Who did once bitten twice shy?

Once bitten, twice shy is an interesting idiom that first appeared in the 1800s. We will examine the definition of the phrase once bitten, twice shy, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

Once bitten, twice shy describes an incident that someone does not want to repeat. If someone has a bad experience in which he is injured, humiliated or frightened in some manner, he does not wish to repeat the experience. If a person or animal has inflicted the harm, then one does not wish to give that person or animal a chance to inflict harm, again. The word twice in this instance means on two occasions. Of course, the phrase once bitten, twice shy may refer to a literal bite, but it is most often used figuratively. The term once bitten twice shy is ascribed to Aesop, though the phrase is not linked with his work until much, much later. The phrase is the moral to the story of The Dog and the Wolf. In the tale, a dog talks a wolf out of eating him until he has fattened up. Of course, this gives the dog a chance to get away. When the wolf calls to him later, demanding that the dog allow himself to be eaten, the dog refuses. The moral is: once bitten, twice shy. When the story was first translated into English by William Caxton in the 1400s, the moral to this story was rendered as: “He that hath ben ones begyled by somme other ought to kepe hym wel fro(m) the same.” Many proverbs and idioms originated with Aesop, including honesty is the best policy, don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, and look before you leap. The oldest known use of the phrase once bitten, twice shy occurred in the 1850s in the novel Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour by Robert Smith Surtees.

Examples

For those who didn’t do the reading, the Tomb Raider Trap is when a poorly-received but well-hyped movie becomes a big hit but the superior sequel gets ignored by once-bitten-twice-shy audiences. ()

It was a case of once bitten, twice shy when they toppled reigning champions Thurles two weeks ago. (The Independent)

The proverb “once bitten, twice shy” may apply to cosmetics entrepreneur Datuk Aliff Syukri Kamarzaman as his last single Bobo Di Mana received heavy backlash. (The New Straits Times)

To be fair, there’s something about the cast’s eager-beaver portrayals that brings out the quintet’s toothsome appeal as they breathe vibrant life into their broken, “once bitten, twice shy” characters. (The Inquirer)

Australian singles charts:
Once Bitten, Twice Shy entered the Kent Music Report on 25 August 1975 and peaked at #29.

Album:
The song is on Ian Hunter which entered the Kent Music Report album charts on 14 July 1975 and peaked at #36.

Songwriter:
Ian Hunter

Producers:
Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson

Record label of Australian release:
CBS

Songfacts:
Once Bitten, Twice Shy was Hunter’s first single after leaving Mott The Hoople in 1974. That group is best known for All The Young Dudes, written and produced by David Bowie, who championed the group.
Hunter’s solo career got off to a good start. He toured both the US and UK in 1975, and Once Bitten Twice Shy rose to #14 in the UK. He wasn’t able to follow it up with an other hit, and although his sales numbers faltered, he retained a fervent fanbase and counted many fellow musicians as supporters; Mick Jones of The Clash and guitarist Mick Ronson were among his collaborators. In the ’80s, he did production work for Ellen Foley and Generation X, and wrote a hit for Barry Manilow called Ships.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/ian-hunter/once-bitten-twice-shy

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For this version of The Original vs. The Cover, we are covering (pun intended) Ian Hunter’s classic “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”.  The song was written by Ian and included on his self-titled solo album he released in 1975 after his departure from Mott the Hoople.  The song went to #14 on the UK singles chart and was produced by Ian and great Mick Ronson.

The song hasn’t been covered by a whole lot of acts, but one of the most famous was by Great White.  So, let’s sit back, have a listen and compare the two and determine who has the best version of “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”.

The song tells the story of a rock musician who meets a girl why he is out on tour and becomes intimate with her (meaning he has sex with her).  He thinks she is young and innocent until to his dismay he discovers she has been around quite a lot and been with a lot of other musicians.  It is a classic tale of old!!

The title of the song comes from the old expression meaning once you have been hurt once, you become less trusting and cautious going forward.  The phrase dates back to 1484 and is traced back to an English printer (William Caxton), the first to publish a translation in to English of Aesop’s tales.  There is your history lesson for the day.

Ian Hunter

Now, let’s focus on Ian Hunter’s original version.  The song has an old time rock & roll feel to it and even has what sounds like a carnival piano or at least has that feel to it towards the beginning.  It sounded like more a regular piano later in the song.  A nice slow groove to start before it kicks in harder later in the song.  The faster tempo gets you moving and it really pulls you into the song. The musicianship is really exceptional throughout and having Mick Ronson on guitar, well, what else is there to say.

Ian’s vocals are actually not that much different than Jack Russell’s from Great White with some minor exceptions of Ian sounding British a couple times.  They both have a grittiness to them. Ian really gets into in the later half of the song and the whole thing just picks up and becomes a fun and exciting rock song.

Great White

The Great White version was released in 1989 and it updates the sound to fit the current 80’s hair metal sound of the time.  The piano sounded more like a piano and the guitar work and solo definitely had a harder edge to it.  The chorus had more harmonies and sounded like more people singing than the original which was seemed to be just Ian.  Otherwise, the song was very similar and not much was altered, except for some lyrics and adding about 39 seconds to the length of the song.

The band changed the lyrics up as well such as in the original it says “greyhound bus”, but Great White changes it to “grey tour bus”.  There are several other tweaks as well including “All the blood on my hand and my Les Paul heat” was changed to “There’s blood on my amp and my Les Paul’s beat”.  They also made the girl’s sister seem like she was more of a tramp when the line was changed to “guys from group” not just one guy like the original.

The Verdict

This was a tough one for me as I do love both versions.  When I thought of this song and doing this post, I was leaning more towards Great White out of the gate for two reasons.  One, I liked the heavier 80’s sound.  Two, the Great White version was just more fun overall or at least so I thought. Okay, I have a third reason.  The Great White version was the first one I heard and lived with longer.  It was years later before a) I realized it was a cover and b) I had ever heard of Ian Hunter and got into this music.

But after spending a lot of time comparing to the two songs, I realized how awesome the original version really is.  Ian’s vocal inflections and just his whole approach to the song really had more heart to it than the Great White Version.  The Great White version is really great as well, but by a small margin for me I am going to give it Ian Hunter. He and Mick Ronson made a classic pure Rock & Roll Song.  It glorifies the Rock & Roll lifestyle and painted such a great picture of what a touring musician goes through trying to have a relationship while on the road.

Who were the girls in the video once bitten twice shy?

Great White..

Bobbie Brown..

Audie Desbrow..

What does IM Once Bitten Twice Shy mean?

idiom. used to mean that a person who has failed or been hurt when trying to do something is careful or fearful about doing it again.

Who wrote once bitten twice shy by Great White?

Ian HunterOnce Bitten, Twice Shy / Lyricistnull

What year did once bitten twice shy come out?

1989Once Bitten, Twice Shy / Releasednull