I first heard this song when the New York Dolls did a very different hard rock/punk cover on their 1973 self-titled debut album.  It’s clear from the Bo Diddley version that the “pills” he’s referring to is a sexual metaphor for the “rock and roll nurse” that went to his head.  The Dolls’ version, on the other hand, may actually have no metaphor attached.  Given that band’s legendary chemical intake, they could have just been talking about “the pills.”  In any case, both versions are great and I’m giving a shout out to the original Bo Diddley version which probably doesn’t get as much play these days.

From their killer 1973 debut album, the New York Dolls re-imagine Bo Diddley’s classic about a rock and roll nurse who’s a little too generous with the medication. While I believe Bo’s original is using “medication” as a metaphor for the “garden of Earthly delights,” I’m not so sure the Dolls aren’t taking the lyrics … well … a little more literally.