What is the Meaning Behind the Song Feed Jake

A Clinical Analysis of Pirates of the Mississippi's "Feed Jake"

Pirates of the Mississippi, largely unknown now, found great success in 1995 with "Feed Jake". Feed Jake is essentially a 1990's 'Marley and Me' story about a cowboy/musician and his love for his loyal dog Jake. This song is remembered along with 'I'm Already There', 'Butterfly Kisses' and 'She Thinks His Name Was John' as one of those country staples guaranteed to make you weep. But is it engineered trash like 'I'm Already There' or something more substantial like Reba McEntire's safe-sex AIDS ballad "She Thinks His Name was John"?

Let's have a look, shall we?

Lyrics:

"Feed Jake"

I'm standing at the crossroads in life, and I don't know where to go.
You know you've got my heart babe, but my musics got my soul.
Let me play it one more time, I"ll tell the truth and make it rhyme and hope they understand me.

Now I lay me down to sleep
Pray the Lord my soul to keep
And if I die before I wake, Feed Jake
He's been a good dog, my best friend, right through it all
If I die before I wake, Feed Jake

Now Broadway's like a sewer, bums and hookers everywhere.
Winos passed out on the sidewalk, doesn't anybody care?
Some say he's worhtless, just let him be.
I for one would have to disagree and so would their mamas.

Now I lay me down to sleep
Pray the Lord my sould to keep
And if I die before I wake, Feed Jake
He's been a good dog, my best friend, right through it all
If I die before I wake, Feed Jake

Now if you get an ear pierced, some will call you gay.
But if you drive a pickup, they'll say "no, you must be striaght"
What we are and what we ain't, what we can and what we can't.
Does it really matter

Now I lay me down to sleep
Pray the Lord my soul to keep
And if I die before I wake, Feed Jake
He's been a good dog, my best friend, right though it all
If I die before I wake, Feed Jake

Conclusion:
At it's very core this is a song about friendship and the human experience, only told through a cowboy and his guitar shtick. The song talks about people being essentially good, and just like the unfaltering and generous loyalty of dogs, we should take care of everyone. Hookers, wino's, gays. Now me not knowing gay people even existed in 1995, I'm a bit unsure about the ear-pierced pickup gay/straight lines in that time context. But it seems that the good intention is there saying "what we are and what we ain't, doesn't really matter."

But what really gets audiences, and puts this song in categories with 'Butterfly Kisses', is the idea that a rough and tumble cowboy's nightly prayers ask only that if he dies that someone feeds his dog. You can't get more sentimental than that. But in the end, there is something heartwarming but not schmaltzy about this song. How can you knock someone for singing about how people should be as loyal as little labrador retrievers?

The Numbers:

Creepy: 19% (Gay Earring Thing)

Sweet: 81% (How much money did Marley and Me make?)

Now the music video takes a different approach focusing more on a successful man coming home to his small town for the funeral of his best friend. Artfully sweet, classically 90s. You can't argue with the tame music video versions of hookers and drunks. Still remarkably less exploitative than the Iraq solider video for "I'm Already There". Kudos Pirates of the Mississippi.

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Source: https://matthewducey.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/a-clinical-analysis-of-pirates-of-the-mississippis-feed-jake/

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