Sometimes my love may be put on hold
Sometimes my heart may seem awful cold
These times come and these times go
As long as I live, all you need to know is
This old dog ain't about to forget
'Long as my heart's beating in my chest
This old dog ain't about to forget
Often a heart tends to change its mind
A new day decides on a new design
A new day gets set on another way
As long as I live, all I've got to say is
This old dog ain't about to forget
'Long as my heart's beating in my chest
This old dog ain't about to forget
This Old Dog was completely conceived, written, produced, recorded and played by Mac DeMarco. Is is one of the two singles that were released for his upcoming album of the same name. Mac takes all the credit for all of his music, plays every instrument, and mixes it himself. His process of creating an album involves self isolation- he records the entire album alone in his house within a short period of time and shows it to no one (takes no advice).
This song is lyrically and sonically simple. The focus is on Mac’s smooth but careless singing, while bass, a drum kit, acoustic guitar, and synth slide guitar accompany him. The song itself is very slow moving, and the 1-2 drumming beautifully displays this to the listener. I find the transition between the verses and choruses the key aspect of the song. Mac seamlessly and beautifully brings the song into the chorus, only using the drums as build up. During the chorus, a synth slide guitar takes the melody. Sombre but powerful, the synth slide guitar sounds weak and lags a bit behind the tempo. At the end of the chorus, its pitch lowers and it fades out. This conveys weakness and vulnerability. Later in the song, Mac audibly messes up on the guitar. His decision to include it in the final version of the song adds character and shows that Mac isn’t a perfect guy either. Another extremely interesting aspect of this song is the time signature. Every fourth measure, Mac adds another 4 extra beats. This initially went unnoticed to me, but as I listened more it quickly became one of my favorite quirks of the song. The extra four beats force the listener to crave the chorus- as more time is built up before the transition. The simple beauty of This Old Dog is conveyed through both Mac’s vocals and instrumentation.
Opinion of the Song and Message
This song is directly addressed to Mac DeMarco’s lover. In This Old Dog, Mac reassures his lover that no matter what happens, he will never forget all that they have been through for all long as he lives. In the first verse, Mac tells her that sometimes he may seem cold, and his love may be put on hold. He then reassures his partner that he will forever be committed.
This song is special because it begs the listener not to forget how much your partner means to you in a relationship; if it is a true relationship, you much always stay committed and never forget what you mean to each other.
Small range of instruments
Switch to Ride cymbal during chorus
Laggy synth slide guitar (That existed?) during chorus
Easily understandable lyrics
Simple but powerful lyric content
Extremely apt instrumentation
