The song describes a man seeking help to find love. He enlists the help of a
Gypsy woman named "Madame Rue" who determines, by means of
palmistry, that he needs "love potion number nine". The potion, an
aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street corner, who reacts by breaking his bottle of love potion. In the LP release, at the ending of the song the Clovers used the alternative lyrics:{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19763/m1/ |title=Show 14 - Big Rock Candy Mountain: Rock 'n' roll in the late fifties. [Part 4] : UNT Digital Library |last=Gilliland This version was used in the film
American Graffiti and released on the LP version of
the soundtrack, but replaced by the single version on the CD release. The song was the basic premise of the
1992 film of the same name starring
Sandra Bullock and
Tate Donovan. == Charts, The Searchers ==