In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "You Shook Me All Night Long" was ranked #63.
"You Shook Me All Night Long" placed at #10 on VH1's list of "The 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s". It was also #1 on VH1's "Top Ten AC/DC Songs". Guitar World placed "You Shook Me All Night Long" at #80 on their "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" list.
The song has also become a staple of AC/DC concerts, and is rarely excluded from the setlist. Four live versions of the song were officially released. The first one appeared on the 1986 maxi-single "You Shook Me All Night Long"; the second one was included on the band's album Live; the third version is on the soundtrack to the Howard Stern movie Private Parts, and also appears on the AC/DC box set Backtracks; and the fourth one is on the band's live album, Live at River Plate.[citation needed]
"You Shook Me All Night Long" was also the second song to be played by AC/DC on Saturday Night Live in 2000, following their performance of "Stiff Upper Lip." When AC/DC was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, they performed this song with Tyler.
Johnson performed the song with Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in New York, US in March 2014. The Salon publication stated on the following morning in its introduction to the video footage of the performance: "This will either be your favorite video today, or a total musical nightmare!"
There have been several claims made over decades that (at least) some parts of the lyrics to the song were written by Bon Scott.
Silver Smith, late former girlfriend of Bon Scott, interviewed by Jesse Fink for his biography of Scott, Bon: The Last Highway, said: 'I know for sure that [the song] was written at [my flat in] Gloucester Road [in Kensington, London] back in ’76. "She told me to come but I was already there" – he wrote that in a letter to somebody, one of his grotty mates, just after we got together, actually. He always kept notebooks and added and subtracted to them and so on. He put in "American thighs" even way back then, because that was the market they were going to try and crack. So that was written a long time ago.' In the same book, Scott's girlfriend in Miami, Florida, a woman under the pseudonym 'Holly X', says the original lyric 'chartreuse eyes' was changed to 'sightless eyes' and that she had a horse called Doubletime. The lyrics 'working double time on the seduction line' appear in the finished song.
Doug Thaler, Bon's friend and AC/DC's booking agent on their American tours, also says: 'I don't care who tells me anything different: you can bet your life that Bon Scott wrote the lyrics to "You Shook Me All Night Long". It's Bon Scott's lyrics all over the place.'
From AC/DC: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be by Mick Wall: 'However Malcolm Dome claims that shortly before he died, Bon "shoved me his book of lyrics. He had sheets of lyrics that he kept in a file, carried them around. He'd been showing me some of the ideas he'd been working for Back in Black. Not the song 'Back in Black' but songs that were for the next album. There were a couple of lines, like, 'She told me to come but I was already there', which ended up in 'You Shook Me All Night Long' - that’s a Bon lyric. And I saw it. I saw it written down. There were lyrics, lines used, on Back in Black that Bon wrote. [But] he wasn’t credited and to this day no one's really sure what happened. I don’t think he even got close to finishing the whole songs. But there are lines in there that I know.'
Malcolm Dome again in Classic Rock, August 2005, pg. 46: 'Bon proudly showed me some of the scribbles he'd put down in preparation for an album he felt would define AC/DC - and open up new possibilities as well. It’s hard to be absolutely accurate from a distance of quarter of a century, and through the haze of alcohol which enveloped the night, but one line sticks in my mind as being on one of those sheets: "She told me to come, but I was already there." A renowned lyric from the song You Shook Me All Night Long, it has Bon's trademark all over it - a neatly worked double entendre that fits in with the track record of a man who wrote Big Balls, The Jack and other similarly styled songs.'
You Shook Me All Night Long
AC/DC Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She kept her motor clean
She was the best damn woman that I ever seen
She had the sightless eyes
Telling me no lies
Knocking me out with those American thighs
Taking more than her share
Had me fighting for air
'Cause the walls start shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me all night long
Working double time
On the seduction line
She was one of a kind, she's just mine all mine
Wanted no applause
Just another course
Made a meal outta me, and come back for more
Had to cool me down
To take another round
Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing
That the walls were shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me all night long
It knocked me out that you
Shook me all night long
You had me shaking it
You shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me
Well, you took me
You really took me and you
Shook me all night long
Oh, you
Shook me all night long
Yeah, yeah, you
Shook me all night long
You really got me and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me
Yeah, you shook me
All night long
The lyrics to AC/DC’s song “You Shook Me All Night Long” are sung by a man who is telling the story of a wild sexual encounter with a woman who left a lasting impression on him. He describes her as a “fast machine” who is the best woman he has ever seen. She had “sightless eyes” but knocking him out with those “American thighs”. This description suggests that the woman was a seductive force of nature who had an intense sexual presence that was intoxicating. He reveals that she didn’t take “no” for an answer and had him fighting for air, even though she was taking more than her fair share. He says that he was already there before she told him to come.
The chorus of the song is a play on the double entendre of “shook me all night long”. While it refers to the sexual encounter, it also suggests that she left a lasting impression on him. He then goes on to describe her as someone who worked double time on the seduction line and was one of a kind. She didn't want applause, she just wanted him. He describes her as someone who would “made a meal out of him, and come back for more.” The lyrics to the song reveal that this was an intense, passionate, and wild night that he will never forget.
Line by Line Meaning
She was a fast machine
She moved quickly and confidently
She kept her motor clean
She took care of herself and her appearance
She was the best damn woman that I ever seen
She was the most impressive woman he had ever encountered
She had the sightless eyes
She was confident and didn't need to look him in the eye to communicate
Telling me no lies
She was honest and straightforward
Knocking me out with those American thighs
Her curvaceous body and physical strength were impressive and attractive to him
Taking more than her share
She was demanding and took more than what was necessarily hers
Had me fighting for air
She took his breath away and left him feeling overwhelmed
She told me to come, but I was already there
She invited him over, but he was already so smitten that he didn't need an invitation
'Cause the walls start shaking
Their passion was so intense that it affected their surroundings
The earth was quaking
Their love was so powerful that it felt like an earthquake
My mind was aching
His thoughts were consumed by her and their relationship
And we were making it and you
Their physical intimacy was thrilling and unforgettable
Shook me all night long
She excited and captivated him through the entire night
Working double time
She was putting in double the effort to seduce him
On the seduction line
She was intentionally and skillfully seducing him
She was one of a kind, she's just mine all mine
She was unique and special, and he felt lucky to have her to himself
Wanted no applause
She didn't need or want recognition, she was satisfied with his adoration and attention
Just another course
He was just another conquest or achievement for her
Made a meal outta me, and come back for more
She consumed him, but still wanted more
Had to cool me down
He needed time to recover and regain his composure
To take another round
He was willing and eager to continue their physical intimacy
Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing
He's ready and willing to engage in another round of physical intimacy
It knocked me out that you
She surprised and overpowered him with her physical presence
You had me shaking it
She made him feel jittery and exhilarated
You shook me all night long
She captivated and excited him all night long
Well, you took me
She took control of him and their physical intimacy
You really took me and you
She completely consumed and overwhelmed him
You really got me and you
She had a powerful hold on him, both physically and emotionally
You shook me all night long
She had a profound and lasting effect on him
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Brian Johnson, Angus McKinnon Young, Malcolm Mitchell Young
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@yeahright255
People who disliked this should be tested for covid..... Cuz they lost their taste
@CemTubek95
lmao good one! hahah
@benzulli37
Dude.
@ryantorres7133
Bruuuuu
@mathewshewan3948
Where is the original video with Angus and a blonde on a mechanical bull!!?
@jaybackpackwayer9226
Lmao
@petarhabek1069
1980 PEOPLE : FUTURE IS GOING TO BE GREAT
2022 PEOPLE : OH SHIT, LET'S GO BACK TO 80'S
@sofia-uu2pn
Same, yeah.
@abowloffruitproductions5733
I wasn't even born in the 80's and I want to go back
@Aiden-vg4xs
Yes. I want to feel the feeling of this kind of music when it released.