polishing and perfecting to achieve what Any Given Tuesday best described as, “. .. . mingling in a room full of shoegaze, alt-country, folk, and noise, shaking hands, kissing cheeks, and making friends with everyone.” If Children is an exuberant debut – noisy and restrained in turn, Wye Oak describe their philosophy: "We'd like to think that if a song is good enough, it'll stand on its own regardless of how much noise you pile on top. On the other hand, we do like noise." Listen, and we think you will have to agree!

The droll tone and fleeting sweetness of a Yo La Tengo are cut into the more deeply textural concerns of shoegaze in the Baltimore group's work. It's an interesting alignment, given the contrast in senses of humor. But Wye Oak successfully shed tonnage from the latter without losing potency.

Dogs Eyes
Wye Oak Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Can see your self in evolution
The history of our creation
So dogs eyes
Smiling
Scare you and I'm dying

I can't shake the superstition
Jesus give me your permission

And God's eye
Looks in
That ghost you don't believe in

Someone let me live this way
And I can not get rid of it
Soft eyes
Hard hands
The shovel

The garden
The deep whole
The secret
The water to feed it

The season of going
And to everyone knowing

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Wye Oak's song "Dogs Eyes" delve into themes of evolution, superstition, and mortality. The opening lines "Can see your self in evolution, The history of our creation" suggest a metaphorical reflection on the evolutionary progress of humanity and the place of individuals in the grand scheme of things. The next two lines, "So dogs eyes, Smiling, Scare you and I'm dying" hints at the singer's sense of mortality. The mention of "dogs eyes" could be a reference to the theory of canine domestication co-evolving with humans, or it could reference the singer's own mortality, the idea of seeing life through the eyes of a dog, or the idea of a dog being a representation of an animal's instinctual self.

The second verse shifts the focus to the singer's struggle with superstition and the need for divine intervention. The line "I can't shake the superstition, Jesus give me your permission" suggests a dependency on a higher power to provide absolution or the ability to overcome their own fears. The following lines "And God's eye, Looks in, That ghost you don't believe in" hints at the idea that even though the singer may not believe in ghosts, they still feel the presence of a ghost.

The final verse of the song brings everything full circle, with the singer reflecting on their place in the world and their own mortality. The lines "Someone let me live this way, And I can not get rid of it, Soft eyes, Hard hands, The shovel" suggest a sense of helplessness, that the singer is unable to change their circumstances despite their best efforts. The last few lines "The garden, The deep whole, The secret, The water to feed it, The season of going, And to everyone knowing" imply a sense of inevitability and transformation, suggesting that everything eventually returns to the earth and that change is the only constant in life.

Line by Line Meaning

Can see your self in evolution
You can perceive your own evolution in history

The history of our creation
The story of how we were made

So dogs eyes
The eyes of dogs

Smiling
Expressing happiness with your face

Scare you and I'm dying
They make you scared and I am dying

I can't shake the superstition
I am unable to rid myself of my superstitions

Jesus give me your permission
Asking Jesus for permission

And God's eye
The eye of God

Looks in
Observes

That ghost you don't believe in
That spirit you do not believe exists

Someone let me live this way
Someone allowed me to live in this manner