"You And Your Dog" lyrics
(feat. Laurie Anderson)
Hey, buddy
It's sure been a long time
But I was thinking about you today
And I wanted you to know
That I was thinking about you
Do you remember that day we drove to the beach
And the sea was gone?
We were both in a mood
And I guess it was just a low, low tide
But you couldn't see any water at all
Just a white sky
Over a shimmering plain
Like hammered metal in the sun
There were people walking around out there
Way out
And they looked like
They were floating in space
And we walked out there too
With your dog
What was his name?
He was such a good dog
Such a good attitude
Even though we'd been bickering about him all morning
And I felt sorry about it
We talked as we walked
And we mended things a little
And then we stopped talking
But we kept walking
Getting farther and farther apart
I remember I'd been squinting
Because I'd forgotten my sunglasses
And everything got kind of blurry
Those tiny floating people
Weren't getting any closer
And I started to get this weird, prickly feeling
And I thought
Wait
Isn't this what happens before a tsunami?
So I turned around
And walked back to the car
After a while
You and your dog came back too
And there was no tsunami
But when our eyes met
Something seemed off
I had to push away the eerie thought
That you weren't really you anymore—
That some part of you had stayed out there
Maybe even the part I knew best
That day's bothered me ever since
And even though everything's so different now—
I think even that beach is gone—
I wanted to tell you
That I think I was wrong
I think it was me who stayed out
Or maybe both of us did
It's nice to imagine a version of you and me
That's still walking around out there
Where the beach ends and the sky begins
I keep replaying the moment
We pulled up at the dunes
And you turned off the car
And we just sat there
Listening to those little crinkling and popping sounds
From the engine
With the heat
Seeping through the windshield
"I guess this is it," you said
I wish I'd paid more attention
I thought those days were going to go on
Forever
It's sure been a long time
But I was thinking about you today
And I wanted you to know
That I was thinking about you
Do you remember that day we drove to the beach
And the sea was gone?
We were both in a mood
And I guess it was just a low, low tide
But you couldn't see any water at all
Just a white sky
Over a shimmering plain
Like hammered metal in the sun
There were people walking around out there
Way out
And they looked like
They were floating in space
And we walked out there too
With your dog
What was his name?
He was such a good dog
Such a good attitude
Even though we'd been bickering about him all morning
And I felt sorry about it
We talked as we walked
And we mended things a little
And then we stopped talking
But we kept walking
Getting farther and farther apart
I remember I'd been squinting
Because I'd forgotten my sunglasses
And everything got kind of blurry
Those tiny floating people
Weren't getting any closer
And I started to get this weird, prickly feeling
And I thought
Wait
Isn't this what happens before a tsunami?
So I turned around
And walked back to the car
After a while
You and your dog came back too
And there was no tsunami
But when our eyes met
Something seemed off
I had to push away the eerie thought
That you weren't really you anymore—
That some part of you had stayed out there
Maybe even the part I knew best
That day's bothered me ever since
And even though everything's so different now—
I think even that beach is gone—
I wanted to tell you
That I think I was wrong
I think it was me who stayed out
Or maybe both of us did
It's nice to imagine a version of you and me
That's still walking around out there
Where the beach ends and the sky begins
I keep replaying the moment
We pulled up at the dunes
And you turned off the car
And we just sat there
Listening to those little crinkling and popping sounds
From the engine
With the heat
Seeping through the windshield
"I guess this is it," you said
I wish I'd paid more attention
I thought those days were going to go on
Forever
