Well the times are gettin' hard for you little girl
I'm a hummin' and a strummin' all over God's world
You can't remember when you got your last meal
And you don't know just how a woman feels

You didn't know what rock 'n' roll was
Until you met my drummer on the grey tour bus
I got there in the nick of time
Before he got his hands across your state line, yeah

Now it's the middle of the night on the open road
The heater don't work and it's oh, so cold
You're lookin' tired, you're lookin' kinda beat
The rhythm of the street sure knocks you off your feet

You didn't know how rock 'n' roll looked
Until you caught your sister with the guys from the group
Halfway home in the parkin' lot
By the look in her eye she was givin' what she got

I said my, my, my, I'm once bitten twice, shy babe
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice shy baby
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice shy baby

Ah, woman, you're a mess, gonna die in your sleep
There's blood on my amp and my Les Paul's beat
Can't keep you home, you're messin' around
My best friend told me you're the best lick in town

You didn't know that rock 'n' roll burned
So you bought a candle and you lived and you learned
You got the rhythm, you got the speed
Mama's little baby likes it short and sweet

I said my, my, my, I'm once bitten twice, shy baby
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice shy babe
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice shy baby

Alright!

I didn't know you had a rock 'n' roll record
Until I saw your picture on another guy's jacket
You told me I was the only one
But look at you now, it's dark as it's done

Oh my, my, my, I'm once bitten twice, shy babe
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice shy baby
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice shy baby
My, my, my, I'm once bitten twice, shy
So shy

Oh so shy
So shy, baby
So shy
So shy, so shy
So, so shy, so shy


Lyrics submitted by angelvamp13

Once Bitten, Twice Shy Lyrics as written by Ian Hunter

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Once Bitten Twice Shy song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

14 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    sad, sad sad....... i'm still in awe about the incident at the rhode island concert, i'm pointin fingers at the owners.. because other bands stood forth and claimed they too were allowed to use the pyros... all my prayers go out towards them because they now have ALOT riding on there shoulders... more than anyone should

    CoNjOutsidersLsSmon March 06, 2003   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”