Posted on 05/17/2011 6:42:01 AM PDT by Hatteras
Based on outcry from parents who bought into what may have started as an idle rumor, the FBI launched a formal investigation in 1964 into the supposedly pornographic lyrics of the song "Louie, Louie." That investigation finally neared its conclusion on this day in 1965, when the FBI Laboratory declared the lyrics of "Louie Louie" to be officially unintelligible.
(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...
The US gov’t was overfunded in 1964. Who knew?
Wow, how far we have declined since those days! I don’t know the lyrics of Louie, Louie, but the kids and I went to a local park yesterday and a teenager had some earphones in and was “singing” a “song” outloud about smelling a girl’s nether regions—the feline term for her anatomy was used. Thankfully the boys were in another area of the park at the time (not that they would have understood the reference anyway) and only my 5 year old was with me and oblivious to it. What disgusting pigs parents are raising these days!
Ah, for the days when this kind of thing was a hot issue for the FBI. Now, they have to be on watch for crimes of a MUCH more violent nature.
if you want dirty lyrics for louie louie, check out the Iggy Pop version...
Music videos on Disney Channel are more sexual today than such songs back then...
I seem to recall the comic strip Bloom County doing a take on the lyrics back during the Bush/Dukakis campaign season...
When the Obama Plan to confederate our nation with Brazil and Venezuela is complete in 2016, “Louie Louie” will be our national anthem.
Now we've got 'nigga' songs calling for the murder of police officers.
"You've come a long way, baby." /s
The written lyrics to the song are not dirty in any way, shape, or form. It is a sailor’s lament to the ship’s lieutenant (”Louie” being slang for lieutenant) about the girl waiting for him at home and how he misses her. Pretty tame stuff.
However, it does seem to be a certainty that many who have performed it over the years have had their own unique... err... take on the lyrics, and that specific versions of the song might very well be unsuitable for more tender ears.
The lyrics: The original version by the writer Richard Berry was sung in a Jamaican dialect. When a garage band tried to do the same thing, no one could understand it. But once you see or hear the real lyrics, it’s clear what they were singing.
Louie, Louie, oh, oh, me gotta go
Louie, Louie, oh, oh, me gotta go
Fine little girl she waits for me
Me catch the ship for cross the sea
Me sail the ship all alone
Me never think me make it home
Louie, Louie...
Three nights and days me sail the sea
Me think of girl constantly
On the ship I dream she there
Me smell the rose in her hair
Louie, Louie...
Me see Jamaica moon above
It won’t be long, me see my love,
I take her in my arms and then
Me tell her I never leave again
Louie, Louie...
Hope that one didn’t get stuck in your head. :0)
Dwight Rounds, author of The Year The Music Died, 1964-1972, writes: "The words to Louie, Louie are almost impossible to understand, and are rumored to be obscene. No question that this added significantly to the sales of the single. There was probably a leak somewhere that the lyrics were obscene; otherwise no one would have realized it. This was the most ingenious marketing scheme ever. The FBI tried to track down Richard Berry, The Kingsmen, and various record company executives. They were never able to determine the actual lyrics used. To this day, the Kingsmen insist they said nothing lewd, despite the obvious mistake at the end of the instrumental, where Jack Ely started to sing the last verse one bar too soon, and can be heard yelling something in the background. Ely also said that he sung far away from the microphone, which caused the fuzzy sound, and that the notoriety was initiated by the record company. The words sound much more like the official version seen below, especially the word "rose" instead of "bone." The lyrics rumor was a sham. The official lyrics are in plain print, and one of the many alternative versions are in ().Chorus: "Louie, Louie, oh no. Me gotta go. Aye-yi-yi, I said. Louie Louie, oh baby. Me gotta go."
"Fine little girl waits for me. Catch a ship across the sea. Sail that ship about, all alone. Never know if I make it home.
"Three nights and days, I sail the sea." (Every night and day, I play with my thing.) "Think of girl, constantly." (I f--k you girl, oh, all the way.) "Oh that ship, I dream she's there. (On my bed, I'll lay her there.) "I smell the rose in her hair." (I feel my bone, ah, in her hair.)
"See Jamaica, the moon above." (Hey lovemaker, now hold my thing.) "It won't be long, me see my love." (It won't take long, so leave it alone.) "Take her in my arms again." (Hey, senorita, I'm hot as hell.) "Tell her I'll never leave again." (I told her I'd never lay her again.)
I thought “Louie” was a bartender in a distant port.... no?
This version of it is my favorite.
The incomparable Lemmy does it justice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS8Fn2gaGpM
A fine version, to be sure but I like this one,too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiDbB-Ur8c
What is on the B side of "Louie Louie"?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.