Bon Scott’s Tribute to Angus Young in AC/DC’s Iconic Song

Life will always serve as an inspiration to many artists, including the late Bon Scott. He needn’t look from afar; the lead singer of AC/DC found plenty of inspiration by prying into the private lives of his bandmates and analyzing the dynamic natures of each of them. Yet, Scott’s decision to pen a tune about one particular bandmate may have taken the top spot.

The song was written as a tribute to Angus Young, and its lyrics seemed to perfectly capture the guitarist’s spirit, suggesting that they were yet another example of the late frontman’s poetic brilliance. After hearing the music, Young expressed his admiration for Scott, whose character could be captured in only a few words by the latter.

In 2020, Angus Young reminisced on his time with the lead singer and highlighted his musical abilities in an interview with Guitar World. The musician then revealed the song that Bon Scott wrote specifically for him, which was inspired by the ageless and defiant picture of Angus as a troubled teenager.

“Malcolm [Young] said that it was Bon’s voice,” Angus explained, also name-dropping his late brother, Malcolm. “And his witty lyrics that gave the band its ‘flavor.’ Bon called himself a ‘toilet wall graffitist.’ He was full of compliments about himself! But he could conjure a story from anything.”

He continued. “‘She’s Got Balls’ was about his first wife. And he did say he wrote ‘Problem Child’ for me, but you know, I never owned a knife like it says in the song. My dad took my knife off me when I was four. Just having a guitar was bad enough, I suppose. But yeah, Bon summed me up in two words.”