Elvis Presley - Hound Dog Lyrics

Elvis Presley Lyrics

"Hound Dog"

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine

When they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
When they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
You ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine

When they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
When they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine

When they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
You know they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
You ain't no friend of mine

Submit Corrections

Thanks to Mary Shipley for correcting these lyrics.

Writer(s): Mike Stoller, Jerry Leiber

This song was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Leiber said that writing the tune took only twelve minutes.

Jerry Leiber explained to Rolling Stone how he wrote for Big Mama Thornton, "I had to write a song for her that basically said, "Go fuck yourself." But how to do it without actually saying it? And how to do it telling a story? I couldn't just have a song full of expletives. Hence the hound dog. Right. 'You ain't nothin' but a motherfucker'."

Elvis Presley based his version of the song on Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' performance with amended lyrics which he attended in Las Vegas in 1956.

The Latin riff that was used in "Hound Dog" was known as "Habanera rhythm", that is a Spanish and African-American musical beat form.

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller haven't praised Elvis Presley's version of their song. Leiber, in particular, told on the UK show Songbook, "It was a song that had to do with obliterated romance. ...And 'you ain't caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine' is inane. It doesn't mean anything to me."

Mike Stoller recalled about hearing this version of the song, "I heard the record and I was disappointed. It just sounded terribly nervous, too fast, too white. But you know, after it sold seven or eight million records it started to sound better. I should also say that the other things we did with Elvis I liked very much."

"Hound Dog" lyrics

Elvis Presley Lyrics