Thornton recorded two takes of the song, and the second take was released. Habanera and Habanera-mambo variations can be found in this recording. Puerto Rican bass player Mario Delagarde is credited with adding "a jazz-based rhythm." Influenced by African-American musical cultures, its "sounds range from the gravelly beginning of several phrases, to her spoken and howled interpolations, and the ending with dog sounds from the band." According to Robert Fink, Thornton's delivery has flexible phrasing making use of micro-inflections and syncopations. Over a steady backbeat, she starts out singing each line as one long upbeat. When the words change from "You ain't nothin' but a HOUND Dog", she begins to shift the downbeat around: "You TOLD me you was "high"-class / but I can SEE through that, You ain't NOTHIN' but a "hound" dog." Each has a focal accent which is never repeated. According to Maureen Mahon: