Some legacies are born from love, others from sheer survival. Take “Junkyard Dog,” the latest track from Texas-raised, Brooklyn-based Mer Marcum. Here, family history isn’t just passed down—it’s a force that shapes, distorts, and even haunts.
“I’m meaner than a junkyard dog,” my grandfather used to say to my father, and my father to me, Marcum explains. This song, originally a poem in a zine benefiting Safe Horizon, an NYC victim assistance group, explores this vivid image of a dog—a reflection of its owner, shaped by its mistreatment. That’s how I came to see my father and, eventually, myself. The hook ‘somebody made you this way’ draws from this realization.
Marcum blends her folk roots with Brooklyn’s energetic vibe, crafting a track that’s both brooding and freeing. The bass and electric guitar lines weave through a layered haze, mirroring the tension between past and present, inheritance and defiance.
Catch Marcum’s new music video and stream “Junkyard Dog” on all major platforms.
