About The Song
Your Tattoo by Sammy Kershaw arrived in 1995 as a single from his first greatest-hits collection, The Hits Chapter 1. The album gathered the early successes that had made him a reliable presence on country radio through the first half of the decade. Written by Kostas and Jack Tempchin and produced by Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson, the track was released at a moment when Kershaw was transitioning from a run of strong new-album singles into the hits-package phase of his career.
The song tells a straightforward, comic story that many listeners immediately understood. A man once had a tattoo inked as a permanent declaration of devotion—a picture of a girl in her birthday suit wearing a cowboy hat and boots. It was meant to show the world there would never be anyone else. Then the relationship fell apart. She became a bad heartache, and he eventually found someone new. The problem is the tattoo itself. It will not wash off or fade. He is stuck with the image until his dying day. His current girlfriend sees it, starts to cry, and refuses to believe his assurances. She even pounds on the tattoo until his arm turns black and blue. He considers having it erased or simply asking the artist to add a mustache to the face. The final twist lands with a wry smile: the tattoo will not leave him the way she did.
The single peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and reached No. 58 on the Canadian country chart. It became the first of Kershaw’s singles not to crack the Top 40, a noticeable shift after years of consistent radio success. A music video directed by Michael Merriman accompanied the release and helped keep the song visible even if it did not climb as high as earlier hits.
By 1995 Kershaw had already delivered a string of memorable records from albums such as Don’t Go Near the Water, Haunted Heart, and Feelin’ Good Train. The Hits Chapter 1 served as both a summary of that period and a bridge to the next phase of his work. “Your Tattoo” fit the lighter, story-driven side of mid-’90s country that often mixed humor with everyday frustration. The permanent reminder of a past love is a classic country predicament, and the song plays it for knowing laughs rather than heavy drama.
Listeners who knew Kershaw’s catalog recognized the same plainspoken delivery that had carried his bigger hits. The situation feels exaggerated just enough to be funny while still rooted in something recognizable—the lingering evidence of a choice made in a different chapter of life. The tattoo becomes both a physical inconvenience and a running joke that the narrator cannot quite escape.
Though it never reached the heights of “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” or the near-No. 1 singles from Feelin’ Good Train, “Your Tattoo” has remained a fan favorite among those who dig into the deeper cuts and lesser-charting tracks of the era. It stands as a small, sharp example of how country music in the mid-1990s could take an ordinary regret, give it a vivid visual punch line, and turn it into a song people still quote years later. The image of the cowboy-hatted figure under the skin, and the exasperated question of what to do with it, continues to land with the same wry recognition it carried when it first appeared.
Video
Lyric
I got you under my skin a long time ago
Just a little tattoo
To let the world know
That there′d never be no one for me, but you
But you turned out to be a bad heatache
Then I found someone to take you place
What am I gonna do with your tattoo
Well it won’t wash off or fade away
And I′m stuck with you till my dyin day
It’s just a picture of a girl in her birthday suit
In her cowboy hat and her cowboys boots
I could go to the man and have it earased
Or have him put a mustache on your face
Oh what am I gonna do with your tattoo
When my baby sees you she starts to cry
I tell her I love her
She sayd its a lie
‘Cause she thinks you′re the one
I′m dreamin of
Then she gets mad at me and pounds on you
Untill my arm turns black and blue
Hey what am I gonna do with your tattoo
Well it wont wash off or fade away
And I’m stuck with you till my dyin day
It′s just a picture of a girl in her birthday suit
In her cowboy hat and her cowboys boots
I could go to the man and have it earased
Or have him put a mustache on your face
Oh what am I gonna do with your tattoo
It wont leave me like you did
What am I gonna dow with your tattoo