Elvis Presley: Hound Dog Meaning

Song Released: 1956

Hound Dog Lyrics

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
Well they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Mar 12th 2021 !⃝

   The first thing to realize is that the lyrics that Elvis sang were not the ones written by Lieber and Stoller, they were a “cleaned up” version performed originally by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. The words “You never caught a rabbit” are not even in the Lieber and Stoller original. The original version has no deep meaning, it’s a woman telling off a shiftless guy. The song begins:
   “You ain't nothing but a hound dog
   Been snoopin' 'round the door
   You ain't nothing but a hound dog
   Been snoopin' 'round my door
   You can wag your tail
   But I ain't gonna feed you no more
   
   You told me you was high-class
   But I could see through that
   Yes, you told me you was high-class
   But I could see through that
   And daddy, I know
   You ain't no real cool cat.”
   Then:
   “ You made me feel so blue
   You made me weep and moan
   You made me feel so blue
   Well you made me weep and moan
   'Cause you ain't looking for a woman
   All you lookin' is for a home”
   

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   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   May 13th 2019 !⃝

   This song has several underlying themes and the meaning of this song is quite debated. Elvis himself took this song from Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller so he did not write the lyrics with a prominent message in mind. This song is most often paired with the theme of unfaithfulness and complaining. Elvis says “You ain't nothin' but a hound dog, Cryin' all the time” like how a hound dog will howl or yelp loudly -- this is like a person complaining. Then the lyrics say “Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit”. This part is a foreshadow of the unfaithfulness found in the second verse. A hound dog is bred and bought for its hunting abilities, but since the dog cannot catch a rabbit it can’t follow through with what it is meant to do -- therefore unfaithful. The last section of lyrics says, “Well they said you was high-classed, Well, that was just a lie” again coming off the theme of unfaithfulness.

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   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Oct 5th 2021 !⃝

   This song is deep. It is about a canine unable to catch a rabbit. The dog’s owner is frustrated by the dog’s ineptitude to the point where he feels they can no longer be friends. This is especially upsetting for the owner, because he bought the dog under the false pretense that the dog was a pure bread. But it turns out he was duped.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 3rd 2022 !⃝

   A hopeless and wretch who has low moral values and wants easy come to their ways. Undesirable and with no future promising to a viable outcome. Always nagging and complaining over unimportant matters.
5. anonymous

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   Nov 2nd 2022 !⃝

   Literally:Elvis called his girl friend,a hound Dog.He desired for her to catch a Rabbit.Hound Dogs have a very keen nose.His responsibility was to allow the Dog to smell a rabbit first so he would know what a rabbit smelled like,at this point the Dog would have caught the Rabbit.The responsibility was on Elvis.
6. Richard

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   Oct 17th 2021 !⃝

   "Hound dog" is a pejorative metaphor for a low class woman (or a man) who has little going for her in life and who wants some kind of relationship with the singer. She beseeches, complains, and lies, (cryin' all the time) as she observes the changing moods of the singer. She has never accomplished anything significant (never caught a rabbit), such as getting a man to stay with her for a length of time. The singer rejects her as not someone whom he wants in his life (you ain't no friend of mine).
7. anonymous

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   May 29th 2020 !⃝

   This song is about the jealousy and envy Elvis Presley aroused among "friends" and comrades (You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't a friend of mine) means that "friend wouldn't Be able to have a playboy girl

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. anonymous

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   Feb 18th 2020 !⃝

   This is a woman yelling at her man for chasing other woman. The real word for hound dog was horney dog shortened to horn dog then cleaned up for radio play thus hound dog. The line you aint never caught a rabbit just means he doesen't often bring home food. Remember a woman sang it years before presley did. I remember the composers saying elvis should have improved the lyrics.rla
9. anonymous

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   Jan 1st 2019 !⃝

   The song is about a gold-digging Bitch. Hound dog is the euphemism for bitch. Crying (complaining) all the time. You ain't never caught a rabbit (prize, John, sugar-daddy, sponsor); and you ain't no friend of mine. (I'm not interested)!
10. anonymous

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    Dec 6th 2018 !⃝

    what is the meaning to this song?
11. anonymous

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    Apr 3rd 2013 !⃝

    "Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. The 1956 version by Elvis Presley is the best-known version; it is his version that is No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3] Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. "Hound Dog" was recorded by five country singers in 1953 alone, and over 26 times through 1964.[4] From the 1970s onward, the song has appeared, or is heard, as a part of the soundtrack in numerous films, most notably in blockbusters such as Grease, Forrest Gump, Lilo & Stitch, A Few Good Men, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

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