“Dime Store Lover” is an Aerosmith outtake written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry during the early 1992 sessions at the A&M Records, in Los Angeles, for the first attempt of the Get a Grip album with producer Bruce Fairburn.
A March 1992 demo of the song starts as a ballad with a sweet innocent-sounding intro melody. Tyler vocals the intro questioning a girl’s actions and her tattoos.
The verses feel disjointed from the rest of the song, half-spoken lyrics on top of the band jumping to different chords and holding them don’t quite match the rest of the track (or the album).
Pulled into town just to check out the sites
Dime Store Lover – verse 1
Chantilly Lace was head to toe in these tights
I smell that Perfume now here she come again
I can’t believe this chick and a check out that grin
The way that you come yeah the way that you drool
Don’t give me no nevermind I ain’t yesterday’s fool
You buzzin’ round my hive some and reek of self conceit
Rubbin up and down my leg like a dog in heat
The verses pick up the pace to welcome the rocking chorus based on a Perry riff and 2 chords. The bridge is more traditional and evokes 1950’s style background vocals.
We was rollin round and round and round
Dime Store Lover – bridge
Chantilly took my breath away
Yeah when push came to shove
She gave me all the love
That she was savin’ for a rainy day
We was rollin round and round and round
Chantilly was my cream brule’
I was ooh and ahh, she was ooh lala
Un do me Baby…
The guitar solo has a long intro and great melodies from Joe, ending on a reprise of the intro, a small verse and a chorus repeated until it fades out.
Lyrics talk about a guy eventually falling for a girl wearing french lingerie he initially disregarded as “cheap”, but she is so sexy he “just has to have her”. Tyler uses a few words in french. Chantilly lace is a kind of bobbin lace popularized in 18th century France and the name of a 1958 rock and roll song by The Big Bopper.
During the 2006/2007 sessions for what was expected to be a full album of reworked outtakes, “Dime Store Lover” was confirmed to have been revisited. The album didn’t work and only two songs were included in what would become the “Devil’s Got a New Disguise” compilation album.
The official Aerosmith.com site used to host the full lyrics to several unreleased songs, allegedly having been taken from a notebook that Steven Tyler gave the Aerosmith.com team. The lyrics suggest the demo was copyrighted in 1992 by “Swag Song Music Inc”, but we at the BackBurner have not been able to confirm this with the US Copyright online database.
A fan covered the song based on samples leaked, lyrics and independent research.
The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos 