March of the Dogs

infobox song
Name = March of the Dogs


Artist = Sum 41
from Album = Underclass Hero
Released = April 17, 2007
Format = Digital Single
Recorded = 2006/2007
Genre = Punk rock, pop punk
Length = 3:09
Label = Island Records
Writer = Deryck Whibley
Producer = Deryck Whibley
Reviews =
Album = Underclass Hero|
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Underclass Hero
Type = Studio
prev_track = "Ma Poubelle"
prev_no = 6
this_track = "March of the Dogs"
track_no = 7
next_track = "The Jester"
next_no = 8

"March of the Dogs" was the first song released off of Sum 41's fifth studio album, "Underclass Hero". It was released as a digital single on April 17, 2007. Deryck stated that it is not a single but just their favorite song, so they released it. "Carnival of Sins" was the working title for this song.

Overview

"March of the Dogs" is an up-tempo song that shows off very political lyrics (an example are the lines: "I don’t believe in the politics/Of chosen fools and hypocrites"), and a return of the band to their earlier efforts "Half Hour of Power" and "All Killer No Filler". It also shares a similar structure with the Sum 41 single from "Does This Look Infected?"; "The Hell Song". Even with those relations the song sounds very experimental to Sum 41's more generic music as it is the first song released by the band to contain a change in time signature. This song is the second (the first being "Hooch" off of "Does This Look Infected?") to contain a section not in 4/4 time; The Outro section is in 3/4 time. The next song on the track "The Jester" emerges out of this 3/4 time part; "March of the Dogs" is a lot more mature lyrically than previous albums, comparable in these aspects with their later album "Chuck".

The title is suspected to be a reference to the also politically influenced track by Nine Inch Nails "March of the Pigs".

Controversy

Shortly after its release, it was clear that the song was controversial. In the first two lines the song says "Ladies and gentlemen of the underclass/The president of the United States of America is dead". This had a massive negative response from some people on the internet who support George W. Bush. Because of this, Deryck Whibley was threatened with Deportation to Canada. [ [http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/whibley%20threatened%20with%20deportation_1038245] ] [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/07/24/deryck-whibley-claims-he-was-nearly-deported-lily-allen-aims-at-courtney-love-r-kellys-lawyers-start-their-ignitions/] ] [ [http://www.punknews.org/article/24762] ] In response, lead-singer Deryck Whibley said:

"That line is a metaphor for how Bush is so ineffectual and incompetent as a president, (...)It's the worst way I could think of to describe how bad he is as a leader." [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1557850/20070423/sum_41.jhtml Sum 41 Kill President In New Song - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News ] ]

On May 4th 2007, Deryck issued a public statement clearing the questions and controversy in a Rolling Stone article.

References