FOREIGNER - HOT BLOODED

Released : June 1978 (US)  October 1978 (UK)

Charted:  UK: #42    US: #3 

"Hot Blooded" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, from their second studio album “Double Vision”. Written by Foreigner mainstays Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, this song is known for its distinctive guitar riff and sexually charged lyrics. The guitar riff was sampled for the 1988 Tone Loc hit "Funky Cold Medina".

"Hot Blooded" is about a sexually charged encounter between the singer and a woman he meets. The chorus talks about the singer's physical state, with his "hot blooded" nature creating a fever of 103 degrees, suggesting intense desire. In the verses, the singer expresses his desire for the woman and asks what she is doing after the show, indicating that he wants to take their relationship further. The bridges suggest secrecy and a willingness to take a risk to be with the woman, but also indicate a potential age difference between the two. The outro describes how the woman is making the singer feel and how he is willing to sing for her. Overall, the lyrics portray a strong physical attraction between the two parties and a desire to pursue a romantic/sexual encounter. 

Gramm said: We used to work at Mick’s apartment and he would just keep playing one guitar riff after another. Just playing whatever came into his mind. When he started playing that riff, I remember saying, “Wait! Stop! What’s that?” Mick said it was just another riff. So, I started singing along to it. We eventually got the idea of what the chorus would be and then started working on the verse lyrics. Once they were put together it naturally led to the “Hot Blooded” verbal line. I remember we were jumping off the walls when we cracked the title of the song.

Billboard described "Hot Blooded" as "a high energy rocker that boils with a feverent energy." It compared the "powerhouse" guitar playing and the vocals with Bad Company, but said the song retains Foreigner's own identifiable sound. Cash Box called it "driving, unadorned rock 'n' roll," saying that "the vocal arrangement is crisp and insistent" and the "guitars provide sinister, hard-edged power”.