‘Keep Your Hands to Yourself’ is the debut single by American Southern rock group the Georgia Satellites. The song was written by the band's lead singer, Dan Baird, and was released in November 1986. The single reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of February 21, 1987.
Lead singer Dan Baird wrote this about the problems their drummer was having with his girlfriend. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who refuses to become more intimate with her boyfriend until he marries her. Baird said the song "basically wrote itself" on a bus ride home from his construction job. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that the song "rocked as hard as an old Chuck Berry song, as well as being almost as clever." In the book 99 Red Balloons: And 100 All-Time One-Hit Wonders, Brent Mann wrote that "it's just a timeless, kick-out-the-jams rock 'n' roll number. Dan Baird digs into the song's vocals with a no-holds-barred zest straight out of a Texas honky-tonk."
The video for the single begins with the band riding on a flatbed cruising down a highway, along with flashbacks of Dan Baird and his fiancée preparing for their wedding. These scenes continue, until just before the last verse, where they arrive at the wedding, and are greeted by the guests. The band continue to play on the now-parked flatbed. During the instrumental outro, Baird is stripped of his guitar, and carried by two men over to the bride as the wedding cake comes out and is placed on the table. As Baird (now dressed in a tuxedo) kisses his new bride (after being forced by her shotgun-carrying father), it is finally revealed that the bride is quite heavily pregnant. In an overhead shot, the same flatbed, now with tin cans tied to it and "just married" painted on the bed of it, is seen cruising down the highway.
Label – Elektra
Songwriter – Dan Baird
Producer – Jeff Glixman
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I got a little change in my pocket going jing-a-ling-a-ling
Wanna call you on the telephone, baby, I give you a ring
But each time we talk, I get the same old thing
Always, "No huggee, no kissee until I get a wedding ring"
[Chorus]
My honey, my baby
Don't put my love upon no shelf
She said
"Don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself"
[Verse 2]
Ooh, baby, baby, baby
Why you gonna treat me this way?
You know I'm still your loverboy
I still feel the same way
That's when she told me a story 'bout free milk and a cow
And said
"No huggee, no kissee until I get a wedding vow"
[Chorus]
My honey, my baby
Don't put my love upon no shelf
She said
"Don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself"
[Guitar Solo]
(Oh go, man go!)
[Verse 3]
Over here
You see, I wanted her real bad and I was about to give in
That's when she started talking about true love
Started talking about sin
I said
"Honey, I'll live with you for the rest of my life"
She said
"No huggee, no kissee until you make me a wife"
[Chorus]
My honey, my baby
Don't put my love upon no shelf
She said
"Don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself"