It took me a while to get used to the slow smoky style of this number. Iris Tramm's first song. It's now one of my favorites. Iris has a dog, a German shepherd named Meadows, who is an important character in the story. She sings to him about her disillusionment with men, hence the refrain " That's why I live with my dog." The song hints that nevertheless falling for Norman Paperman. At Coconut Grove Iris sang to an amazingly lifelike puppet dog, whitch all but upstaged her, and won the audience affection all though the evening.



Shelia says the heart is just a muscle

Shelia says the heart is cooled by time

Hiding out for years down in these trade winds

In the land of coconuts and limes



Chorus:

I've played this game for too long

My life's just one same old song

Now marooned for a time on this island

I go into and out of the fog

And that's why I live with my dog



Instrumental Bridge



Men oh, men oh, oh men I've known to many

Deceivers cloaked in clumsy vanity

What men lack in love and understanding

They make up in stupidity



Chorus:

But now and then one comes along

And lights up my world like a song

I am tempted to unleash my interest

Yet I put it to you man's best friend

There's just one sad old way it can end



Bridge:

We have our faults

But men have only two

All that they say

All that they do

You're a joy and a friend and a guardian

Never bored with my sad monologue

You're better off with a dog

Sheila says the heart's just a muscle

Sheila says the heart's just a muscle