What does 'You ain't never caught a rabbit' mean in Elvis' You Ain't Nothin' But a Houndog?

The line in the original version was "You can wag your tail, but I ain't gonna feed you no more", but was changed to "You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine." as part of a rewrite by Freddie Bell to give the song appeal to a white audience. This was a common practice back then with Rock & Roll songs, bowdlerizing more risqué themes (here, a no-good lover) into inoffensive ones (a no-good person).

Elvis caught Freddie Bell and the Belltones' act while in in Las Vegas and loved the performance so much, he started playing the song.

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I haven't found any analysis of Elvis' lyrics for this song by any credible sources, but I do have a two guesses that I formed inside my head using simple knowledge of Words.

1. Elvis could have been referring to a hound dog that had never caught a rabbit and Elvis did not want to be friends with the dog that had never caught a rabbit. Elvis could have been responding to the popular saying "A dog is a man's best friend." Elvis may have not wanted to be friends with this dog because he thought the dog didn't deserve to be his friend.

2. Hound dog could be referring to a lecherous man, and rabbit to an innocent, young girl. He could have been stating that he thought that any man that hasn't been with an innocent young girl is unfit for his friendship.

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Hound Dog in the song describes a person who isn't much fun to have around. The main part of the Leiber-Stoller lyrics are: "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time...you ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine...they said you was high-classed, that was just a lie."

They're comparing the subject of the song to a timid, no-breeding, no-account mongrel dog which isn't much use to anybody. A dog which can't catch a rabbit is considered a waste of dog-space in country areas, where rabbits are either pests or dinner.

There's no need to read too much into these simple lyrics. It's a great song, made immortal by the voice and personality of a great performer, and the message is pretty basic; it says, I think, what the composers intended it to say!

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