For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday challenge, Jim Adams has asked us to feature Pets, Names, or Memories, as suggested by Di at Pensitivity101. I’m going to focus on a boy and his dog with Harry Nilsson’s song, “Me and My Arrow.”
“Me and My Arrow” was written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson for his 1970 album The Point! It was also released as a single in 1971, reaching number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Nilsson wrote this track as part of his whimsical fable The Point!, the story of a unique boy named Oblio, who is the only person with a round head in his Pointed Village, and his trusty pet dog, Arrow. Nilsson said, “I was on acid and I looked at the trees and I realized that they all came to points. I thought, ‘Oh, everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s a point to it.’”
According to Songfacts, Nilsson could certainly relate to being the odd man out. Part lovable drunk, part mad musical genius, no one knew what to expect from him, who’s arrow often pointed him in different directions, resulting in an eclectic mix of work that would include Beatles-inspired rock songs, heartwrenching ballads, goofy novelty tunes and, before anyone else was doing it, an album of standards.
The Point! was made into a TV movie in 1971. In the original telecast, Dustin Hoffman voiced the part of the narrator/father. I remember watching it when I was really stoned and I loved it.
Here are the lyrics to “Me and My Arrow.”
Me and my arrow
Straighter than narrow
Wherever we go, everyone knows
It's me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Taking the high road
Wherever we go, everyone knows
It's me and my arrow
And in the morning when I wake up
She may be gone, I don't know
And if we make up just to break up
I'll carry on, oh yes, I will
Me and my arrow
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, straighter than narrow
Wherever we go, every one knows
It's me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, straighter than narrow
Wherever we go, every one knows
It's me and my arrow
In case you’ve never seen The Point!, below is the full made-for-TV movie, if you have an hour and a quarter to spare and a few doobies or edibles handy. Note that, while Dustin Hoffman narrated the original TV show, Ringo Starr narrated the movie version and Alan Thicke narrated a third TV release.
A nice choice for the theme and yes, Harry was a weirdo!
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I loved this song ..
I also liked the idea of the Land of Point!
Good choice 😂
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Another one of my all time favourite animations with great songs. I love the rock mans philosophy. Harry Nilsson was a genius.
Yes everything has a point 🙂
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Very strange song
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WOOF!! https://youtu.be/KNsee-gRLAY
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WOOF!!
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Not sure why, but this comment went directly to my spam folder!
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🫤 The one I shared (under this topic and another thing or two in a different thread or two) haven’t gone through either.
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One comment (the song) went to trash because the word “porn” is a trigger word. Not sure why you SCOTUS comment did too.
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Oh, yeah… since that’s in the name of the music group [the lead singer is also from Jane’s Addiction in addition to doing some recording on his own as they say], it didn’t “register” to spark my memory of the trigger. Thanks for finding the two.
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Harry partied harder than the rest of them and nobody was able to keep up with him. It is too bad that he couldn’t keep his life together a little bit more, because he had a lot of talent. Thanks for sharing this song about a boy and his dog. I saw some of the Point movie on the Netflix special Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him).
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Seems almost like School House Rock! I was born in 1971 so I missed this movie. I saved it so maybe one day I’ll sit and watch it.
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It’s very entertaining. At least I thought so.
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This song is called PETS
It is by ‘Porno for Pyros’:
Children are innocent
Teenagers fucked up in the head
Adults are only more fucked up
And elderlies are like children
Will there be another race to
Come along and take over for us?
Maybe Martians could do
Better than we’ve done
We’ll make great pets
We’ll make great pets
We’ll make great pets
You make great pets
We’ll make great pets
We’ll make great pets
We’ll make great pets
We’ll make great pets
My friend says we’re like the dinosaurs
Only we are doing oursevles in
Much faster then they ever did
We’ll make great pets
[Et cetera]
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Hadnt heard of this song before. Good choice this week Fandango!
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Thanks, Carol Anne.
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It’s an engrossing cartoon, and the music is entertaining. I like that a theme is to listen (and actually listen rather than say listen). I didn’t see the show or movie as a kid or even hear the song as far as I recall, but I do remember the voice — so I had to look him up.
https://chaospin.com/harry-nilsson-songs/
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I think I have heard the song before, it sounds a little familiar. The movie I have heard of but never seen. Need to add it to my list.
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Bark bark https://goldendoodles.family.blog/
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