> Buried in this page, you'll find some illumination:
>
> http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/f/firesigntheatre-reissues.html
>
> Or you can try this Google search:
>
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-
> 8&safe=off&q=%22papa+was+a+running+dog+lackey+of+the+bourgeoisie%22&spe
> ll=1
Well, that's the Fire-Sign Theater angle, but in fact, if I'm not mistaken, "running dog" is a Chinese expression that long precedes Mao and the Chinese Communist Party. It's simply the term for dogs than run along with a hunter and pick up the game that the hunter shoots down.
The metaphorical application of the term to politics is rather obvious.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ Belinda: Ay, but you know we must return good for evil. Lady Brute: That may be a mistake in the translation.
-- Sir John Vanbrugh: The Provok’d Wife (1697), I.i.