Ok, one of the lyrics bothers me:
I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back
They sportin’ I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back
They sportin’ short dresses, wearin’ spike-heel shoes
They smokin’ Lucky Strikes, and wearing nylons too, wearin’ spike-heel shoes
Ok, I get short dresses, spike-heel shoes and nylons too, all considered sexy to many, but Lucky Strikes? Why that brand of ciggie?
It means they’re fans of Jack Benny’s radio program, and nothing is sexier than a good sense of humour.
LSMFT
(which my Dad used to say stood for “Loose Straps Mean Floppy Titties”)
It’s a well-known brand, so listeners would easily understand the reference. Beyond that, like most oddball lyrics, it probably doesn’t actually have any particular meaning; the lyricist probably just thought those sounds flowed well with the surrounding sounds.
Woman smoking cigs has been sexy for quite some time. When ZZ Top wrote the song Luckies were still a popular brand. Also a woman smoking a Lucky sends a message that you might get lucky.
Luckies were unfiltered, like Camels, right? Does that make any difference?
My guess is it just fit the rhythm of the lyrics the best.
My take is Lucky Strikes are unfiltered, as Shoeless mentioned, and that makes the ladies “badass”.
Or… they were smoking them with a cigarette holder and that makes them “classy”?
Maybe classy and badass, like James Bond!
I’m guessing it was image- I keep substituting other cigarette brands into the song and while they all work as far as the rhythm of the song goes, most others have associations that seem weird.
I mean, " They smokin’ Kools, and wearing nylons too, wearin’ spike-heel shoes"
or " They smokin’ Marlboros, and wearing nylons too, wearin’ spike-heel shoes"
connote something entirely different than Lucky Strikes.
Just as it’s not Morleys. Twice the tar and 1/3 more evil.
I agree. Because they were unfiltered, they were what tough guys (and gals) would smoke. My father, who was a WWII navy veteran, smoked those and Camels (also unfiltered). The name, which harkens back to Golf Rush days, also evokes toughness.
Looks like they had filtered versions in the 80’s.
In any case, I think ZZ Top purposely used the Lucky Strike brand not just because it rhymed, but because who doesn’t want to get lucky. It was the smart choice to convey the image of a sexy girl.
By then, most brands were coming out with filtered versions, but that wasn’t Luckies’ image up to then. If there was a reason for mentioning that brand, that was it. The image also suggests they were marketing to tough girls, in trying to get them to take up filters.
I’m having more of a problem with the nylons. “Nylons” doesn’t sound very good and certainly doesn’t make me think “sexy”. Maybe stockings but nylons??? Makes me think of support hose.
That’s more of a different era thing. When this song came out in the late 70’s stockings had the connotation of sultry fishnet type stockings used by prostitutes and slutty girls or the type wore by school girls (not sexy). Nylons were commonly used by women when they dressed up and wore short dresses, it was higher class. Today women just wear tiny panties or thongs (or nothing) under a dress to be sexy. Progress, very nice!
This. Lucky Strikes had an image of being a cigarette that tough guys smoked. They weren’t considered to be a cigarette for ladies.
A non-tobacco equivalent would be saying one woman was drinking whiskey shots while all of the other women were drinking glasses of wine.
More like this.
They hid cellulite and were a pain to get off.
