…there was this guy Justus who composed an instrumental piece he called ‘Every dog has its day’. Many years after that he got involved in online musical collaborations. As ‘Every dog has its day’ had been his favourite ever since, he decided to revive his tune. So he sent out several requests to songwriters and singers for lyrics and vocals. For years the project was gathering dust. Nobody seemed interest but then, out of the blue, Steve Rice came up with lyrics and a vocal track. (And later on Dan Rosati put his tasty sax on the cake.)
A new chapter was written. But singer Steve -hardrocker by nature- challenged me to try a rockier arrangement as well. So I went back to the drawing board. Killed some of my darlings -plus Dan’s saxual contributions…- and created this new rocking version of ‘the old dog’:
But since all good things come in threes, I decided to explore the other side of the spectrum as well. Just for fun. Getting out of my comfort zone. I built an entire new soft, jazzier version with the help of talented musicians in the online community. Subsequently I swapped most of my original midi/Reason instruments for the real stuff. Next to the vocals by Steve and Dan’s saxes, there are acoustic drums by Bill McCarthy, the Fender Rhodes by Gabro Jazz and a real upright bass by Jeff Dalton. Them jazzcats rule…
I should have known you’ld never let it be.
You always twist it up in front of me.
You laugh and say it doesn’t mean a thing.
We both know that bird can’t help but sing.
Tie me, I’ve been flailing, won’t you tie me down again.
Short pause between my banter, I can’t help but try to win.
Can’t help but drool, I’m like a fool foaming at the mouth.
You turn away, I shout and say that I can’t live without.
Every dog has its day, some dogs can’t help but bark some just run away.
Every dog has its day, some dogs, their tail tells the tale they just want to play.
They just want to play, they just want to play, they just want to play.
Every dog has its day, some dogs can’t help but bark some just run away.
Every dog has its day, some dogs, their tail tells the tale they just want to play.
They just want to play, they just want to play, they just want to play.
(Lyrics & vocals: Steve Rice)