13 Intriguing Songs That Reference Animals | Playlist 🎧

13 Intriguing Songs That Reference Animals features Al Green, Chris Stapleton, Father John Misty, Ñengo Flow x Bad Bunny & The Rolling Stones.

Folks, we have unleashed the ANIMALS! That’s right, 🎧 13 Intriguing Songs That Reference Animals features songs that mention or at least reference animals in some capacity.  Not every song features an animal explicitly in its title, though some do. Some mention animals, but the song isn’t necessarily about animals – go figure. Anyways, instead of overanalyzing, let’s just get into it, shall we?  This musical compendium features music courtesy of 🎙 Al Green, 🎙 Chris Stapleton, 🎙 Father John Misty, 🎙 Ñengo Flow x Bad Bunny, and 🎙 The Rolling Stones among others. So, without further ado, let’s dig right into 🎧 13 Intriguing Songs That Reference Animals!

1. Ñengo Flow & Bad Bunny, “Gato de Noche”

🎵 “Gato de Noche” • 🏷 Rimas Entertainment • 🗓 2022

Ah, there is nothing like a steamy, scandalous pop song! Latin music standouts 🎙 Ñengo Flow and 🎙 Bad Bunny, who are totally, “reunited and it feels so good”, drop a surefire steamy, scandalous reggaeton gem with 🎵 “Gato de Noche”.  If you know some basic Spanish or remember your cognates, that title translates as “Night Cat” – meow 🐈! If you are familiar with the Bad Bunny catalog, you are well versed in his penchant for sex, so, it should not surprise you in the least what he is getting at with the cat references. Admit it – we all love a bad boy, particularly when he’s hot and spitting pure game!

There is plenty to heart about “Gato de Noche”. Expectedly, once again – post- 🎵 “Safaera” – Ñengo Flow and Bad Bunny make a formidable team.  Check out the English translation and it is clear that the experience is a sinful one involving a  taken woman – woo! Expectedly, there are references to her booty and how potent ‘the stick’ is – 😂. This is fitting subject matter for these artists, making for an entertaining listening experience.  The production is fire, courtesy of 🎛 Smash David and Foreign Teck. From the first listen, “Gato de Noche” hits, with no extensive analysis necessary. All told, 🎵 “Gato de Noche” concludes 2022 with a surefire bang. Again, when Ñengo Flow and Bad Bunny come together, nothing but good things happen! “Gato de Noche” is sure to warm up playlists everywhere heading into 2023!

2. Clairo, “Partridge”

💿 Sling • 🏷 FADER / Republic • 📅 2021 

“You move in your ways without a law / And I’ll force you to feel the weight I’m standing on / But the perfect harmony is lost.” 🎵 “Partridge” graces 💿 Sling, the 2021 sophomore album by alternative pop artist, 🎙 Clairo. “Partridge” commences with celestial “ooh” vocals. Musically, the live drums, robust bass line, and additional instrumental touches used throughout (piano, organ, and guitar) standout. Beyond the opening “oohs,” Clairo provides sweet ear candy with her poised but nuanced vocals. Additionally, “Partridge” moves beyond traditional harmonic progressions and beyond one tonal center/key.

Beyond the superb musical cues, the pen – the songwriting – must be highlighted as well. The personal nature of the lyrics make “Partridge” an authentic record. “Calling someone else is only harder / I’ll explain myself again,” Clairo sings, continuing, “Take the chance on someone’s daughter / She makes me feel like I’m the best.” These lines perfectly capture the unrequited love she has been experiencing. Unrequited love is ALWAYS a total bummer! 

Appears in 🔻:

• 13 Songs That Encompass Unrequited Love

3. YG & Lil Wayne, “Miss My Dawgs”

🎵 “Miss My Dawgs” • 🏷 4hunnid / Def Jam / UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 2022

“Man, I miss my dawgs / Thuggin’ on the block, really pistol in the drawers / Tryna make it out the hood, my dawg had a cause.” WOOF, WOOF 🐕! 🎙 YG is back with an ode to his dawgs, 🎵 “Miss My Dawgs”.  He is joined by 🏆 Grammy-winning rapper 🎙 Lil Wayne, who drops the second verse.  YG handles the chorus, which arrives at the top of the track, as well as the first verse. Fueling both rappers fire is a rhythmic, light, and reflective backdrop courtesy of 🎛 Gibbo and Ambezza. YG does a fabulous job of painting a picture of what his dawgs meant to him.  Early on, in his verse, he defines his dawg as “one who ride for me.” Furthermore, he later spits, “My dawgs kept it honest with me, no if, ands, or probablys / You ain’t my dog if we ain’t ever do no robberies.” Riders through thick and thin! In the second verse, Lil Wayne also misses his dawgs (expectedly), mentioning “Bad-ass memories” and making some epic dog references:

“Niggas act like kittens, tryna scratch a nigga off

All my niggas pits, and I spit like a Saint Bernard

I don’t bark though, that’s my dawg show

She a dog ho, she on all four.”

Never change, Lil Wayne. This enjoyable, well-rounded track should add some bite to your playlist.

Appears in 🔻:

• Awesome Songs: December 2022

4. Bob Marley & The Wailers, “Three Little Birds”

💿 Exodus • 🏷 UMG Recordings Inc. • 📅 1977

“Don’t worry about a thing / ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.” Ah, such positivity! Furthermore, such VIBE! Reggae, particularly in the hands of the late, great 🎙 Bob Marley, is all about positivity and musically, a surefire vibe. Perhaps no other reggae classic by 🎙 Bob Marley & The Wailers shines brighter, or is more popular, than 🎵 “Three Little Birds.”  This is quintessential Bob Marley, as well as quintessential reggae. It’s a shame that Marley didn’t receive the notoriety he deserved during his lifetime.  He wasn’t nominated for a Grammy, and he didn’t ignite the Billboard Hot 100.  Regardless, Marley has gone on to have massive success posthumously, including the diamond-certified album, 💿 Legend.  “Three Little Birds” originally hails from the collective’s gold-certified album, 💿 Exodus (1977).

“Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun / Three little birds pitch by my doorstep,” Marley sings in the verse.  These lyrics alone speak to the spirit that Bob possessed – truly special. He continues, “Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true / Saying, ‘This is my message to you-ou-ou.’” Of course, this sets up the beloved refrain, which touts hope, optimism, and nothing but positive vibes.  The message is simple but potent, made even more potent by the expressive, nuanced vocals of Bob and the slick, reggae backdrop.  “Three Little Birds” is a model of what reggae is meant to sound like as far as instrumentation, rhythm, and the overall aesthetic.

Appears in 🔻:

• Bob Marley & The Wailers vs. Maroon 5: Head 2 Head 🗣️ 28 (2022)

5. Luke Bryan, “Prayin’ in a Deer Stand”

🎵 “Prayin’ In A Deer Stand” • 🏷 Row Crop / UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 2022

“I do my prayin’ in a deer stand / On my back-forty church / Thinkin’ ‘bout life on a cold sunrise / Yeah, that’s my Heaven on Earth…” On 🎵 “Prayin’ In A Deer Stand”, 🎙 Luke Bryan sounds true to self.  Vocally, the tone, with a southern twang, is firmly intact.  Thematically, Bryan plays to his base: farming, fishing, hunting, and God.  If you’re from the south or have experienced the south, you can relate.  If not, well, you’re likely not part of Bryan’s base, to begin with.  Nothing brand-new or game-changing comes out of this record because it is tried-and-true, with no frills.  The remainder of the chorus says it best:

“Me and God in a cornfield

Gotta think He understands

I might miss a Sunday from time to time

But I get there when I can

We’re all good in these woods ‘causе here I am

Prayin’ in a deer stand.”

All told, 🎵 “Prayin’ In A Deer Stand” is respectable, regardless of the fact that it doesn’t move the needle necessarily.

6. Al Green, “I’m a Ram”

💿 Gets Next to You • 🏷 Hi Records • 📅 1971 

“‘Cause I’m a ram, yes I am / And I know just what to do / Think I’ll drive on / And try to get next to you…” 💿 Gets Next to You is one of the great soul albums of the 1970s.  Gets Next to You marks the third studio album by soul and later, gospel icon, 🎙 Al Green.  The best-known Green hit from Can’t Get Next to You is 🎵 “Tired of Being Alone”.  That said, 🎵 “I’m a Ram”, a deeper cut in the Green collection, is a gem in its own right.

“I’m a Ram” may not be considered among the greatest of Al Green’s greatest hits, but it’s an infectious, must-hear soul joint.  The groove is incredibly funky, the riffs are utterly sweet, the horns sublime, and Al – well – he’s beastly.  There’s a certain cool that only Green could generate and generate it he does indeed.  He sings incredibly expressive, impressing with his distinct, nuanced pipes.  The question is, is Green really singing about an animal – and a ram of all things? Well, yes and no.  Green seems to embody the aggressiveness of the animal as well as being forceful like a battering ram.  And, yes, of course, he mentions the fact that “I’m a ram out in the bush /And he needs to be free.” Woo! Why? To get close to her, of course, which makes sense in the context of the album!

“Hey baby

‘Cause I’m a ram

Bet your life, I do

‘Cause I’m a ram now

And I wanna get next to you

Oh, baby.” 

Would it be far-fetched to say that Green was a bit, um, horny 🫢? Those ram horns and all, I mean!

Appears in 🔻:

• Al Green, “I’m a Ram”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 78 (2022)
• 15 Must-Hear, Throwback Vibez, Vol. 5
• Al Green vs. Chris Stapleton: Head 2 Head 🗣️ 51 (2022)

7. Father John Misty, “Goodbye Mr. Blue”

💿 Chloë and the Next 20^th Century • 🏷 Sub Pop • 📅 2022

Despite the fact that a cat  isn’t explicitly mentioned in the title of 🎵 “Goodbye Mr. Blue,” the second track from 💿 Chloë and the Next 20^th Century (2022), 🎙 Father John Misty references a cat early on. Hmm, why, do you ask? Well, clearly, Josh Tillman, or the character he plays, isn’t too enthused to “Go down to the corner / And buy the damn cat the expensive food.” He also provides specific info about the cat and why he’s annoyed: “That Turkish Angora is ‘bout the only thing left of me and you / Early this morning, it started making sounds that say / ‘Don’t the last time come too soon? / One down, eight to go, but it’s no less true’…” Interesting that the cat has lost a life, if you catch Tillman’s clever lyricism. “Goodbye Mr. Blue” is less about the cat (who dies within the song) and more about the death of the relationship itself.

“This may be the last time

The last time I lay here with you

Do you swear it’s not the cat?

You don’t have to answer that

I’ll just make do.”

Never change, Father John Misty, never change.

8. Chris Stapleton, “Maggie’s Song”

💿 Staring Over • 🏷 Mercury Nashville • 🗓 2020 

🎵 “Maggie’s Song” (💿 Starting Over, 2020) sounds characteristic of 🎙 Chris Stapleton through and through.  The harmonic progression and overall sound reminds me of 🎵 “Friendship” from his 2017 album, 💿 From a Room: Volume 2). They aren’t one and the same, of course. Maggie happens to be the 🏆 Grammy winner’s late dog.

“Somebody left her in a shopping cart

In a parking lot for us to find

Just a fuzzy black pup

She was hungry and feeling alone

We put her in the back seat

And told her we were takin’ her home.”

Aww 🥰! “Maggie’s Song” is a very touching record that should connect to animal lovers everywhere. The voices express the narrative. The chorus, the centerpiece, is on-point, as Stapleton sings, “Run, Maggie run / With the heart of a rebel child / Oh, run, Maggie run / Be just as free as you are wild.” Stapleton penned “Maggie’s Song,” producing alongside 🎛️ Dave Cobb.

9. Alice In Chains, “Rooster”

💿 Dirt • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 1992

The 1990s was a bright spot for rock, particularly the grunge movement 🤟.  Sadly, it is an era that is no more with some participants deceased.  That includes 🎙 Layne Staley, the front man of one of my personal favorites, 🎙 Alice In Chains (bassist 🎙 Mike Starr is also deceased).  Sure, Alice In Chains didn’t end following the tragic death of Staley – they have released solid albums with guitarist/songwriter 🎙 Jerry Cantrell as the lead vocalist – but the version of the collective with Layne as the face of the band was special.  Among their best songs is 🎵 “Rooster”, written by Cantrell, which appears as the sixth track on their 1992 album, 💿 Dirt.

“Here they come to snuff the Rooster,” Staley harmonizes with Cantrell on the timeless chorus. He continues, singing expressively himself, “You know he ain’t gonna die / No, no, no, you know he ain’t gonna die.” Besides the dramatic chorus, the verses, performed solely by Staley, are epic, commencing with the statement, “Ain’t found a way to kill me yet / Eyes burn with stingin’ sweat” in the first verse. Obviously, “Rooster” is not about the animal itself, but rather, Cantrell’s father, a Vietnam war vet who was nicknamed Rooster. Besides war-driven lyrics, the music itself is heavy.  One of the best moments of this 90s classic is the truly heavy ending of each chorus section, as well as the instrumental break between the first two choruses.  Looking back, it is a shame that to date, only one song by AIC has charted on the Billboard Hot 100, sigh.  Chart accolades don’t mean everything though. “Rooster” has been certified as a double platinum single by the RIAA while parent album, Dirt was certified quintuple platinum.

Appears in 🔻:

• Alice In Chains, “Rooster”: FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 1 (2022)

10. Myylo, “Dogs Shouldn’t Die”

💿 Ahh • 🏷 Myylo • 🗓 2022 

“The reaper can fuck off / My dog is staying with me.” That is a mic drop lyric to say the least! Man’s best friend comes through on the fun, infectious, somewhat left of center penultimate cut from 💿 Ahh, 🎵 “Dogs Shouldn’t Die.” Indeed, dogs shouldn’t die and LGBTQ pop artist 🎙 Myylo makes it clear how important it is to have such a loyal, caring bestie – like, woof, woof! Like most Myylo songs, the lyrics are everything, including the likes of, “When my mom got sad in 2012 from a breakup with a psychopath / My dog stuck with her even though he wanted to pass.” Woo! He sings well, matching the energy of the bright, utterly optimistic backdrop.

Appears in 🔻:

• Awesome Songs: December 2022

11. Ginuwine, “Pony”

💿 Ginuwine…the Bachelor • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 🗓 1996

“If we’re gonna get nasty baby / First we’ll show and tell / Till I reach your ponytail.” Woo! Early on in his career, 🎙 Ginuwine (Elgin Lumpkin) 😍 got us all hot and bothered singing about his 🎵 “Pony”.  Yes, his pony is exactly what you suspect it is – his penis! The most memorable part of this 1996 gem from 💿 Ginuwine…the Bachelor is – drum roll please – the chorus! Of course, it is because this is where this stud encourages her to giddy up! Yeehaw!

“If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony

My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it.”

With those looks and that lustful invitation, who could resist that ride? Besides the chorus, Ginuwine sets up his horniness on the verses.  In the first, he’s searching for a rider and asserts, “Girl, when I break you off / I promise that you won’t wanna get off.” The second is steamier: “Send chills up and down your spine / Juices flowing down your thigh.” In addition to all this big dick energy Lumpkin serves up, notably, 🎛 Timbaland famously produced this top ten Billboard Hot 100 hit.  “Pony” is a prime example of the producer at his finest. Also, worth mentioning, “Pony” got an incredibly sexy music video🎶📼 – fitting.  I mean, a dancing Ginuwine with his shirt open…nuff said! I did mention Lumpkin was a handsome man, right?

Appears in 🔻: 

• Ginuwine, “Pony”: After Dark 🕛🌃 5 (2022)
• Horses: 3 or 4 BOPS No. 2 (2022)
• 11 Songs Where Private Parts Aren’t So Private

12. Michael Jackson, “Ben”

💿 Ben • 🏷 Motown • 📅 1972

A decade before 🎙 Michael Jackson would unveil the likes of 🎵 “Billie Jean” to the world, the 13 year old was singing about a rat 🐀.  Not just any rat of course, but 🎵 “Ben”. Furthermore, his 1972 solo album was also titled 💿 Ben. “Ben, the two of us need look no more,” he sings sentimentally in the opening line of the first verse.  He continues, on his first no. 1 hit as a solo artist, “We both found what we were looking for / With a friend to call my own / I’ll never be alone.”

Because “Ben,” penned by 🎼 ✍ Don Black and Walter Scharf, is so thoughtful and focused on sincere friendship, the fact that the song is a soundtrack cut in a horror movie about a rat is unimportant. If you have never seen the 1972 film or read a synopsis, it is shocking how different it is compared to this sweet song by a teen music icon 🤯.  Jackson’s tone is absolutely gorgeous, showcasing him as the once-in-a-generation wunderkind that he was.  Besides bring the tender lyrics to life with his awe-inspiring instrument, the production and orchestration supporting him (🎛 The Corporation) – strings and rhythm section – are utterly stupendous.

“Ben, most people would turn you away

I don’t listen to a word they say

They don’t see you as I do

I wish they would try to

I’m sure they’d think again

If they had a friend like Ben.”

So sweet!

Appears in 🔻:

• Michael Jackson, “Ben”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 1 (2023)

13. The Rolling Stones, “Wild Horses”

💿 Sticky Fingers • 🏷 Promotone B.V. / Universal International Music B.V. • 📅 1971

“Childhood living is easy to do / The things you wanted, I bought them for you.” Ah – what a sensational opening lyric if I do say so myself! OK… more context is necessary! 🎙 The Rolling Stones have no shortage of hits.  Hits and hits and then, more hits! Among my favorite hits by this legendary blues-rock band is 🎵 “Wild Horses”. “Wild Horses” appears as the third track on one of the collective’s most famous albums, 💿 Sticky Fingers. Worth noting, Sticky Fingers features the incredibly controversial 🎵 “Brown Sugar” as well as a wonderful little tune entitled, 🎵 “Bitch” – lol.  Here, we just focus on this marvelous ballad.

“Wild Horses” is, in my opinion, one of the band’s finest ballads.  🎙 Mick Jagger sings beautifully without losing any rock credibility.  I love his tone on the verse – expressive, earthy, and authentic.  The record, however, isn’t cheery despite its brilliance.  “I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain,” Jagger sings in the second verse, adding, “No sweeping exits or offstage lines / Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind.” Besides being heavy as opposed to light, it should be noted that “Wild Horses” has little to do with equines.  The song appears to reference Jagger’s former flame, 🎙 Marianne Faithfull, though Jagger denies the song is about her. Jagger packs the most punch on the centerpiece, the chorus, which is simple yet ranks among my favorite choruses of all-time:

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away

Wild, wild horses couldn’t drag me away.” 

Appears in 🔻:

• The Rolling Stones, “Wild Horses”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 5 (2022)
• Horses: 3 or 4 BOPS No. 2 (2022)
• Wild: 3 or 4 BOPS No. 17 (2022)

13 Intriguing Songs That Reference Animals [📷: 4hunnid, Brent Faulkner, Def Jam, FADER, HI Records, Mercury Nashville, Motown, The Musical Hype, Myylo, Promotone B.V., Republic, Rimas Entertainment, Row Crop, Sony Music Entertainment, Sub Pop, UMG Recordings, Inc., Universal International Music B.V; Antony Trivet, Kelvin Valerio, muhannad alatawi, Pixabay via Pexels]