Участник:Shamil tob/Песочница12

Shoot the Dog
Обложка сингла Джорджа Майкла «Shoot the Dog» (2002)
Сингл Джорджа Майкла с альбома Patience
Дата выпуска	29 июля 2002
Формат	CD-сингл
Жанр	Данс-поп
Длительность	5:01
Авторы песни	Джордж Майкл, Филип Оки, Иэн Бёрден
Продюсер	Джордж Майкл
Лейбл	Polydor
Хронология синглов Джорджа Майкла
«Freeek!» (2002) «Shoot the Dog» (2002) «Amazing» (2004)

«Shoot the Dog» — песня британского певца Джорджа Майкла, выпущенная 29 июля 2002 года лейблом Polydor в качестве второго сингла с альбома Patience (2004). В композиции были использованы семплы песен «Love Action (I Believe in Love)», «Be Near Me» и «Fastlove», создатели которых стали соавторами «Shoot the Dog» наряду с Джорджем Майклом.

The song is an anti-George W. Bush song. Released on 29 July 2002, it peaked at number one in Denmark and number twelve in the United Kingdom. The music video for the song is completely animated.

The single marked twenty years since the release of Wham!'s first single, «Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)», another politically charged song written by Michael. «Shoot the Dog» samples The Human League song, . «Shoot The Dog» also samples the song by U.K. pop group ABC, as well as Michael’s own 1996 song .

Before being internationally released, it was shown before the animated movie Ice Age.

Предыстория и запись

Авторы песен и жанр согласно allmusic

Shorn of the visuals, the song makes no sense: it depicts the emergency services "getting jiggy" after a terrorist attack and suggests that Cherie Blair should "spliff up" and "watch the World Cup".

George Michael on his controversial anti-Bush single, 2002's Shoot The Dog, which had a cartoon video showing Tony Blair as Bush's poodle: "Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not anti-American. How could I be? I have been in love with a Texan [Kenny Goss] for six years and we are still going strong. My feelings about George Bush, however, are a little different. And I know I'm not alone in fearing his politics."

Shoot The Dog was written, arranged, performed and produced by Michael, albeit with the help of a sample of Human League's Love Action (I Believe In Love). The final result is a somewhat flaccid mish-mash of vocals, sampled synths and rhythm which borders on being funky. But the deep-end vocals are largely illegible, while Michael's characteristic high-end work lands somewhere between self-parody and Barry Gibb. And the music seems like a genetic fusion of Outside and his earlier controversial hit I Want Your Sex.

After the tabloid hoop-la, Michael’s rabid satirical attack on the Blair/Bush love-in sounds… well, soft as a lapdog actually. Sloganeering has never been Michael’s style, and it still isn’t: the most dangerous record of the summer is a restrained, sophisticated pump & squelch affair, licked and nuzzled by electronics, crooned rather than shouted. If George hadn’t told us it was about the folly of UK foreign policy, it might have passed unnoticed on the second half of the album, like a song about silk housecoats, so slinky and unobtrusive is its touch. As understated political rants go, it’s oddly compelling. Good boy, George!

"There was no plan to release [the song] in your country and I think it would have been disrespectful to make this an issue in a country which obviously has suffered much loss and very recently," Michael said. "This was absolutely an attack on [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair, principally, and the perspective which is really predominant in Europe right now that he's not questioning enough of Mr. Bush's policies." He said the song was intended for release in Europe. Michael said he began writing the song last September as a way to criticize Blair for not involving the British public in decisions regarding Iraq and its president, Saddam Hussein. More widely, he said, the song describes the dangers he saw developing between the Western world and fundamentalist factions in the Middle East. He sings, "People did you see that fire in the city/It's like we're fresh out of democratic/Gotta get yourself a little something semi-automatic." Michael said those lines refer to al Qaeda members, who "took the law into their own hands" by carrying out the terrorist attacks last fall. "I don't think that should be misconstrued as some kind of criticism," Michael told CNN. "It's a reference to what happened, and basically saying things are going crazy." The sometimes-graphic video is a cartoon depicting the singer at the palace with Queen Elizabeth, in Blair's bedroom with his wife, Cherie, and at the White House with Bush and Blair. He said he "wouldn't even have wanted the video shown" until it began making headlines in recent days. "It's anti-Mr. Blair and anti-Mr. Blair's reluctance to challenge Mr. Bush. It's not anti-American in any sense," Michael told CNN. "Satire is used for political purposes all the time, but obviously there's a time and a place," he said. "I think in the current climate, it can be very difficult to speak your mind, but sometimes, I believe, we're all in danger and I think this discussion needs to be widened."

Michael had begun writing the song Shoot the Dog before the US attacks on 11 September, but because of the nature of the lyrics it was delayed until its release on 12 August.

He says, "As the years go by, Mr Blair is making Shoot The Dog a word perfect protest song. For all the people who tried to laugh at the time and say I was naive... I am not naive."

Critics said the new song's title appeared to derive inspiration from the film Wag the Dog , which satirised an American president's shameless war lust at a time of political crisis and intense domestic pressure. Shoot the Dog , which is being described as an extraordinary political statement, sneers at the post-September 11 American mood: Nine nine nine gettin' jiggy. People did you see that fire in the City? It's like we're getting fresh out of democratic. Gotta get yourself a little something semi-automatic, yeah...

In his upfront way, George made political comment on the Tony Blair/George Bush role in the 'War on Terror' in his controversial 2002 song 'Shoot the Dog'. He was involved in several of the Band Aid songs and concerts and spoke out against Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government and its missiles involvement with the US.

At the end of the first set Michael sang his 2002 controversial anti-Bush song "Shoot the Dog." During the number, an enormous balloon depicting a cartoon-ish George Bush rose out of centre stage, drawing whoops and yells from the crowd. But the real surprise came when Michael leaned down to unzip the balloon's trousers, and out popped a British bulldog draped with the UK flag. The dog was stuck to the balloon's inflated crotch, wagging its tail. George Michael sang his greatest hits to 18,000 fans packed into Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi arena at the start of his new European tour.

Could George Michael's latest single and video, "Shoot the Dog," actually be a shot in the foot?

Never one to shy away from controversy, Michael has outdone himself with the animated clip, his first foray into the world of political satire, in which he takes on President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen Mum.

In the song, Michael criticizes British foreign policy — at least when it comes to dealings with the Middle East — as being too closely aligned with that of the U.S. The video depicts Bush as an idiot and Blair as his lapdog, literally (see the video). Critics are already predicting that the song and video — which shows Michael astride a nuclear missile — could end the pop star's career.

In an exclusive interview with MTV News' Kurt Loder on Wednesday (July 3), however, Michael defended "Shoot the Dog" and said that his lyrics and imagery are being misinterpreted.

"People are looking at the song in context of an attack on America, as opposed to an attack on Tony Blair," Michael said from his vacation home in France. "And really, my attack is that Tony Blair is not involving the British in this issue. He's perfectly happy staying up to watch the World Cup and enjoying the Jubilee, all things I'm perfectly guilty of, but there's a serious discussion about Iraq which hasn't taken place. We don't know what Saddam Hussein is capable of, the British public has no idea."

Though the song is about some very serious topics, Michael addresses them in such a tongue-in-cheek and (in some cases) sexual way, that the overall mission of the song — a call for discussion and debate — has been missed. Critics are focusing on the depiction of Blair and his wife Cherie in bed with Bush (in a visual homage to Genesis' video for "Land of Confusion," which featured then-President Ronald Reagan in satire), as if Blair and Bush were gay lovers. And though Michael is the one who's openly gay, he comes on to Blair's wife in the video, telling her he's available, while the prime minister is busy with global politics ("Cherie, baby ... stay with me tonight/ Let's have some fun while Tony's stateside").

The message, Michael says, is that Blair has been remiss in some of his homeland duties, and that the British are feeling just as threatened by the situation in the Middle East as Americans are.

"We're all still obviously very much vulnerable right now, both countries, with their relationship with the Middle East and Al Qaeda," Michael said. "Britain is now a target, we're effectively a possible target, as a warning to America."

Despite lyrics that seem to refer to September 11th, Michael said that he wrote the song beforehand, and out of respect to those who suffered any loss in those attacks, he never intended the single or video to be released in the U.S., to avoid any misunderstandings.

"The incident was so appalling, and the shock was so fresh," he said, "that I think it would have been totally disrespectful, because the song was really about the West and the fundamentalist world. It wasn't about any one event."

—Jennifer Vineyard, with additional reporting by Kurt LoderJennifer Vineyard, with additional reporting by Kurt Loder

Музыкальный видеоклип

The music video featured animation provided by the satirical British cartoon series 2DTV.

The video starts in the White House where president George W. Bush is given an explanation about the current state of affairs in the world. Bush (depicted behaving like a naïve child) hasn't understood a word of it, so a general re-explains everything with the use of a hand puppet. Then the song starts and George Michael enters the White House leaving a men's toilet (in reference to the 1998 scandal when Michael was caught during a lewd act in a toilet). He, Bush and the general start dancing to the music before Michael leaves the scenery.

In the next scene Michael leaves his house (dressed like Homer Simpson) and is bullied by his neighbour and his dog. Back home that night the neighbour goes on tormenting him by playing loud music which irritates George Michael and his family members (who are all clones of himself and are dressed like The Simpsons). Then Michael-Homer chases the dog with a gun, only to be shot himself. Three travesty versions of Michael (of which one of them looks like Marge Simpson ) start dancing to the music, only to be bothered by Geri Halliwell.

Then George Michael (as himself) walks to the White House lawn where President Bush throws a ball so his dog can fetch it. British Prime Minister Tony Blair chases and returns the ball instead, cuddled by Bush in reward. Michael continues his walk and enters Iraq where he accidentally steps on a missile, launched to England, while Saddam Hussein praises the act. The missile crashes in Blair's bedroom where Cherie Blair tries to get his attention, but Blair is only interested in Bush, who suddenly crawls into their bed.

In the next scene three versions of George Michael dance next to each other (all are references to other musical periods of his professional career). Back on the White House lawn Blair tries to catch another ball thrown by Bush, but it changes into a missile which crashes into the Michaels/Simpsons' house. There Blair watches TV with the family. Trevor McDonald announces a world war, but shrugs his shoulders not knowing what to do. Blair changes the channel to Elizabeth II and Prince Charles greeting people from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Now with a hairstyle similar to Philip Oakey, Michael jumps on the balcony and starts dancing with the Queen and one of her dogs. Prince Charles tries to do the same but moves completely out of rhythm. Then the Queen's crown falls of her head and lands on Charles' head. He is excited, but then bitten in his behind by the dog.

Meanwhile Michael jumps to two large groups of soldiers. He sticks flowers into their guns (a reference to the famous picture of hippie protesters by Bernie Boston) and then strips to his underwear before jumping on Cherie Blair's bed. She quickly changes the channel of the television set she's watching and the scene changes to David Beckham and Paul Scholes playing soccer. Tony Blair appears in American football attire and changes the football into an American football before leaving the stadium. Pierluigi Collina gives him a red card, while David Seaman starts crying. While Michael seduces Cherie, Tony Blair uses Great Britain as a speedboat to annex his country to the United States. In the final scene Michael dances in a cowboy outfit, joined by Bush and Blair, before the two politicians leave the scene together. Then other clones of Michael jump in to join him, until they all resemble the Village People. Bush and Blair re-enter the scene dancing the tango together and the song ends. Back in the White House President Bush liked the song so much that he asks his general to repeat everything. The general is not pleased.

Список композиций

UK CD single

1. "Shoot the Dog" (Explicit Album Version) – 5:03
2. "Shoot the Dog" (Moogymen Mix) – 7:19

UK enhanced CD single

1. "Shoot the Dog" (Explicit Album Version) – 5:03
2. "Shoot the Dog" (Moogymen Mix) – 7:19
3. "Shoot the Dog" (Alex Kid Shoot The Radio Remix) – 3:57
4. "Shoot the Dog" (Video) – 5:31

UK DVD single

1. "Shoot the Dog" – 5:35
2. "Freeek!" – 4:33

Чарты

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	36
Austrian Singles Chart	41
Belgian Flanders Singles Chart	46
Belgian Wallonia Ultratip Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart	33
Danish Singles Chart	1
Dutch Single Top 100	26
French Singles Chart	59
German Singles Chart	44
Hungarian Singles Chart	7
Irish Singles Chart	23
Italian Singles Chart	5
Spanish Singles Chart	4
Swedish Singles Chart	39
Swiss Singles Chart	14
UK Singles Chart	12

См. также

• "Land of Confusion" by Genesis (a protest song that also featured many celebrity caricatures in the music video).
• Poodle (insult)