No, We Didn't Realize There Were This Many Songs About Groundhog Day, Either

​Today is Groundhog Day, and it's easy to forget - after listening to your co-workers droning "Phil? Phil Connors!?" all day - the reason for this special season. After all, isn't this day supposed to be about the groundhogs?

Trouble is, there's not a lot of musical material out there about Marmota monax (not counting Tony McPhee's band). There are plenty of "pig" songs, sure, but groundhogs aren't pigs, and it isn't Rocks Off's fault whoever named the species didn't know their marmot from a hole in ground, especially when it actually...lives in a hole in the ground.

But we've always been able to rise above such obstacles, and have doggedly (hoggedly?) rooted out this list of groundhog-related music (or "Punxsutawney rock," as we like to call it) for your Groundhog Day soundtrack. Enjoy.

Primus, "Ground Hog's Day"

As with most things Primus, we're not really sure where Les Claypool is going with this (though he does mention "hanging his hog" in the bathroom). Frankly, we're still a little dazed these guys lost to Wyld Stallyns in the San Dimas Battle of the Bands.

Manic Street Preachers, "Groundhog Days"

The Preachers are still perhaps best known for the disappearance (and presumed death) of lyricist Richey Edwards in 1995. But songs about waking up to "the same old thing" and "the same old pain," from this B-side to 2001's "Ocean Spray," show that the surviving members of the band have had little trouble carrying his angsty torch.

Doc Watson Family, "Ground Hog"

This folk classic reminds us that, cute as Punxsutawney Phil and his ilk may be, and as amusing as we may find his February antics, groundhogs are good eatin'.

John Lee Hooker, "Ground Hog Blues"

We'll be honest, groundhogs aren't the first animals we think of as "creeping around our back doors." Hound dogs, maybe... or wolves (though that might be the Whitesnake talking). Whatever, times were different back then.

Tom T. Hall, "Happy Groundhog Day"

This 1977 track feature Hall's softer side, and it obviously caught him at a time when he needed to do some apologizing. But can't a man - a Southern man - be forgiven for being a little absent-minded during football season? We blame Jimmy Carter.