Subject: Lyr Add: ONE DOG PER VERSE (Jerry Rasmussen)
From:
Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 04:47 PM
O.k. Joe:
This takes a little introduction. First of all, the song is called ONE DOG PER VERSE because each verse is about a different dog I had the privilege to know.
The first dog was old, and he liked to lie right underneath the Health Department sign in the supermarket. As the verse says, he'd lie there with his legs on the door mat that automatically opened the door when you stepped on it. But, most of the time, he'd just snooze. But, as you were leaving, if you'd call his name, he'd lift his head, shift his weight and it would cause the automatic door to open. A doordog. Thus, the first verse:
Right underneath the BY ORDER OF THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
NO DOGS ALLOWED you'd find him every day
Getting kinda stiff around the haunches
With one eye all gone blurry, and his muzzle turning gray
Sleeping with his front legs on the doormat
And listening for your footsteps 'cross the floor
And when you'd call his name, he'd turn and look your way
And when he wagged his tail, he'd open up the door
Now, it was the second dog who was blind in one eye. One day when I was walking to work because my Pinto had once again broken down, I was walking on a stretch of street with no sidewalks. So, I was walking on the road. When I looked up, I saw a car approaching me, with a dog in hot pursuit, running alongside the car. As the car got closer and closer, the dog was so intent upon catching it, that he was in danger of slamming head on into me. So, I jumped out of the way, and as the dog went racing by, I realized why he hadn't seen me. He was blind in his left eye. God in His infinite wisdom and mercy had blessed him with the vision in his right eye, so he could still see to chase cars. He just couldn't see me. And thus, the second verse..
In his youth, he used to chase the autos
There wasn't any car he didn't know
And though he'd lost the vision in his left eye
He always kept his right eye on the road
As the years rolled by and he grew older
He lost a little mustard in his stride
And so he was content to lie there on that mat
And he'd cock his ear each time a car drove by
The dog in the third verse was one I'd often see walking with his master when I'd stop into the corner store to buy a cup of coffee and a bagel for breakfast. The owner of the store really liked the little dog, and when his master would come walking in with him (no one was too strict about the No Dogs Allowed law) the owner would disappear into the back room and say, "I have a couple of butt ends of cold cuts for you," and feed the dog. There was no way that little store could produce that many butt ends a day.
One day when I stopped by, the man came in without his dog, and I asked where the dog was. He said that he'd been out walking with his dog the night before, and his dog had seen a pretty little bitch (dog type) walking on the other side of the street, and before the man could stop him, his dog darted across the street to meet the lady in question, and was hit and killed by a car. Love will do it, every time. And so, the third dog got rolled into the second dog and the first dog for the third verse...
Some say it was love that finally got him
And the health department finally got it's way
And now he won't be eating all those cold cuts
That the guy behind the counter saved each day
As he crossed the street that night he saw her
The prettiest little thing he'd ever seen
And as she went walking by, he watched her with his one good eye
And he never saw the light when it turned green.
One dog per verse.
Jerry
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sj
