From the recording Wall Dogs
Wall Dogs
Sign painters from the golden age of advertising often worked on scaffolds, hanging off the sides of buildings and painting by hand before the days of vinyl lettering and computers. Their work is slowly fading over time and the “ghost signs” are integral parts of the small-town American landscape. During the Depression, the mural division of the WPA Federal Art project surely employed many “Wall Dogs” to help create over 2500 murals, many of which still adorn post offices and other public buildings across the U.S. This song is a tribute to them all as is the artwork that survives them.
Lyrics
WALL DOGS
(© 2024, Tim Stafford, Thomm Jutz, Daniel House Music, BMI; Thommsongs SESAC admin. Blue Water)
CH)
Wall dogs, that’s what they called ‘em
Great Depression on the land
Standing high up on a scaffold
Paint brush in a skillful hand
V)
Thirty feet up on red brick,
Tobacco Signs and such
Better love the work you’re doing
FDR don’t pay too much
V)
lead paint in the heat of summer
barns and buildings on display
Paint the country as you see it
God bless the WPA
V)
Faded now like ghosts forgotten
lingering on downtown walls
Great art is where you find it
Easel, frame or holy hall