Old Black Dog
Runnin' Free: The Heartfelt Journey of an Old Black Dog
Lyrics
I can see her sitting there
I observe a woman sitting there
My old black dog in her easy chair
My old black dog is in her comfortable chair
Barely getting by
She is barely getting by
Hardly makin minimum wage
Struggling to meet the minimum wage
The pantry was cold and bare
The pantry is cold and empty
She lifted up her nose to sniff at the air
She lifts her nose to smell the air
Felt that wind ten thousand times
She has felt that wind countless times
But this was the one to take her life
However, this particular wind is the one that takes her life
She’s on her last run home
She is on her final journey home
She’s on her last run home
Repeating the idea that this is her last trip home
All the pain and the dust in her bones
All the pain and dust in her bones will vanish
Disappear on her last run home
Alluding to the relief on her last journey home
Don’t you know she was good to me
Expressing that she was good to the speaker
My old black dog she could barely see
The old black dog had impaired vision
Firewood burning half a mile from the mountain side
Describing a scene with firewood burning near the mountain
She got shaky every time it rained
She becomes shaky during rain
And when she heard the whistle of an evening train
Reacting to the whistle of an evening train
She would run through the hollow at night
She used to run through the hollow at night
Chase that train ‘til the morning light
Chasing the train until morning light
Every night that we’d sit outside
Every night, the speaker and the old black dog sit outside
My old black dog blended into the night
The dog blends into the night
Life is easy when you find a friend
Life is easy when you find a friend (referring to the dog)
Now every time that I hear that train
Every time the speaker hears a train, it reminds him of the dog
I can hear her howlin my name
The speaker hears the dog howling in memory
Runnin long and runnin free
The dog is depicted as running long and free
Runnin through my memory
The dog runs through the speaker's memory
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