Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” Lyrics Meaning

Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” is one of those types of songs where maybe, just maybe the meaning can totally not be understood by a child who is unaware of what the word “p*#*y” means in a colloquial sense. In other words the title is a double entendre, if you want to put it like that. 

There is an actual sickness known as “cat scratch fever” that you can get from, well, being scratched by a cat. But just to note, by and large it isn’t anything serious.

But that is not the condition which Ted Nugent is actually singing about. Rather, as implied above, the word “cat” in this song can rather be interpreted as ‘female’, for lack of a better explanation. And the “scratch fever” is like a cool way of saying lust. 

So when the Nuge, as he is called, claims that he has a serious case of “cat scratch fever” that may have been given to him by a particular lady, that’s another way of saying that he really got the hots for someone(s). And when conversely he exerts that he ‘gives them cat scratch fever’, that’s indicative of his ability to turn the ladies on also.

What “Cat Scratch Fever” is all about

So simply put, in reality this is in fact a lewd sex song. In the first verse, the singer is basically expressing his desire to score some free bedroom fun. In the second, he insinuates that he lost his virginity at 10 years old and since then has been a horndog. 

And in the third he is bragging about his bedroom prowess and the fact that women desire him. And the bridge is touting the pleasurability of the act itself.

But again at least the Nuge was considerate enough, if you will, to make a half-hearted attempt to shroud all of this behind metaphorical language. Or rather, as put forth at the beginning of this post, a child may not pick up on the fact that he’s singing about sex. 

But as for any intelligent adult, more than likely they will understand, even after one sitting, that the singer is asserting that he’s some type of sexual dynamo. Or let’s say there’s only two ways you can interpret someone bragging about their ability to “make the p***y purr with the stroke of (his) hand”. 

And for those who may be compelled to lean toward the more innocent, literal understanding of the term, well, they can just look at the cover art of this album for instance and get the impression that Nugent isn’t someone we would commonly classify as a family-friendly artist.

Facts about “Cat Scratch Fever”

This is the title track of, as well as opening song from the playlist of Ted Nugent’s third album. The official release date of the track, coming out via Epic Records, was on 1 May 1977.

Ted Nugent wrote this song on his own. And it did manage to chart in Canada and on the Billboard Hot 100, in the latter case peaking at number 30 on the list.

The song charted once again when it was covered by the heavy-metal band Pantera in 1999, that time around appearing on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks listing.

And as for Ted Nugent’s actual Cat Scratch Fever album, it was certified triple-platinum stateside in 2001. And when it was released in 1977, it broke the top 20 of the Billboard 200.

Ted Nugent

In fact all things considered, “Cat Scratch Fever” has been the most-successful album of Ted Nugent’s career. He may not be a name you commonly hear as far as music stars are concerned. But he did get started way back in 1964, originally as part of a group known as The Amboy Dukes, before going solo in the mid-1970s. 

And since going solo, between 1975 and 2018, he’s actually dropped 15 studio albums. So it’s like the Nuge has his fans, even though he may not be a household name.

In fact in more recent years, the “Motor City Madman” has perhaps become better known as a political activist than anything else. And as you can probably gather from the nature of the song above, he isn’t necessarily what we would refer to as a class act. 

So as far as being a political figure goes, he has made some statements which we can say are less than politically correct. And even in terms of his personal life, well, let’s just say that being infected by an incurable case of “cat scratch fever” has gotten him into his fair share of legal issues. So Nugent is more of a countercultural artist who is known for speaking his mind and unapologetically doing his thing.