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"Housebroken" - The Hotelier

This song, off of the Hotelier’s sophomore record Home, Like Noplace Is There was released in 2014 along with the album. This song popped up on my Spotify Discover Weekly back in 2022 on a random week and I remember bumping it quite a few times (but not as much as Woolworm by Indian Summer, but I feel like I heard them around the same time). I forgot about this midwest emo group for a while, until I was home for Christmas with my family. With nothing to do I would just play guitar for hours on end. Built up my callouses nicely. I was talking to my rather esoteric brother and playing Intersection by Modern Baseball, he suggested I try a Hotelier song, and all the neurons in my brain fired instantly. I had heard the name before, and when I pulled up their album, I recognized Housebroken instantly. I immediately gave it another listen, fell in love with it, looked up the chords, and fell in love with it some more (the progression was pretty easy). The rhythm guitar drives the energy of the song like a heartbeat and has powerful emotion and lyrics. It’s been one of my anthems for 2023, and even was able to give me a surprise. For the longest time I thought this tune was using a dog’s story as a metaphor about an abusive domestic situation, which is even an idea pushed by comments on Genius (link). Turns out, it isn't about dogs or even domestic abuse. As explained in interviews and even live shows, in the song we as a people are the dog and the abuser is law enforcement. It’s a song about the relationship between people and the state, an anti-police anthem. Does this discredit the abusive interpretation of the song? Looking back on the lyrics, I can see tastes of the sentiment about policing, but for some reason, I still feel that the lyrics create a narrative of hesitancy to remove oneself from an abusive situation, but can’t as they’re so ingrained in it and can’t even begin to consider their other options.

Give it a listen. What do you think?


 
 
 

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