Patti Smith [4]’s songs often have fascinating backstories; for example, take the title song in her latest album, Banga [5], named after Pontius Pilate’s loyal dog in the Mikhail Bulgakov novel, The Master and Margarita. As she notes: “For those who have not read the book, Pilate waited on the edge of heaven for 2,000 years to talk to Jesus Christ, and his dog, Banga, stayed faithfully by his side. I thought that any dog that would wait 2,000 years for his master deserves a song.”  Here’s a verse from “Banga”:

Loyalty lives and we don’t know why
And his paws are pressed to the spine of the sky
You can leave him twice, but he won’t leave you
And the way to Heaven is true—true blue
Say—Banga
Say—Banga