The Meaning Behind Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” That Never Involved a Hangover Cure

Red-hot mama, velvet charmer / Time’s come to pay your dues. In Nazareth’s 1975 hit “Hair of the Dog,” Dan McCafferty wasn’t singing about a morning-after drink to help cure a hangover. The phrase “hair of the dog” was even mentioned in the song.

“Hair of the Dog” That Bit You

The Scottish expression “hair of the dog that bit you” was based on a superstition that claimed if one applied the hair of the rabid animal that attacked them it would help in the healing process. Throughout time, it came to mean a remedy for hangovers.

Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” was about a woman who had taken advantage of men—until she met her match. Originally, the band wanted to use “Son of a Bitch” as the album title but their label pushed back on it. In response, they thought up “Heir of the Dog,” to reference the manipulative woman in the song, before compromising on “Hair of the Dog.”

In the song, McCafferty made it clear that he won’t be used.

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

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

Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a b–h) Now you’re messin’ with a son of a b–h
Now you’re messin’ with a
(A son of a b—h) Now you’re messin’ with a son of a b–h

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

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Written by McCafferty, along with bassist Pete Agnew, guitarist Manny Charlton, and drummer Darrell Sweet, and released on the band’s sixth album of the same name, “Hair of the Dog” broke Nazareth onto the U.S. charts, peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart,

“Heir of the Dog”

The success of “Hair of the Dog” in America was due partly to controversy around the use of a curse, son of a b—h, repeated in the lyrics. Though the album Hair of the Dog was a success in the U.S. for the band, hitting No. 17 on the Billboard 200, it wasn’t the band’s biggest album in Europe. “It was a big hit in America because there was a swear word,” said Nazareth bassist Pete Agnew in a 2018 interview. “When you’re playing it in Germany it didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean much in Britain, either.”

Before the release of Hair of the Dog, the band hit the top 10 on several European charts with their fourth album Loud ‘n’ Proud, which went to No. 10 in the UK. “Love Hurts,” the band’s cover of the 1960 Boudleaux Bryant-penned Everly Brothers song was also the band’s biggest hit in the U.S., hitting No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“The big hit on ‘Hair of the Dog’ was ‘Love Hurts’ in America,” added Agnew. “It was only recorded on the American copy. When we recorded ‘Love Hurts,’ we recorded it as a B-side. It wasn’t on the album.”

“Son of a Bitch”

“Hair of the Dog” was later covered by bands like Britny Fox, Guns N’ Roses, Warrant, Local H, and more in the decades since its release.

Today, Nazareth still refers to the song and the album as “Son of a B—h.”

“Well, obviously it’s not really called ‘Hair Of The Dog,’” said Agnew. “It’s called ‘Son of a B—h.’ That’s what the album was supposed to be called. Us being Scottish, the phrase ‘son of a b—h’ didn’t mean that much to us. It was just an Americanism. We used to hear people saying it in the movies. I mean, hey, John Wayne said ‘son of a b—h.’”

Photo: Fin Costello/Redferns