Small acts of kindness
Dogman explains how this song from his new album was inspired by real life sad stories
The photograph, taken by Dogman in the beautiful hill countryside close to his home, was not posed. The couple were simply enjoying the sunshine and the incredible view and were not aware a picture was being taken.
‘Small acts of kindness’, as an expression, was the inspiration behind an idea - not to use people’s names - but to use a phrase that would say everything about them. The song was first a simple Dogman poem that, when it was first read out loud, brought tears to his wife. She even insisted that it should remain as a poem and not become a song but Dogman could not resist suing it as a lyric. The song melody came quickly to him, in part inspired by the music of Neil Young, and was the subject of an emotion about bullying.
Dogman was saddened by the story of East Lancashire teenager Sophie Lancaster who was so brutally killed and her partner seriously injured when drunken youths attacked them in a park. All, can anyone really believe, because they were dressed in Goth-style clothes. That bullying can go on in school, in work, in relationships upsets Dogman because, like many children that experience a dysfunctional childhood, he was once bullied.
Small acts of Kindness which first appeared on the Dogman ‘The Whisperer’ album is loved at Dogman live concerts. It is often quoted as a favourite track on his new album when its theme is explained. Incidentally, the brief guitar lead is played by Dogman’s son, Jonathan Sands, a Liverpool based musician who was visiting the studio during a recording session. It’s played on Dogman’s favourite Guild acoustic. Friends, family and fans who bought his new album, ‘The cat that solved The String Theory’, have sent in photographs, many with dogs, cats and pets, with the album and these have been used in the Expat Records video which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNuMZaDkBxw
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