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"Dog Days Are Over" is the first track and second single from Florence and the Machine’s debut album, Lungs. It was originally supposed to be released on November 24, 2008 through Moshi Moshi Records in the UK as the albums second single, but was later pushed back for release on December 1, 2008. A day later on December 2, 2008 the single was released in download and seven-inch vinyl format through IAMSOUND Records in the US.
The B-side to the single is a cover of "You’ve Got the Love" by The Source featuring Candi Staton which later was confirmed as a track on their debut album and the band's fifth single.
Background and recording[]
"Dog Days Are Over" was recorded with no instruments in a studio the "size of a loo".[1] The song was inspired by a giant text installment titled "Dog Days Are Over" by artist Ugo Rondinone, which lead singer Florence Welch used to see every day, riding her bike over Waterloo Bridge. The song was produced and mixed by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco and The Last Shadow Puppets, who is also famous for producing for the likes of Bloc Party and the Arctic Monkeys. He is also credited as playing piano and guitar on the record.
Welch co-wrote the song with Isabella Summers, who is also credited as the song's co-producer, and played piano on the record. Welch and Summers also teamed up for the percussion on the track, together with Charlie Hugall. "Dog Days Are Over" also features musicians Tom Monger (harp), Bruce White (viola), Everton Nelson (violin), Christopher Lloyd Hayden (drums) and Rob Ackroyd (guitar). Jimmy Robertson, extensively involved in the recording of the band's debut record Lungs, recorded and mixed "Dog Days" as well.[2]
2010 re-release[]
The song was re-released into the UK market on 11 April 2010, accompanied with a new video.
Official versions[]
- Album version - 4:13
- Radio edit - 3:41
- Demo - 3:33
- Yeasayer remix - 4:15
- iTunes Live: London Festival / 2010 - 4:15
- An Optimo (Espacio) Mix - 6:41
Lyrics[]
Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run
Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
'Cause here they come
And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
'Cause here they come
Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
'Cause here they come
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run
Music videos[]
The first video, filmed in Sydenham Woods, was uploaded onto YouTube on November 6, 2008. "I just made it on a whim. We went down to the woods and we only had one camera. I got my dad to put a clown costume on and my friend's nephew to dress up as the baby clown while we decorated the woods. Dog walkers gave us the weirdest looks. It was really fun." The video starts with Florence lying in a forest, when a person (Isabella Summers) in a white dress comes over and blindfolds her, and leads her to a clearing, filled with eerie-looking carnival/clown dressed people. Florence stands blindfolded for a few seconds, then takes the blindfold off and runs from the people. She eventually trips, and lays there as the carnival/clown people dress her like them. She then goes and dances with them, and the video ends with her walking away with 2 of the other people. The video featured acclaimed performance artist Theo Adams.
A new video was directed by Georgie Greville and Geremy Jasper and edited by Paul Snyder. It was shot by cinematographer Adam Frisch. It shows Florence dancing in a white-washed room wearing many different costumes and gradually being joined by go-go dancers, drummers wearing tribal outfits, harpists, marching band bass drummers and a gospel choir wearing white and purple. At the climax of the song Florence runs by all the people and as she does, they burst into ash in a flash of brightly coloured light. The video ends with Florence once again standing alone in the room. Throughout the video she wears full-body white make-up with intricate clothing and vivid red eye-liner and blusher. The video features actor Greg Draven in one of his first roles. 10 years later in 2020 Greg would work with Florence again on acclaimed The Third Day: Autumn.
On August 3, 2010 the video was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards in the categories Video of the Year, Best Rock Video, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, and won for Best Art Direction on September 12, 2010.
Critical reception[]
"Dog Days Are Over" has been widely praised by music critics, with Welch's vocals being lauded. John Murphy of MusicOMH commented that "'Dog Days Are Over' only seems likely to add to her already burgeoning reputation. While not as immediately catchy as "Kiss with a Fist," it's an urgent, pounding, almost bluesy anthem which shows off Florence's voice to its very best advantage".[3] The track's B-side, a cover of The Source's "You’ve Got the Love", was also praised.[3]
Contactmusic.com rated the song 9/10. The website remarked that "It's brilliant. It's a masterful yet primal tour-de-force of folk/pop/rock that reveals a beguiling talent that should surely be regarded as one of the finds of the musical year. "Dog Days Are Over" succeeds in capturing a powerfully 'live' studio sound that sinks, swells and explodes in a series of unconventional verse/choruses that, accentuated by Welch's snarling".[4] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 33 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[5]
Chart performance[]
On December 6, 2008, "Dog Days Are Over" debuted at number 89 on the UK Singles Chart. The following week it dropped one place to number 90 before dropping out of the top 100. It then re-entered the chart a month later on January 17, 2009 at number 93 before dropping out of the chart again. Approximately four months later the single made another re-entry on May 23, 2009, this time at number 91.[6]
Following performances on Top of the Pops, Jools Holland and uses in television advertisement for Slumdog Millionaire and Eat, Pray, Love, "Dog Days Are Over" began to receive increasing amounts of digital downloads, despite not having been re-released. On January 10, 2010, "Dog Days Are Over" re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 23, marking its highest peak to date. However, the following week, on January 17, 2010, the single fell one place to number 24. Following the single's official re-release in March 2010, it re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 34 on April 4, 2010. The following week, the single rose to number 24 before dropping again.
On January 15, 2010, "Dog Days Are Over" entered the Irish Singles Chart for the first time, reaching a peak of number 35. This was the third Top 40 hit for Florence in Ireland. Following its re-release in March 2010, the single once again entered the Irish Singles Chart, this time climbing to number 24 and a week later to number 17. The following week, the single rose to number 15, and the week after, number 13. On April 15, 2010, the single entered the Top 10 at its peak position, number 6, making "Dog Days Are Over" Florence's fourth highest-charting single in Ireland, after "Cosmic Love" (number 3), "Shake It Out" (number 2), and "Spectrum (Say My Name)" (number 1).[7]
On the week ending September 25, 2010, "Dog Days Are Over" debuted at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8] Following the performance of "Dog Days Are Over" on the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, the track sold 96,000 digital downloads which signified a 257% increase over the previous week and leaped to number 21 giving Florence her first top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.[9] As of June 2016, the song has sold over 3,151,000 downloads in the United States alone. [10]
Refrences[]
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_7775000/7775935.stm
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Florence-The-Machine-Lungs/release/1872408
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20090109130126/http://www.musicomh.com/singles/florence-and-the-machine-2_1108.htm
- ↑ http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/singlereview/florence-and-the-machine-dog-days-are-overx09x12x08
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years-1257
- ↑ https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/
- ↑ http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&placement%5Bartist%5D=Florence+the+Machine
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121004052942/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3ic5827d475c9bb436048b19c2b5eb842b
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/956176/bruno-mars-lands-atop-hot-100-rihanna-roars-into-top-10
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160705145725/http://www.defjampromo.com/files/2009/10/BB-Digital-Songs-Chart-Wk.-Ending-6-16-16.pdf
