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I Want a Dog

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1987
Original album - Introspective
Producer (album version) - Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Knuckles; (original version) - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Alternative, Actually 2001 reissue Further Listening 1987-1988 bonus disc
Other releases - b-side of single "Rent"; bonus track with single "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"

This track, the 7" version of which first appeared as the flip side of the "Rent" single, was inspired by the Boys' friend Peter Andreas, who mentioned at one point wanting a dog—but just a chihuahua since he had only a small apartment. Neil thought this was a delightful notion, so he wrote the lyrics that Chris set to music. In addition to expressing their fondness for dogs, this song also professes the Boys' mutual dislike of cats, which they've referred to on more than one occasion. The version that appears on Introspective is dramatically remixed and expanded, though the shorter, simpler original version reappeared later in the Alternative collection.

I've always found this an extremely lonely song, sung from the perspective of a narrator who considers the possibility of relying on a pet to keep him company more feasible—and perhaps more appealing—than relying on another human being. But, to be sure, this song invites a variety of other interpretations. For one thing, some critics have suggested a possible tribute to or lyrical parody of Iggy Pop's notorious 1969 track "I Wanna Be Your Dog." I fail to see it myself. Taking this idea even further, there are those who read into it S&M/B&D implications. I'm not inclined to see that in it, either. The point, however, is that others do, which testifies to its deceptive richness.

For all of its surface-level simplicity, this song has some remarkable undercurrents. Take the opening line: the straightforward declaration "I want a dog." And what type of dog might this man want? A German shepherd? An Irish setter? A boxer? No, a chihuahua. Not exactly the most "manly" of choices, at least traditionally speaking. Regardless of its real-life inspiration with their friend, the Boys were fully aware that this would be a subversion of convention, a violation of expectations. After all, that's why Neil found it so delightful—for its humorous effect. In fact, it's one of the most blatant examples of lyrical camp in the PSB corpus.

The second verse takes the seemingly mundane matter of pet choice even further, introducing additional levels of subversion. When Neil sings, "Don't want a cat," at a purely textual level he's upholding stereotypical gender expectations. Dogs are the stereotypical "masculine" choice of pet, whereas cats are the stereotypical "feminine" choice. Yet at a subtextual level something else may be going on. If we regard these pets as stand-ins for expressions of sexual preference—"dog" as "man," and "cat" as "woman"—we might then view such lines as "I want a dog" (thus "I want a man") and "Don't want a cat" (or "Don't want a woman") as coded, pre-coming-out expressions by Neil (or at least his lyrical persona in the song) of his own orientation, either conscious or subconscious. Recalling writer Philip Core's definition of camp as "the lie that tells the truth," we might, with the hindsight of more than two decades, regard the song itself as an arch instance of camp: a strongly coded lie that told a truth about the Boys that wouldn't become "official" for at least several years.

Annotations

The chihuahua is the smallest breed of dog recognized by the British and American dog fancy, named for the Chihuahua region and state of northern Mexico. (Ironically, Chihuahua is Mexico's largest state in terms of physical area.) The breed is most generally regarded to have originated in Mexico, with its ancestors dating back to the ancient Toltecs and Mayans. A minority of dog fanciers, however, dispute this, tracing the breed back to mediterranean Europe or, by contrast, China. A growing number believe there are elements of truth to both viewpoints in that the original Mexican breed had, as early as the 1700s, been crossbred with small dogs brought by the Spanish from southern Europe and from China, resulting in the modern even smaller breed. The chihuahua's very small size is, of course, the whole point of its having been chosen for inclusion in the lyrics of this song.
The single b-side mix of the song found on Alternative (but not the Introspective version) includes a segment during which Chris recites a list of various dog breeds or, in some cases, categories ("hound," "retriever," and "mongrel" aren't actual breeds but rather broader, less precise designations):
- bulldog
- hound
- pug
- labrador
- collie
- retriever
- doberman pinscher
- husky
- dalmatian
- Saint Bernard
- dachshund
- mongrel
- beagle
- cocker spaniel
One of my site visitors shared an observation that, at first thought, may seem rather far-fetched, but on consideration may not be so outrageous after all. He noticed that the lyrics of "I Want a Dog" could be thought of as a takeoff—conscious or otherwise—on the famous (some would say "infamous") 1952 novelty song "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" which proved a huge #1 hit the following year in both the United States and Great Britain, albeit in two different versions (in the U.S. by Patti Page, while by Lita Roza in the U.K.). In that song the narrator wants to buy a dog to keep her boyfriend company while she's away, as well as to help protect his home from burglars. By contrast, the narrator of the PSB track wants the dog to keep himself company—though, yes, to help protect his flat from intruders, too. And both songs assert that a cat won't do the trick, either. While the Boys may or may not have had that earlier novelty number in mind when they wrote their song, an at least unconscious influence seems well within the realm of possibility.
The line about the narrator not wanting a cat "scratching its claws all over my habitat" may include a mild pun. Habitat is the name of a U.K.-based retail furniture chain founded in London in 1964. It quickly established itself as a place where customers—especially young people just starting out on their own—could buy hip, stylish, yet relatively inexpensive home furnishings. As one of my site visitors told me, it was "the IKEA of its day." Considering the narrator's admittedly "small flat," he's probably cost-conscious and would likely shop at Habitat. Today Habitat has stores in more than two-dozen countries worldwide, but not including the United States. Of course, Neil may have chosen the word "habitat" simply because its last syllable rhymes with "cat," with no punning in mind.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Pet Shop Boys
- 7" version (4:59)
  - Available on Alternative and on the Further Listening bonus disc with the Actually reissue
Mixer: Frankie Knuckles

Album version, aka "Club Mix" (6:16)
- Available on Introspective
Introspective Version - Edit (3:58)
- Available only on a rare 1988 U.S. vinyl promo

Mixer: R.J. Rice and Eddy Fowlkes
- Techno Funk Mix (4:08)
  - Available as a bonus track on the U.S. and Canadian "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" CD single

Official but unreleased

Mixer: Frankie Knuckles
Three unreleased remixes verified by PSB:
- Frankie Knuckles Radio Edit (4:13)
- Frankie Knuckles House Mix (6:30)
- Frankie Knuckles "Full Length" Mix (7:15)
Mixer: Kevin Saunderson
- Title and timing unknown, but the existence of this mix was confirmed in Issue 1 of the official PSB Fan Club magazine Literally.

List cross-references

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