We all know, deep down, that our lives revolve around our pets. Sometimes it just takes a shakeup or two to fully reveal that reality, as GHOST GRL learned when writing her new single “My Dog.”
Feeling fraught when coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, grief, and a breakup, the Boston artist (born Gianna Botticelli) previously found a furry anchor in Zir, her French bulldog/Boston terrier mix. The experience would bring forth “My Dog,” Botticelli’s first release since 2020, and the first piece of her upcoming spring EP Fragments.
“When the world shut down, I realized I was stuck in this really bad situation with very few resources,” says Botticelli. “I felt completely lost as a person and the only thing that felt consistent through all of it was my dog. This track is about the unconditional love I so often felt both for and from my dog, contrasted with the pain and emotional violence that was being presented to me as this same ‘love.’”
“There’s someone strangling me / You call it unconditional love / And you ask if I know what that means / But I only love my dog like that,” she sings on the second verse. Another artist might wield the lyrics like a smart-mouthed punk, but Botticelli casts her words against a pensive rock backdrop, calling everything besides her unbreakable pet-person bond into question.
“My Dog” is document of resilience, but also simplicity — a reminder that sometimes the most basic sources of love are the ones that are the most unwavering. Tune in below.