Lyrics of
Dirty Paws

Dirty Paws, written by Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson, is famously known as the opening track for Of Monsters and Mens album My Head Is an Animal. The song narrates a fantastical battle among forest creatures, featuring references to the bee queen and the dragon, symbolizing themes of friendship, nature, and resilience.

Jumping up and down the floor
My head is an animal
And once there was an animal
It had a son that mowed the lawn
The son was an ok guy
They had a pet dragonfly
The dragonfly it ran away
But it came back with a story to say

Hey!
Hey!

Her dirty paws and furry coat
She ran down the forest slope
The forest of talking trees
They used to sing about the birds and the bees
The bees had declared a war
The sky wasn't big enough for them all
The birds they got help from below
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow


Hey!
Hey!

And for a while things were cold
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men
And that's how the story goes
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws

La la la
La la la la
La la la
La la la la
La la la
La la la la
La la la
La la la la
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!