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Jumping up and down the floor,
My head is an animal
And once there was an animal,
It had a son that mowed the lawn
The son was an OK guy,
They had a pet dragonfly
The dragonfly it ran away,
But it came back with a story to say
Her dirty paws and furry coat,
She ran down the forest slope
The forest of talking trees,
They used to sing about the birds and the bees
The bees had declared a war,
The sky wasn't big enough for them all
The birds, they got help from below,
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow
So for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men
And that's how the story goes,
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws
My head is an animal
And once there was an animal,
It had a son that mowed the lawn
The son was an OK guy,
They had a pet dragonfly
The dragonfly it ran away,
But it came back with a story to say
Her dirty paws and furry coat,
She ran down the forest slope
The forest of talking trees,
They used to sing about the birds and the bees
The bees had declared a war,
The sky wasn't big enough for them all
The birds, they got help from below,
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow
So for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men
And that's how the story goes,
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws
Lyrics submitted by Macuahuitl
Track duration: 04:38
"Dirty Paws" as written by Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir, Ragnar Thorhallsson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Dirty Paws" is the USA (I'll get to this later); the bees are the Axis Powers; and the birds are the Allies. The "creatures of snow" are most likely England, Russia, and France.
The birds - the first countries to declare war on Germany, Italy, Japan, ect. - got help from the USA, England, Russia, and France - hence "Dirty Paws and the creatures of snow".
"The forest that once was green was colored black by those killing machines" represents the toll the war took on the world. The forest = the world, killing machines = the countries fighting in the war, colored black = all the death.
Dirty Paws and the creatures of snow/her "furry friends" - USA, England, Russia, and France - take down Germany (the queen bee) and Italy and Japan (her men).
Now for Dirty Paws: the last line of the song is "the beast with those four dirty paws". I think that the four dirty paws could represent wars America took part in:
1. American Revolution
2. Civil War
3. War of 1812
4. WWI
That's my interpretation of the song. It's a great song from my favorite band.
I equate Dirty Paws with Arctic Fox, as it is the largest mammal native to Iceland when viking settlement occurred 1140 years ago or so. The settlers brought with them horses from Scandinavia and a Norse culture of storytelling, and I think parables would be part of that.
When Iceland was first settled it was extensively forested, but human settlement and volcanic activity has caused major deforestation, as well as climatic deterioration during the Little Ice Age, which lasted in Iceland from 1258 to 1900. In fact this could be a cultural parable for explaining the little ice age and destruction of the forests of Iceland. Iceland lost half its population during these years – and the population was forced to adapt their food sources to survive. The Arctic fox and other winter creatures would be powerful symbols of survival and adaptability.
Verse 1:
A child playing,
pretending to be an animal
There once was a horse who had
a foal who grazed on the grass.
It was a fine foal
They were friends with a dragonfly, a timeless magical creature of summer that connects to the natural world in this and other times, that returned to tell this story
Verse 2:
It is the story of Arctic Fox
who ran down into the forest,
the magical forest of talking trees
which used to sing about the balance of nature, between creatures. The bees represent imbalance, they want to take over the skies
The birds seek help from Arctic Fox and the winter creatures. To restore balance cooperation was necessary
Verse 3:
Arctic Fox invokes the cold of winter to fight the bees, but winter is always hard on all creatures.
The Green forest is destroyed and
turned black by the bees in revenge
But the Arctic Fox and the creatures of winter
eventually defeat the leader of the bees and her soldier bees
That is the story of how Arctic Fox restored balance to the world
This song must mean nothing about war, but about renovation.
As said before, the dragonfly symbolizes ressurection and renewal after hardships. And it's normal that birds, bears, foxes, skunks and many other animals (the birds and the four paws) eat bees in the summer.
Every year, there is a natural war for surviving.
The human being is only one more animal that take part on the incessant cycles of renewing, not only each year, but through the entire life and the generations.
I think it's about the Human Race and how we are all animals (my head is an animal)
The first verse sets the scene with the narrator as the dragonfly - important as it symbolizes ressurection and renewal after hardships. (I'll come back to that later)
The fact that the "head is an animal" and it has a son, makes me think that the son is merely an 'idea' and is a bit above it all, away from the planet completely. It is all seen from the outside looking in, encouraging to view things from another perspective.
The song then tells a tale of birds and bees. They have a war because "the sky wasn't big enough for them all" which I think refers to us humans battling amongst ourselves on our huge planet.
Birds and bees are generally delightful free creatures but they call upon the animal "below" that has been frozen dormant (creatures of snow) which has "dirty paws". We can assume that this is not a nice creature. Possibly this means that humans have turned to desperate nasty means to win wars. It could be a cat as well - sly.
The last verse is the 'finale' i guess. The forests is turned black by the bees - like humans destroying the planet with war, scaring things down holes.
The song ends by the queen bee being killed - how most wars end when the leader is taken out. Very imporantly it says "and her MEN" which suddenly refers to people instead of animals.
"and thats how the story goes, the story of the beast with the four dirty paws"
This sums it up. The human race is the "beast" with blood on its hands.
Finally, the dragonfly returns home - the dragonfly being the symbol of renewal after hardships, and one can only hope that the world will repair itself.
I imagine the dragonfly leaving the cold black earth and flying back out to space, to meet with the son (the thought/idea) and begin the cycle all over again. (like the life cycle of a dragonfly.
This is just my interpretation, mind you.
The folk song is a story of how the bees were destroyed by a war between them and the birds and cats.
Bees were introduced to Iceland from Norway.