*David A. Smith/Getty Images*

Badflower Paws song, featured on the band’s new album No Place Like Home, may be one of the group’s most poignant works to date. While known for confronting difficult themes in songs like “Ghost” and “Family,” frontman Josh Katz says “Paws” carries a particularly personal weight—it’s about the loss of his beloved dog.

Katz told ABC Audio that “Paws” didn’t start as a tribute. It began with a single line—“You could never know it was your time to go”—written as a placeholder lyric. But everything changed during the writing process.

“While I was writing the song, my dog was in the room with me as she always was when I was writing,” Katz explained. “My dog was very old at the time, and it just hit me in that moment. I looked at her and I was like, ‘Oh, wait, f***. I know what this song is about, I know what this is gonna be.’”

The track was completed before his dog passed, but the grief afterward came with unexpected depth. “There’s certain complexities to how I felt that I almost wish I could write maybe a new song that’s like, ‘OK … now that it’s actually happened and it’s not just thinking about happening, here’s another song that’s truly about what it felt like,’” he said.

Despite the pain behind it, “Paws” has resonated deeply with listeners. Fans have shared their own experiences of pet loss, something Katz finds especially meaningful.

“Comments sections on the YouTube videos are always my favorite ’cause, on some of the older stuff especially, people just share their stories, and that’s such a cool thing,” he shared.

Through “No Place Like Home,” Badflower continues their tradition of raw, emotional songwriting—this time with a tribute that has touched pet lovers and rock fans alike.

Content for this summary was derived from original reporting by ABC Audio, as featured on 105.7 The Point