The group's name comes from a nonsensical knock-knock joke Drucker's sister told him when she was 6 years old. The joke runs like this:
"Knock-knock"
"Who's there?"
"Cloud-dead"...
But no-one remembers the punchline.
cLOUDDEAD's sound is notoriously hard to define, and although it is undoubtedly grounded in 'traditional' hip-hop, influences as varied as electronica, psychedelic music and indie rock can be heard. Because of this non-traditional take on hip-hop, more conservative corners of the rap community have labeled cLOUDDEAD as "smartarse surrealism" - with some rejecting the notion that the group can be classed as hip-hop at all, ignoring Doseone's request to 'just call it hip hop.'
cLOUDDEAD's first six 10" EPs were compiled in 2001 as a self-titled compilation album. The band's subsequent discography includes a further two 10" EPs, the single "Dead Dogs Two" and the album Ten. Printed on the sleeve of "Dead Dogs Two" is "this is clouddead number 9 of ten", indicating that as of Ten, cLOUDDEAD, as a group, have finished making music.
As of 2009 cLOUDDEAD came together under the name again to record a track on Themselves newest mixtape "theFREEhoudini" performing the song "Rapping 4 Money".
Dead Dogs Two
cLOUDDEAD Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Two dogs, dead in a field,
Glowing on the oakland coliseum green seats wasteland,
Dogs, dogs we thought were dead,
They rose up, rose up when whistled at, their rib cage inflating like men on the beach being photographed,
A guard dog, guard dog, for what? for what?
Against tofers ellis pennyless athletics fanatics,
Getting into games through a whole in the fence,
Pitched by a creek beneath an onramp,
In the privacy of the last three,
Skin and bony tree, devoid of leaves,
And us undeceased, and our new cds,
Dippin' on goodies, oakland
it's hard to stand the sight of two dogs dead under a sky so blue,
You have to stop the blood to your head,
To fit the breathe in front of you,
we secretly long to be some part of a car crash,
Long to see your arms stripped of the tendons,
The nudity of swelling exposed vein,
Webbing the back of your hand,
To be a red tendoned dog,
To be red tendoned dogs,
Blood breathing by the side of the highway
I long to be dead,
Center of a curious crowd,
To be touched,
Sticky like nearly dried paint,
Their soft silent stare nursing your face,
Anticipating the slightest pinch I flinch of pain,
Everyone blank in accident awe,
As the car crash fiberglass dust straight up settles on your raw muscle tissue
it's hard to stand the sight of two dogs dead under a sky so blue,
You have to stop the blood to your head,
To fit the breathe in front of you,
To be a red tendoned dog, to be red tendoned dogs, to be red tendoned dogs, to be red tendoned dogs,
To be dead center of a curious crowd
~against my misery I don't think I've seen my screeching pain, I can now feel what's around us it is some sort of harmony, the harmony of overwhelming murder~
The lyrics of cLOUDDEAD's song Dead Dogs Two convey a sense of morbid fascination and contemplation of death, as well as a critique of societal norms and power structures. The opening lines describe the sight of two dead dogs on a field near a highway on-ramp, and the subsequent realization that they are not actually dead but merely exhausted and underfed guard dogs for someone's private property. This image is juxtaposed with the desire to experience the sensation of being a corpse oneself, to be the center of attention and touched by others, even at the cost of immense pain.
The lyrics continue to reflect on the allure of destruction and the urge to break free from the constraints of society, represented by the image of people sneaking into the Oakland Coliseum through a hole in the fence. The phrase "tofers ellis pennyless athletics fanatics" seems to satirize the idea of fandom and consumerism, mocking those who are so obsessed with sports that they are willing to risk their safety and dignity just to enter a stadium. Meanwhile, the singer and their companions consume "goodies" and revel in their own freedom on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by nature but also by poverty and decay.
The final lines of the song, "against my misery I don't think I've seen my screeching pain, I can now feel what's around us it is some sort of harmony, the harmony of overwhelming murder," are cryptic and eerie, suggesting that the singer has come to a realization about the violence and chaos inherent in their surroundings, but also finding solace in it. The song thus presents a complex and unsettling mix of emotions, challenging listeners to confront their own relationship to death and the darker aspects of human nature.
Line by Line Meaning
From the height of the highway onramp we saw,
We saw two dead dogs from the top of the highway onramp.
Two dogs, dead in a field,
We saw two dead dogs in a field.
Glowing on the Oakland Coliseum green seats wasteland,
The dogs were visible under the green seats of the Oakland Coliseum wasteland.
Dogs, dogs we thought were dead,
We initially thought the dogs were already dead.
They rose up, rose up when whistled at, their rib cage inflating like men on the beach being photographed,
The dogs stood up and their rib cage expanded like people flexing at the beach when we whistled.
A guard dog, guard dog, for what? for what?
The purpose of the guard dog is not clear.
Against tofer ellis pennyless athletics fanatics,
The guard dog may be protecting against broke athletes coming through a hole in the fence named Tofers Ellis.
Getting into games through a whole in the fence,
The athletes are sneaking in through a hole in the fence to attend games.
For the owner of the blue tarp tent,
The owner of the blue tarp tent may have some connection to the guard dog or the athletes sneaking in.
Pitched by a creek beneath an onramp,
The blue tarp tent is set up by a creek under an onramp.
In the privacy of the last three,
The scene is secluded and private.
Skin and bony tree, devoid of leaves,
There is a bare and desolate tree in the area.
And us undeceased, and our new cds,
We are alive and have new CDs with us.
Dippin' on goodies, Oakland
We are enjoying some treats in Oakland.
It's hard to stand the sight of two dogs dead under a sky so blue,
It is difficult to see the two dead dogs under such a beautiful sky.
You have to stop the blood to your head,
It can be overwhelming and make you feel faint.
To fit the breath in front of you,
You have to control your emotions to keep moving forward.
We secretly long to be some part of a car crash,
We have a secret desire to experience a car crash.
Long to see your arms stripped of the tendons,
We want to witness the extreme injuries of a car accident.
The nudity of swelling exposed vein,
We want to see the graphic details of someone's vein swelling from an accident.
Webbing the back of your hand,
We desire to see the web-like network of veins on someone's hand.
To be a red tendoned dog,
We fantasize about being a mutilated dog with exposed tendons.
To be red tendoned dogs,
We desire this grotesque injury to ourselves.
Blood breathing by the side of the highway,
We want to see blood spurting from wounds on the roadside.
I long to be dead,
We have a longing for death.
Center of a curious crowd,
We desire to be the center of attention for onlookers.
To be touched,
We want to feel physical contact from strangers.
Sticky like nearly dried paint,
We want to be covered in a sticky substance like drying paint.
Their soft silent stare nursing your face,
Possibly dead spectators nursing our face with their stares.
Anticipating the slightest pinch I flinch of pain,
We want to feel a small amount of pain from the onlookers.
Everyone blank in accident awe,
We want the onlookers to be in a state of awe or shock.
As the car crash fiberglass dust straight up settles on your raw muscle tissue
We want to experience the settling of fiberglass dust on our open wounds.
To be a red tendoned dog, to be red tendoned dogs, to be red tendoned dogs, to be red tendoned dogs,
We cannot shake the desire to experience the grotesque injury of being a mutilated dog with exposed tendons.
To be dead center of a curious crowd
We still desire to be the center of attention for a curious crowd.
~Against my misery I don't think I've seen my screeching pain, I can now feel what's around us it is some sort of harmony, the harmony of overwhelming murder~
Despite our misery, we are experiencing some sort of harmony or satisfaction from witnessing the scene of overwhelming murder around us.
Lyrics © TERRORBIRD PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Firstname Lastname
I love cLOUDDEAD, but this version is better.
White Elephant
Jesus they put alot of work into this remix, so many samples all distinctly Boards of Canada.
AistoBistoC
anyone catch the beatles reference at the end? Same ending as a Day In The Life...genius!
jadegecko
No wonder I wanted to repeat the nonsense loop at the end of sgt pepper
Goatse
BoC really touches the heart.
purpletraitor
I've only just heard of cLOUDDEAD and I'm already enthralled by their lyrical style.
seriously, their songs are really beautiful to me.
purpletraitor
+Kevin Cirone
I've been looking into some of their other projects, like Hymie's Basement, Why? and Themselves, and I think I've found some of the best artists in existence.
K C
+Torn- B-I-a-S (Nova) Some of the most beautiful. If you like this style, you should check out the dicographies of both Yoni Wolf and Doeseone -- I would start by looking at some WHY? and then look into more obscure things like Greenthink and Subtle.
BeNotNormal
So beautifully strange, scary, otherworldly, and just... This is such an amazing song. The words do something to me that I can't explain and that few other songs can possibly do. The visual representation is absolutely perfect. Zen. This is a positively surreal experience of seeing and hearing and feeling all wrapped up in one gorgeous burrito of perfection. My words are making no sense in my brain.
onebun
I remember seeing the work in progress quite some time ago and hoped I would one day see the finished work. This is great, thanks for sharing Stephen.