Sure, you can go with the obvious when making a creative decision, but sometimes being forced to make a less obvious choice leads to a superior result.

Nazareth formed in Scotland in the late 1960s from the remnants of a group who broke up after playing together for most of the decade. The newly configured band played hard-rocking originals but always included a cover or two on each album (surprisingly, these were usually folk songs they rearranged, including tunes by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell).

The group was very popular in Europe, not at all popular in the US, and in the UK they landed somewhere in between — their singles provided a few radio hits, but their albums didn’t exactly set the cash registers ringing. Hoping to break through commercially, in late 1974 Nazareth decided to try something different for their sixth album, abandoning their long-time producer — Roger Glover of Deep Purple — and placing their lead guitarist in the producer’s chair.

It would prove to be a wise decision.

Another wise decision came about when addressing the album title and its opening track of the same name. The song clearly stood out as one of the strongest among their new batch of material, but there was one small problem: the title of the song — repeatedly shouted in the chorus — and the planned title of the album, was “Son Of A Bitch.”

No one would bat an eye at that title today, but in 1975 the batting would have been furious. Perhaps the record label expressed their concern, or perhaps Nazareth, knowing complications would arise, decided to pre-emptively make a change. Either way, the new title for the song became “Hair Of The Dog.”

Hair of the dog that bit you, of course, refers to a hangover cure (drinking a little alcohol the morning after you’ve overindulged), but it’s origins are literal. As far back as 2000 years ago, Pliny The Elder wrote that if a rabid dog should bite you then hairs from that dog could be inserted into the wound to prevent rabies. At some point over the centuries, the cure turned into a metaphorical phrase for a drinking remedy and appears in a book of well-known proverbs from 1546.

But the lyrics for the Nazareth song contain no references to rabies or alcohol, so why “Hair Of The Dog?” Let’s break it down.

With the use of the UK glottal stop we get: ‘air of the dog.

With the use of a homophone we get: heir of the dog.

With the use of a couple of synonyms we get: son of a bitch.

It’s a subtle compromise without compromise.

Hair Of The Dog (the album) was released in April of 1975 and quickly became the band’s bestselling record. “Hair Of The Dog” (the song) didn’t hit the charts but soon established itself as a classic rock radio staple and the band’s signature song.

So now you’re messing… with Nazareth.