‘Dude (Looks Like a Lady)’ is a song by American rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the lead single from the band's ninth studio album Permanent Vacation in 1987. The track reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 41 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, number four on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 22 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and number 45 on the UK Singles Chart. It was re-released in early 1990 and peaked at number 20 in the UK. It was certified gold in the UK for sales and streams, exceeding over 400,000 units.
The song talks about a man who is mistaken for a woman. According to Desmond Child, Steven Tyler came up with the idea after mistaking Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil for a woman with long blonde hair. Tyler's bandmates made fun of him, joking about how the "dude looked like a lady". In his book The Heroin Diaries, Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx concurs that the song was inspired by Neil. "We were hailing a taxi in New York one night and these fucks, Mötley Crüe, pulled up in a limo. They called us in and every other word out of their mouths was 'dude'. You know, 'Yo dude! Your dude is really dude, dude.' I hadn't heard this crazy 'dude' shit before. We had just bought a sampler and we were listening to an Eddie Murphy album – the one where he keeps going on about Mr. T being gay… I kind of got a lick, but couldn't get the words. I had shit like, 'Cruisin' for the ladies,' or, 'My old lady's got rabies.' Bad stuff. Then I remembered my new word, 'dude'." – Steven Tyler
Of ‘Cruisin' for the ladies’, Child said, "I don't think Van Halen would put that on the B-side of their worst record." Joe Perry — who came up with the chorus riff – was concerned that the subject matter would offend the gay community, but Child said, "I'm gay, and I'm not insulted. Let's write this song."
This was used in the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire, in which Robin Williams plays a father who dresses up like an old English nanny, in order to see his three children. Desmond Child told us, "It's funny, because they used that song in Mrs. Doubtfire, and then it was like every four or five-year-old child in America was able to sing that song. It was like; do you realize this is about a tranny?" "Dude" picked up two MTV Video Music Award nominations in 1988 (the first for the band). It was nominated for Best Group Video and Best Stage Performance, but failed to gain the wins. The band made up for it eventually, winning over 10 "moon-men" and 4 Grammys in the 1990s.
This was Aerosmith's comeback single. Their last hit was a remake of ‘Come Together’ in 1978. After years of drug addiction and poorly selling records, they emerged clean with Permanent Vacation and went on to enormous success in their second act. Aerosmith's comeback started the year before, when Run D.M.C. did a hip-hop cover of ‘Walk This Way,’ which introduced the band to a new, younger audience and got them on MTV.
Label – Geffen
Songwriters – Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Desmond Child
Producer – Bruce Fairbairn
SONG LYRICS
[Chorus]That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
[Verse 1]
Cruise into a bar on the shore
Her picture graced the grime on the door
She's a long lost love at first bite
Baby, maybe you're wrong, but you know it's all right
That's right
Backstage we're having the time
Of our lives until somebody said
"Forgive me if I seem out of line"
And she whipped out a gun and tried to blow me away!
[Chorus]
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
[Verse 2]
Never judge a book by its cover
Or who you gonna love by your lover?
Sayin' love put me wise to her love in disguise
She had the body of a Venus
Lord, imagine my surprise
[Chorus]
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
[Bridge]
So baby, let me follow you down (Let me take a peek, dear)
Baby, let me follow you down (Do me, do me, do me all night)
Baby, let me follow you down (Turn the other cheek, dear)
Baby, let me follow you down (Do me, do me, do me, do me)
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge]
Ooh, what a funky lady
Oo, she like it, like it, like it, like that
Ooh, he was a lady! Yeah!
[Chorus]
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
That, that dude looks like a lady
[Outro]
Dude, dude, dude, dude looks like a lady
Dude, dude, dude, dude looks like a lady
Dude, dude, dude, dude looks like a lady
Dude, dude, dude, dude looks like a lady
That, that...