Woof, Meoow, Neigh.... Talk To The Animals

There's a day for everything... and October 4 is designated as World Animal Day. But why?

October 4 is the feast day of the St. Francis of Assisi - the patron saint of animals and ecology.

St. Francis of Assisi - Patron Saint of Animals

With the day dedicated to animals, it seems only fair to dedicate this post to them as well. 

Our association with animal songs go back to our earliest years with nursery rhymes. From Baa Baa Black Sheep to Mary Had A Little Lamb, Three Blind Mice to Old MacDonald Had A Farm, we learnt the names of most of the farm animals.

But the earliest song (not nursery rhyme) I recall with animals in it is this Golden Oldie - (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window (Patti Page).

The innocence and faithfulness of dogs (or their young ones) lends itself to the love between very young couples - Puppy Love (Paul Anka).

Not all dogs are gentle. Some can be gruff...like the Hound Dog (Elvis).

From the dog we move to the other domestic animal almost as popular as the dog - that the cat.

The mention of the cats reminds me of CATS - the Musical. I attended a couple of auditions for The Best Of Broadway put up in Mumbai in the 1980s - directed by Celia Lobo with music by Leon D'Souza and including performers of the calibre of Shahriyar and Ella Atai among others.

The other cat song that comes straight to mind is Phoebe's favorite performance song from Friends - Smelly Cat.

Sometimes we use the names of animals to call people names like Alley Cat (Peggy Lee). 

Flip the gender around... and many years later... She could be a Maneater (Hall & Oates)

A big cat like the Tiger has a keen sense of vision and Rocky Balboa in the title song of the movie based on him Rocky is said to have the Eye Of The Tiger (Survivor).

Another animal that is close to man and take him places is the Horse With No Name (America).

While researching for this post, I found that lots of animals and even birds rock. Wanna dance the Crocodile Rock (Elton John).

Now its time for the birds. And the Rockin' Robin (Jackson 5).

Birds are better known for singing. And a questions for those on West End London, have you ever been there when The Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (Manhattan Transfer).

Or have you heard the songs of the Blackbird (Paul McCartney).

We've been on the land and in the air... so let's take a trip Under The Sea (Sebastian The Crab - The Little Mermaid).

This post on World Animal Day would be incomplete if I don't mention one of the best animal movie series ever... Have you heard of Dr. Doolittle? He used to Talk To The Animals (Bobby Darin).

While he spoke to the dogs, cats, horses, birds, monkeys and elephants, I don't remember seeing any fox in the movie. That's because no one knows What Does The Fox Say (Ylvis).

There are so many more animal songs... Thank You to all those who responded to my post of Facebook and Twitter... I'm sure you can think of some more songs about animals... just share them in the comments.