According to David Lee Roth, the title for this song, from the Diver Down album, is a slang term. It refers to success. To succeed at something, you’ve got to give it everything you have, make the maximum effort, do everything possible, the full bug.
The guitar intro was performed by David Lee Roth, marking the last time he would record a guitar track on a Van Halen album. The harmonica solo was also performed by Roth.
Dave: “You know when you have a cockroach and they run round the house and get into a corner? We used to have these shoes called PRFCs – Puerto Rican Fence Climbers, okay? And this was aptly titled because if you were running from the police or what have you, and you were wearing your PRFCs, you could hit the fence at a dead run and your foot would stay in and you could commence climbing immediately, which was the essence of the whole sport anyway. And these were also great shoes for when the cockroach moves into the corner and you get at it with your foot or the broom anymore. You just jam your toe into the corner and hit as hard as you can. And if you did it right you got the full bug. So this slang means – bammm! – you have to give it everything you’ve got. Make the maximum effort, do everything possible, get the full bug.”
Eddie: “Dave plays the acoustic guitar and harmonica on the intro of ‘The Full Bug.’ My lines in the middle of that are different. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with Allan Holdsworth, and he inspires me.”
Lyrics
Mmmm,da yeah!
Mmmm,Im tell you now
You corner my dog, It don’t let you past,
Got a bad lil’ woman, gon’ bite yo’ ass
Yeah,
Won’t let you past
Ah Yeah!
Wah!
Ah precious sweetheart,
Woman all you want is good as it can get,oh yeah!
An inspiration,
Girl you’re sensational and this gets better yet, ah yeah!
(Ah) Well all your dreams of riches, are based on magazines,
(Ah) No this aint television,but its more than it seems
(Ah) ‘take those’,’need’ and ‘give all’,this much you understand
All I wanna give you woman (Oh)
Is the best part of a man,Yeah
Lemme show you,
Babe to make the best of what you haven’t had, ah yeah!
Just remember when you follow through, when the over isn’t planned ah yeah!
(Ah) Looks just like an angel, but he’s just talking trash
(Ah) He’ll make conversation, but she’s listening to your cash
(Ah) ‘take those’,’need’ and ‘give all’,this much you understand
All I wanna give you woman (Oh)
Is the best part of a man,Yeah
Oh,mmm,uh,mm,mm
Love that woman,heart and soul
In the grooves,on the go,
You know
Ah Yeah!
Yeah you corner my dog, It don’t let you past,
Got a bad lil’ woman, gon’ bite yo’ ass
For sure Ah
(Ah) Looks just like an angel, but he’s just talking trash
(Ah) He’ll make conversation, but she’s listening to your cash
(Ah) ‘take those’,’need’ and ‘give all’, this much you understand
All I wanna give you woman (Oh)
Is the best part of a man, Yeah
Best part of a man Wow!