Nazareth – Hair Of The Dog

I’ve been listening to arena rock in the last few days…in short doses it’s alright.

I saw this band in 1982 and they were loud. What I remember most is in the middle of this song..singer Dan McCafferty came out and played bagpipes. That was the first time I ever heard bagpipes live…and like the rest of the band…they were very loud. The studio version doesn’t have them in it but they did sound great live.

It was on the album Hair of the Dog and it peaked at #17 in the Billboard album charts in 1975.

This song is what I call an angry song. When I would cruise in my teens and I wanted to feel a rush of emotion…I would turn this song up and drive along. It has a fun guitar riff in this song…a variation of the Day Tripper riff. The chorus is hard to miss also.

From Songfacts

This song is about a charming and manipulative woman who can get guys to acquiesce to her every need. The singer is letting her know that she has met her match in him, and she won’t be able to push him around.

“Hair Of The Dog” does not appear in the lyrics. The logical title would be “Son Of A Bitch,” but it would be tough to get airplay with a song of that name. “Hair Of The Dog” comes from the phrase “Hair of the dog that bit you,” which some people consider a hangover cure, meaning that if you wake up in pain after drinking lots of beer the night before, a beer will help cure you.

In the US, this was used in a TV commercial for Dodge. 

Girls Aloud sampled this on their UK hit “Sexy! No No No.”

Artist to cover this song include Guns N’ Roses, Warrant and The Michael Schenker Group.

A bagpipe version…around the time that I saw them.

Hair of the Dog

Heartbreaker, soul shaker
I’ve been told about you
Steamroller, midnight shoulder
What they been saying’ must be true

Red hot mama, down light charmer
Time’s come to pay your dues

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Talking jiving poison ivy
You ain’t gonna cling to me
Man taker bone faker
I ain’t so blind I can’t see

Red-hot mama, down light charmer
Time’s come to pay your dues

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a bitch) now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

29 thoughts on “Nazareth – Hair Of The Dog”

  6. My brother played a lot of angry rock songs and this one was at the top. I was more mellow and liked Let the Sunshine from their album No Mean City. Some good memories.

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    1. They had a song in the 80s called Holiday…very good song…much more controlled than this one.
      AC/DC is another band with loud angry songs.

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      1. I never heard Holiday. I will have to listen to it when I clock out from this job.
        AC/DC was another of my brother’s favorite bands. I used to carpool to work with a friend in the early 80s and he would play Big Balls continuously until the rest of us were sick of it. My favorite AC/DC album is Back In Black.

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  7. I didn’t know that was the song with this title. I can see where GnR would cover it. That screaming had to be hard on the throat. I remember a local screamer band we used to go see and was always surprised the singer didn’t go hoarse. The song is good for what it is. I like their song, “Love Hurts” more.

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  8. they were really big in my area when I was growing up. Only “Love Hurts” made its way onto AM radio though.
    We had a competitive bagpiper not far from us when I was a kid. He’d go out into the city park behind our house and practise. It was … memorable. Maybe you have to be Scottish to appreciate… my Mom was from Wales, but not close enough ,LOL

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