Song not alive ! Cow not either .
Of course not (as far as I know they don't even belong to the same group of multicellular organisms), but it can be treated as a human. I often use that tactic with my entry choosing process – if there was a spirit inside the song, what would it think of me and my aims? The main thing is to get into the song, to know it, and to understand its function.
I guess I've always shown empathy towards inanimate objects – for example, last week I was playing a board game with my siblings which we eventually found too ambiguous on its rules, and I suddenly started to feel really bad for the game, for being quitted too soon (my sister felt the same and we eventually held a little funeral for the game). I'm not feeling the same towards humans though, since I know most of them are as selfish creatures as I am.