Lyrics for Straw Dog as interpreted by krushzed

Straw Dog Lyrics
Staring into the intersection, she thinks that she can fly and she might
Holding on in a new direction, she's gonna try it tonight
The closer I get to feeling, the further that I'm feeling from alright
The more I step into the sun, the more I step out of the light

Jessica is covered ina blanket on a Sunday porch
Thinking of the weekends she would party in the city
She doesn't have a flame, she'd prefer to burn out like a torch
If she gets nowhere in life, at least she know's she pretty

She said, "Hey, now, the straw dog's out in the street
Hey now, there's chemicals in the clouds
Hey now, they're calling the police
They won't get to us, anyhow."

The moon is shining now and shadows are what's left of all the noise
Simple silhouettes and cutouts as if we had the choice
He listens closely now, swears that he can hear a voice
That's calling him and saying

"Hey, now, the straw dog's out in the street
Hey now, there's chemicals in the clouds
Hey now, they're calling the police
They won't get to us, anyhow."

What does it take to be a superhero in our world?
Make no mistake that these villains always get the girl
We can escape, and then we'd skate away from all of this
And no one ever does.

She's saying "Hey, now, the straw dog's out in the street
Hey now, there's chemicals in the clouds
Hey now, they're calling the police
They won't get to us, anyhow."

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waa336
02-05-2005

Rated 0 
The line that starts as "Jessica" is wrong. Its a Sun-bathed porch. not a "sunday" porch. it makes a lot more sense.

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ringlord
02-04-2005

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From www.rockingthescene.com-

Tyler: What does the lyric “…the straw dog’s out in the street” mean?

Andrew: That actually comes back to that book I was telling you about, “The Dao De Jing”, it’s a reference from that book. A “straw dog” is like this ceremonial figure in some, I’m going to really fuck this up, but in some eastern culture it’s almost how a crucifix is looked at in Christianity. The only difference is after it’s one of the most respected thing in their ceremonies, they trash it out in the street, they beat it up and disregard it. To me that was kind of a pretty decent statement about the way youth is treated in America. Like everybody says that they’re our future and most important thing in the world. Then you see the way that teachers and police and everybody treat them, they kind of treat them like shit even though they supposedly the most honored thing in the world. That’s kind of like my take on it. It’s not anything I would ever expect anybody to decipher, it’s like the most senseless babble. To me writing was never more of a inventing type thing. If I can’t relate to it on personal level then it’s bullshit to me anyway, so it ends up being more specific than general.

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jannika
01-27-2005

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"the closer i get to feeling the further i'm feeling from all right"

one of my favorite lines in a song EVER

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kliffy
12-17-2004

Rated 0 
Like an abstract painting- this song is all about its versitility and confusion, and thats what i love so much about it. It really makes so little sense, it can mean so many different things, as to whatever you interperet it. it's truly brilliant
PS: the live version on 'songs for silent movies' BLOWS MY MIND!

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msg555
12-13-2004

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I love this song. It has a lot more meaning when you know what a straw dog is

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sobeautiful
11-23-2004

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I wanted them to play this when I went to the show that they opened for Dashboard but they didn't :( Still a great song though...

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sobeautiful
11-09-2004

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I love this song, I've had it stuck in my head for like 3 weeks

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ed_is_emo
10-25-2004

Rated 0 
Hey, i know you all say its about the youth, and how we are worshiped by adults, but still yet tourn apart like by cops and stuff who don't trust us..

but what about it being the other way around?

i mean, when we are young, we look to our parents. they are the coolest people ever. we love them with all our hearts. they can do no wrong. but then as we grow up, we decide that our parents are terrible, and are only there to bring us down.

when we are little, they have huge dreams for us.. but as we grow up, they are all shattered.. things go wrong. we are no longer perfect in their eyes.

its like their dreams for us are the straw dog, and our illusions of them are the straw dog too... eventually, they realize that you're living for your dreams, and not thiers. and we discard them, becuase we have other idols.. people who are smarter, cooler, funnier, whatever. they realize we aren't perfect, just as we realize they aren't perfect. Putting the straw dog into the streets is like both sides throwing out thier perceptions, and letting them be destroyed.

calling out the police is like them trying to gain control back, and they may get us, but we won't let them get to us. we are still gonna live our lives they way we have, and they can't really stop us..


..just my take on it tho.

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chakitabananaz
10-24-2004

Rated 0 
first off this is my favorite song of all time and soco is the best band ever!! now, in this song im pretty sure that straw dog is a reference to protestors out in the street. i know it sounds kind of weird but if you look at the lyrics (in the chorus) it makes a ton or sense--"chemicals in the clouds...calling the police"-- anyway thats what one of my friends said this song means. im not really sure about the rest of it, probabaly something to do with "jessica" finding her way in life and stuff. :)

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slud
06-26-2004

Rated 0 
One thing i do know about a "straw dog" if it is referenced to most other things made out of straw is that it refers to something being proverbialy worthless. see if you think that goes along with the song?

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Ratboy
06-16-2004

Rated 0 
just a wild guess. Maybe Straw Dog in the streetis supposed to mean something vulnerable that can be destroyed or swept away easily, but I dunno how that has to do witht he rest. Anyway, AWESOME SONG!

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Vince
06-16-2004

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It is touched upon above, but a 'Straw Dog' is from Taoist Philosophy / Religion, in which these dogs made of straw are made, used as an object of worship for a day or two and then, as mentioned above, thrown away and actually violently ruined. This was all explained above, the point i am trying to make is that i think the song is representing how the author feels after a relationship. He feels as though he has been the object of affection for a little while, while he was useful, but now has been violently rejected because the object of his love, presumably 'Jessica' wants to 'fly away'.

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JasonDude
06-30-2003

Rated 0 
brokenpromisering was correct. I talked to Andrew after a concert last summer in Chula Vista. He said that they learned about the Dao De Jing in a class they had in high school. He said that the straw dog is an idol that they worship all year long and then at the end of the year they give it to the people and the people tear it apart. He said that he was using it metaphorically because all people talk about is how the youth is the future and yet when we are out "in the streets" they treat us all like a bunch of crooks. That is about all Andrew had to say about it, so Andrew thanks for clearing that up for us!!!

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sweetCatastrophe81
06-22-2003

Rated 0 
i went to a soco concert in arizona and they commented on how so many people think this song is about drugs, but its not. i forgot what they said about it, but it defenatly wasnt written with drugs in mind. just to clear that up.

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sweetCatastrophe81
06-22-2003

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i went to a soco concert in arizona and they commented on how so many people think this song is about drugs, but its not. i forgot what they said about it, but it defenatly wasnt written with drugs in mind. just to clear that up.

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jessylovesyou
06-11-2003

Rated 0 
i don't like this song solely because my name is jessica and it beats the hell out of "jesse's girl", i like it because it's just amazing. i think it has to do with drugs, and decisions, and basically life in general. it's amazing. the whole cd is. yesss.

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afifan4ever
05-04-2003

Rated 0 
it's obvious that this song is about crazy people. for example:
"hey now, the straw dog's out in the street. there's chemicals in the clouds, they're calling the police, they won't get to us anyway." this is what you often see crazy people saying (they won't get to "us") as if they were talking to voices in their head. get it?

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konfusion725
04-25-2003

Rated 0 
"The more I step into the sun, the more I step out of the light"

Come on now....that's one fricking awesome line.....

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konfusion725
04-25-2003

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"The more I step into the sun, the more I step out of the light"

Come on now....that's one fricking awesome line.....

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cavanaughpark
04-24-2003

Rated 0 
i think that no one (but something corporate) actually knows what this song means i think saying its about drugs is close ..andrew and guys if you're reading this help us figure it out please

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dirrty girl
04-08-2003

Rated 0 
"Staring into the intersection she thinks that she can fly and she might..."

The girl is looking down, ready to jump, contemplating suicide.

The entire song is about drugs. I love this song. I swear the 2 aren't related hahaha.

Definitely on my list of 5 best soco songs ;D

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stickysidein
03-25-2003

Rated 0 
What does it take to be a superhero in our world?

that line always gives me chills.

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blindhappiness
09-12-2002

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Brokenpromise ring was right, when I interviewed Will I asked him bc it does sound like reference to drugs. In some eastern culture they would make a dog out of straw like, one week a year I think and worship it all week, then at the end of the week they destroyed it. So they kinda used that to describe today's youth. How society worships us (bit of an exaggeration but you get the point) because we're tomorrow's leaders but then they try to knock us down every chance they get. Same thing brokenpromisering posted, but I figured I'd do it again. :) Anyway.. it's a great song and means even more to me now that I know the story behind it.

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cmarie3083
09-03-2002

Rated 0 
I have been trying to figure out what this song means. After reading all of this, I think that the comments made about drugs make sense, but this is my perspective.

If you have ever read the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury, you know it is about the end of the word due to a nuclear bomb. A section of the story goes "The entire west face of the house was black, save for five places. Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lown. Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flugh into the air; higher up, the image of a thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down."

The whole part about "chemicals in the clouds", "simple silhouettes", and how the police "won't get to us anyhow" reminds me of that story. Just my 2 cents...

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*Iris*
08-31-2002

Rated 0 
OK first off this is an awsome song...i came on here to find out what the "straw dog" was but i kinda formed my own interpretation (whether it's right or not). I think the straw dog is lke "Jessica's" dreams. This girl wants to do everything, she wants to live life to the fullest but she's not really worrying about the future or it's consequences. It says "she doesn't have a flame - she'd prefer to burn out like a torch"....she doesn't have desire...she doesn't care where she ends up. I basically consider the "straw dog" to be metaphoric. Straw isn't very heavy and it can blow away at anytime - just like her dreams. She kinda lives on the edge, and so she places her dreams in the middle of the street - careless to what happens. That's my interpretation whether it's the actualy meaning or not...it's what i think. I think taht's the whole point of song writing...to affect many different ppl by many differnet ways. Everyone has their own interpretations.:)

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