What does Dog Days Are Over mean?

Florence + the Machine: Dog Days Are Over Meaning

Album cover for Dog Days Are Over album cover

Song Released: 2008


Covered By: Glee Cast


Get "Dog Days Are Over" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

Dog Days Are Over Lyrics

Happiness / hit her / like a train on a tra-ck
Coming towards her / stuck still / no turning ba-ck
She hid around corners / and she hid under beds /
She killed it with kisses and from it she fl-ed /
With e-very bubble she sank with a drink...

  1. anonymous
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    Dec 14th 2011 !⃝

    To me the song is about a woman who endured an abusive relationship. Forced into living in the situation , "she killed it with kisses" and "hid under beds" "and from it she fled". It then sounds as if the only way she was released from this pain and torture unfortunately was thru death. " like a bullet in the back, stuck from a great height by someone who should know better than that" and the references to the "horses coming".

    She is free now, not in pain anymore and the dog days are over. Unfortunately in death.

  2. anonymous
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    Dec 12th 2011 !⃝

    I Think This Song I'd About A Girl Who Is Living In The Holocaust Times If You Listen To The Song & Think About It.. It Makes Sense.

  3. anonymous
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    Dec 12th 2011 !⃝

    It's apocalyptic...the four horsemen of the apocalypse are coming- plague, war, famine, and death! the lazy happy days are over

  4. anonymous
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    Dec 12th 2011 !⃝

    the dog days are over is about christianity. the dog days are the days of running from god. hiding under beds as silly as it sounds is hiding from gods light, like a child. the horses are coming is a way of saying that you d better speak to god and ask forgiveness before the litteral horses come( revelations horses are the end times) alot of florences lyrics are to or about god. its not walking with god. Most of her songs sound like love songs... thats because they are. but not to another human. ( youve got the love.)

  5. Typhon219
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    Dec 10th 2011 !⃝

    I think the song is about ecaping an abusive or bad relationship. Historically dog days are a nickname for the hottest days of the summer and in many song the early honeymoon period is referred to as or compared to summer. The dog days are over can be Interperated as this part of the relationship being over and the horses are coming a reference simply to calvary charging - hence my thoughts of abusive partner. Of course a truly great song will mean different things to individual listeners and this is certainly that.

  6. anonymous
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    Nov 29th 2011 !⃝

    I think the song is about just loving someone and thinking it's almost impossible to for them not to love you back. you give every thing for this person but when they stop loving you you go into complete denial and you try to get over it "Leave all your love and your longing behind you"
    And you can turn away from those feelings because you have had them be your only feelings for so long. you have given up every thing and then he just throws it away "And I never wanted anything from you Except everything you had And what was left after that too. oh"And the dog days are all the days that you 2 were completely in love

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 9th 2011 !⃝

    This song has apocolyptic overtones in my opinion.

    "leave all of your love and your loving behing. You can't carry them with you if you want to survive"

    The reference to running from horses brings to my mind the four horsemen of the apocolypse.

    The dog days are a over... could be interpretted as alot of different religions who are waiting for the end of the world as a welcome thing. They feel the times we live in as a society are basically "dog days" the apocolypse would be a sort of cleansing.

    .. just a different take on the lyrics.

  8. anonymous
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    Nov 6th 2011 !⃝

    There are several different interpretations of this song depending on the listener. Everyones interpretation varies with their own unique view of love, relationships and happiness.

    The term "dog days" refers maddness but can also mean dark days or hard times.

    A majority of people feel that this is a very positive song about running away from a bad relationship or hard times (as she has sung of these things previously), realising that there is happiness and things to live for (run fast for your mother, etc.) and giving up something that - perhaps was once positive but - is now detrimental.

    There is debate about whether her descriptions of being hit by love as a bullet/train are referring to a past experience or the sudden realisation of happiness in the present, which is the cause of her running.

    However, some have a more negative view of the songs meaning, such as her saying that love in any form is too dangerous and that she is running from it because it's the only way to survive. Personally i don't agree with this interpretation because of the energy of the music, her facial expressions in the video clip and her continually saying that the "dog days are over", which to me says very clearly that the times of maddness are over and that she is running towards a better future. Particularly the colours and dancing in the video clip (both 2010 and 11) give a sense of freedom and joy.

    Although some people have debated that this song is referring to the Native American Indians, the lyrics "can you hear the horses" could simply be a use of symbolism, as horses have been symbolic through many different cultures for centuries and are still prominent in art today. There are some varients with horse symbolisms, but the common belief is that the horse symbolises grace, beauty, freedom, strength, nobility, power, mystery, victory and resurrection.

  9. anonymous
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    Nov 5th 2011 !⃝

    Someone leaving a bad situation, and running home. No matter how much they wanted and needed that situation.

  10. anonymous
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    Nov 5th 2011 !⃝

    Someone leaving a bad situation, and running home.

  11. anonymous
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    Oct 6th 2011 !⃝

    I think it talks about how the Indians used dogs and then they stopped using dogs and then used horses....

  12. anonymous
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    Oct 3rd 2011 !⃝

    to me i believe its about the apocolypse. commitibng suicide before the coming doom which would lead to happiness. can you hear the horses cause here they come refers to the apocolypse. the 4 horsemen shall rise from the first of the 4 seals that either jesus or anti christ will release to wash sin and the devil from this holy world thus deastroing it in the process and the sacrifice of many many lives. run fast for your mother and fast for your father run for your childeren for your sister(s) and brother(s), leave all your loved ones and belongings behind you cant carry them with you if you want to survive, that means betray the ones you love for your pwn life no matter what betray them, leave all your worldly possessions behind for that is greed one of the 7 deadly sins. another exmple of greed in the song is the opera portion where she sings i never wanted anything from you, except everything you had and what was left after that to, this symbolizes the lust and greed she wants everything from you including your soul and wants everything else left after that ultimatley claiming your intire self and all your worldly possessions.

  13. anonymous
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    Sep 26th 2011 !⃝

    Not sure about most of it...but "can't you hear the horses 'cause here they come" is a biblical reference to the end of times...three horsemen come riding to earth to initiate Armageddon and the end of the World, essentially, in Revelations...and since "the dog days are over" the "horses" are "coming" to symbolize the official ending of that time period.

  14. anonymous
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    Sep 26th 2011 !⃝

    Not sure about most of it...but "can't you hear the horses 'cause here they come" is a biblical reference to the end of times...three horsemen come riding to earth to initiate Armageddon and the end of the World, essentially, in Revelations...and since "the dog days are over" the "horses" are "coming" to symbolize the official ending of that time period.

  15. anonymous
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    Sep 14th 2011 !⃝

    I think that this song is signifying that sometimes we are blinded by what we think is happiness. Since it is such an uplifting emotion, it hits us the hardest sometimes. (like a train on a track)-immediately, boldly. In this song, i think that when something goes wrong to disrupt that happiness, we think that nothing could be worse and want that feeling back more than anything. however, we forget that bigger and better things are ahead of us. I think that "The Dog Days" signify us at our weakest. THe dog days are those that may have been good at the moment, but weren't strong enough to live until now. And because they're gone, there must be a reason. that reason is because we have to survive for the bigger and better things that lay ahead of us. "The horses are coming" signifies that these bigger better things are here now, and to survive we must leave the dog days behind because they weren't the best days we're going to have. "run fast for your mother, etc. etc." means that in order to live a bright future, you must run away from the past and leave it there, not looking back. at hard times when we feel like giving up, we often think of our loved ones. and we push forward for them.

    Now, this may not be the correct interpretation of all. But this is what i got out of it. And when i go through any tough time that i worry about missing, i keep this exact message in mind...and it becomes one of the most uplifting songs I could imagine.




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