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about
With the sound of barking in the distance and LA’s Griffith Observatory as a backdrop Your Dog Don’t Like You finally found its legs. The song had started as a voice note six months earlier somewhere between Detroit and Pittsburgh. Peter’s brother recently adopted a dog from Russia who seemingly had an axe to grind with the younger van Helvoort sibling. The opening line wrote itself, but quickly the song turned into a critique of where the brother’s relationship had gone since the downfall of their band, Teenage Kicks. The first verse of the song lived in a digital no man’s land throughout that summer, fall and winter until Peter found himself on a friend’s couch in Los Feliz with an unusual number of days off on tour. With a guitar by his side, the song began to come together, pushed forward by the brother’s own history with Los Angeles. Nearly seven years prior Teenage Kicks had come to West Hollywood to make what would become their debut LP, Spoils Of Youth. It seemed to Peter like this was the last time he could remember their relationship heading in the right direction. The lyrics of the song follow that narrative and take aim at both participants as victim and perpetrator. Although the subject of the song is the very personal sea change that Peter felt was happening, the bones of the song are incredibly universal. Inevitably people will change, but sometimes we allow ourselves to let that chasm grow so large that mending the rift feels impossible. Somehow no one is wrong or right at the same time. The elder van Helvoort sibling offers peace but leaves it up to his brother to take the initiative, almost certainly leaving the two at an impasse. Although the song’s lyrics lust for resolution, like life, it does not always happen that way. Your Dog Don’t Like You is a song meant to abate our pride and say the things we can’t always say aloud.
lyrics
Lyrics:
Your dog don’t like you, based on virtue
Life got busy, don’t mean to hurt you
I used to know you, could tell your fortune
Felt us drifting, felt your cold shoulder
I wish that we could talk
And make the battle stop
I felt my stomach drop
If you’re looking for peace
You know where I am
If you’re looking for war
Oh, I’d understand
Your words don’t feel true, so our space grew
You’re retreating, I’m right behind you
You used to know me, you had my number
Time passed us by, it felt like thunder
I wish that we could talk
And make the battle stop
I felt my stomach drop
If you’re looking for peace
You know where I am
If you’re looking for war
Oh, I’d understand
I wish that we could talk, and make the battle stop
I wish that we could change, but we stayed the same
I wonder who you are, I wander when you’re far
I felt my stomach…
If you’re looking for peace
You know where I am
If you’re looking for war
Oh, I’d understand
If you’re looking for war
I know where I stand
credits
released November 4, 2021
Written by: Peter van Helvoort & Brett Emmons
Engineered by: Matt Snell
Mixed by: Peter van Helvoort
Produced by: Brett Emmons
Guitar/Vocals: Keegan Powell
Bass: Brent Wirth
Drums: Konrad Commisso
Artwork: Kyle Fisher & Kaleigh Gorka
Layout: Ben Pokol
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