Rough Boy


“He’s this fictitious character who was the only way that ZZ Top was going to get to play another ballad. The way he came up was, “How would a ZZ Top fan allow such a beautiful, lush bed of sound into their realm?” The pretty music had to have a rough boy in it. He’s there.”Billy Gibbons (941)

Cheap Sunglasses


“We wrote that song when we used to tour in cars. And every gas station in the world had a cardboard display of the cheapest and ugliest sunglasses you could imagine. I have bought a thousand pair of them.”Dusty Hill (941)

Arrested For Driving While Blind


“No, I was never DWI. I have been very close. I’ve had a couple of wrecks in the past. We wrote that song quite a while ago, and we caught a little flak about it. People think we’re suggesting that people should get drunk and go out and drive. That’s not it at all. Billy introduces it: “Don’t get arrested for driving while blind.” We’re not saying, “Don’t drink.” We’re just doing a tune. But personally, it scared the shit out of me having a wreck. I wasn’t completely whacked, but my response time wasn’t what it would be right now.”Dusty Hill (941)

Party On The Patio


“There was a patio. If we really want to get into the tunes, that was as close to writing about the real unfolding of events as we get. “I found an empty house in the neighborhood/ I knew that we shouldn’t, but I thought that we could/ I knew it wouldn’t be hard to slide into the backyard/ I called all my friends and slipped a hundred to the guard/ Turned all the lights down low and had a party on the patio.” The house did not belong to us.”Billy Gibbons/Dusty Hill (941)

Legs


“I was driving in Los Angeles, and there was this unusual downpour. And there was a real pretty girl on the side of the road. I passed her, and then I thought, “Well, I’d better pull over” or at least turn around and offer her a ride, and by the time I got back she was gone. Her legs were the first thing I noticed. Then I noticed that she had a Brooke Shields hairdo that was in danger of falling. She was not going to get wet. She had legs and she knew how to use them.”Billy Gibbons (941)

Planet Of Women


“[Was ‘Planet of Women’ influenced by the film Oueen of Outer Space starring Zsa Zsa Gabor? – Ed] That’s the one! I never knew the title. That’s the one! I’d like to go there. It’s a great place to visit, and I’d love to live there.”Billy Gibbons/Dusty Hill (941)

Tube Snake Boogie


“[What’s a tube snake? – Ed] Originally, it was a surfboard. A friend of mine, for obvious reasons, liked the sound of the name. I guess it’s the first cousin to a tube steak.”Billy Gibbons (941)

Woke Up With Wood


“We were in Aspen. I don’t want to go into too many details about this. It was a skiing weekend. I stayed in. I had just gotten off tour, and getting up at seven to go get cold is not my idea of a vacation. Nonetheless, I was stirred to life to the tune of this friend of mine shouting. “Oh, full wood!” A friend of ours was descending the staircase with this gorgeous, voluptuous blond. They were going to check out the skiing conditions. I said, “What do you mean, ‘full wood’?” And he said, “It was the grossest thing you ever saw. These two coming down the stairway, and he’s got full wood.” Then it kind of clicked and I said, “Don’t say another word.” It was classic. Full wood. I guess you might have “half wood,” too.”Billy Gibbons (941)

I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide


“We wrote this about the great Texas bluesman Joey Long, a Gulf Coast lead guitar picker who appeared on a great number of wonderful records by the likes of Slim Harpo and Barbara Lynn. He played on Lynn’s great hit record ‘We Got A Good Thing Going’, which was covered by the Stones, and which was really one of the important recordings that shaped my understanding of where it was I wanted to go with my life. It was good. And so was he.”Billy Gibbons (942)

Rhythmeen


“It’s a made-up word from ‘rhythm’ and ‘mean’. I noticed, as we went back to the tried and true method of the three guys, there was a definite m-e-e-e-an feeling behind the percussion as the drum sound was captured from a live room and ended up fraught with this mean rhythm.”Billy Gibbons (943)