Lyr Req: Louie, Louie

20 May 00 - 12:00 PM (#231019)
Subject: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Sheila

Hi! Periodically, this song comes to mind but I can never figure out the words. Also, I seem to recall there was some controversy over the lyrics. Any elucidations? Thanks.

---

20 May 00 - 02:10 PM (#231065)
Subject: Lyr Add: LOUIE, LOUIE
From: Joe Offer

Aha! That's a job for Lyrics World [drum roll, please] - Click here for your song.
-Joe Offer-

---

LOUIE, LOUIE
The Kingsmen
Music & Lyrics : Richard Berry

CHORUS:

Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-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

CHORUS

Three nights and days I sail the sea
Think of girl, constantly
On that ship, I dream she's there
I smell the rose in her hair.

CHORUS

Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!

GUITAR SOLO

See Jamaica, the moon above
It won't be long, me see me love
Take her in my arms again
Tell her I'll never leave again

CHORUS

Let's take it on outa here now
Let's go!!

Notes : Performed by "Chuck Berry" (1955).
There are more than 1000 interpretations
(one by Hell's Angels and another with dogs barking)

---

20 May 00 - 03:02 PM (#231077)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Sheila

Dear Joe - You are truly phenomenal! Thank you, and thanks for introducing a great site. You deserve a drum roll AND trumpets! Sheila

---

20 May 00 - 09:41 PM (#231215)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Will Horton

From:The Wacky Top 40_ by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo (Holbrook, Mass. : Bob Adams Publishers, 1993):

"Louie Louie" was a song with the foulest lyrics _never_ written. Although the words were absolutely without offense, they _were_ hard to understand, triggering a nationwide rumor that they were dirty. As a result, millions of listeners "heard" obscene lyrics that weren't ever sung on the record

.

Los Angeles session singer Richard Berry wrote the tune in 1955. It was about a bartender named Louie who listens to a customer talk of his desire to go back home to his girlfriend in Jamaica. Berry recorded the song in 1956 as the "B" side to an R&B version of "You Are My Sunshine." That single didn't sell very well.

In 1961, entertainer Rockin' Robin Roberts found the record in the bargain bin of a store in Seattle. After he heard "Louie Louie," he cut his own version of the song.

It became a popular number played by local rock bands throughout the northwest.

One of the groups that featured the song in its act was the Kingsmen, whose gigs consisted of high school dances and supermarket openings in their hometown of Portland, Oregon.

Guitarist Mike Mitchell and drummer Lynn Easton held day jobs at a food distributing firm whose owner let them use his Volkswagen van to cart around the band's equipment.

The Kingsmen played all the hit rock tunes of the day and ended their shows with "Louie Louie"--but as an instrumental. "It was a big five-minute closing number," Mitchell told the music magazine _Goldmine_.

The song always drew raves from the audience. Once, at the urging of their fans during a 1963 appearance, the Kingsmen played "Louie Louie" for an entire 45-minute set! Although the band grew tired of playing the song for that long, the crowd loved it.

The next day, the Kingsmen went into a studio with local disc jockey Ken Chase and cut their own version of "Louie Louie" with the original lyrics.

The group's vocalist, Jack Ely, had learned the words by listening to the song a few times on a jukebox.

"It was not set up as a music studio," recalled Easton. "It was just for voice-overs, mostly. They were not used to working with a rock group."

Mitchell said the studio didn't have the right equipment. "Everybody sat up and played at the same time with one microphone for each instrument and five on the drums. They hung a big mike from the ceiling and Jack had to stand on his toes to sing. Then they moved Jack back about four feet from the mike, and that's why you can't understand the words.

"

The Kingsmen cut the song in April, 1963, and got some local airplay. Eventually, the group made a deal with New York-based Wand Records, a label that featured black performers. "They had no idea we were white," said Mitchell. "By the time they found out we weren't black, the song was climbing up the _Billboard_ chart. There's no picture of us on the first album because we were white."

NOTEWORTHY NOTES o The day after the Kingsmen recorded "Louie Louie," Paul Revere and the Raiders--another Portland group--went into the same studio and cut their own version which became a regional hit

In 1985, the Washington state legislature voted down a resolution to make "Louie Louie" the state song.

PLATTER PATTER The sensational rumor that the lyrics to "Louie Louie" were dirty started in the south.

"Some students at Tulane University called (drummer) Lynn's house one afternoon and said, 'We've heard the record and these are the words we hear. Is it true?' And then they sang some dirty lyrics," recalled Mitchell.

"That was the first time we learned that some people thought the lyrics were obscene because, in the northwest, it was a well-known song that had been played by many groups. The rumor spread to Florida, Indiana, and Michigan. It started with daughters telling their mothers, who went to their priests, who went to the governor who banned the record.

"

Allegedly, the dirty lyrics could only be heard at some other speed-- 33 or 78 or 16.

"That was really something," said Easton. "If we'd been able to do it, it would've been the greatest recording technique in the world--to have a record say something at one speed and something else at another."

"At one time we saw 35 different copies of the lyrics and they were all completely different, depending on what part of the country you were from."

The rumor caused outrage in Indiana, where the governor banned the song from the state's airwaves.

Eventually, the FCC and FBI launched an investigation and interviewed both Richard Berry and Jack Ely. The authorities concluded that the song was unintelligible at any speed.

FOLLOW UPS AND DOWNS Among the Kingsmen's follow ups were "Money," #16, and "Little Latin Lupe Lu," #46, in 1964. Their second biggest hit was "The Jolly Green Giant," which peaked at #4 in 1965.

ROCK ON The Kingsmen broke up in 1968 after being on the road about 300 days a year. Some of the members got back together for some gigs in 1983.

---

21 May 00 - 10:10 AM (#231381)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Sheila

Dear Joe AND Will: My compliments and thanks to you both for giving me some fascinating background to a song with such an infectious melody. Who knew? Thanks again. Sheila

---

21 May 00 - 10:11 AM (#231384)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Big RiB

WARNING!!! This post may be offensive to some.

"Louie, Louie" with its vaguely pronounced lyrics is one of what I call a "musical Rorschach Test." The listener projects upon the vague lyrics whatever they wish. Testosterone driven male adolescents project sex onto anything. At the risk of offending some, I will add my vague (male adolescence occurred a long time ago for me) recollection of what the purported "filthy" lyrics were by posting them along side the written lyrics from above. I find the lyrics offensive (even as an adolescent, I did), but they are a part of what is called the folk process. I suspect more males know the "filthy" lyrics than they do the straight ones. If no line in parentheses follows a given line, it means the "filthy" lyrics are the same as that line.

CHORUS:

Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go.
(We gotta go.)
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go.
(We gotta go.)

Fine little girl waits for me
Catch a ship across the sea
(She's just a girl, across the way)
Sail that ship about, all alone
(Each night I take here out, park all alone)
Never know if I make it home
(She's never a girl I would lay at home.)
CHORUS

Three nights and days I sail the sea
(Each night and day she waits for me)
Think of girl, constantly
(Oh, fuck you girl, oh, by the way)
On that ship, I dream she's there
(On the sofa, I see she's there)
I smell the rose in her hair.
(I smell the __???___ in her hair)
CHORUS

See Jamaica, the moon above
(She's got a rag on, I move above)
It won't be long, me see me love
(It won't be long now, she'll take it off)
Take her in my arms again
Tell her I'll never leave again
(Tell her I'll never lay her again).

CHORUS

Let's take it on outa here now
(Let's get the fuck outa here now)
Let's go!!

Roger in Baltimore

---

21 May 00 - 10:34 AM (#231394)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: bbelle

Well, Roger, being a teenager of that era, I'm finally glad to have the dirty lyrics! All the boys, supposedly, had them hidden away in the wallets, with other forbidden accoutrement, and never would let us girls see them ... saying we were too delicate for such "talk." What a crock! Thanks ... Jenny

---

21 May 00 - 10:51 AM (#231404)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Sheila

Dear Jenny- See? Richard took your thread to heart! He posted the WARNING before continuing. Thanks, RiB. Sheila

---

23 May 00 - 12:25 PM (#232490)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Barry Finn

I did a search of the newsgroups some time back looking into sea songs from the West Indies & surrounding island groups & this song came up as traditional long before it made it as pop. I don't have the where all to search anymore or remember the details about it. While on this subject the song made popular by the Beach Boys, Sloop John B., I have on a 1930's recording from the Bahamas, the crew known as great drunks. Barry

---

23 May 00 - 03:35 PM (#232619)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Gary T

Thanks for the lyrics, Joe, but I've got to question one thing. At the bottom you have a note: "Performed by 'Chuck Berry' (1955)". I'm not aware that Chuck Berry ever recorded it, and doubt that he performed it that year. Was that a misprint (perhaps mixing up Richard Berry and Chuck Berry) or is that indeed correct?

I did read that Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon" was Richard Berry's inspiration in writing "Louie, Louie". Apparently Richard B. really liked the Carribean (sp?) feel of "Havana Moon" and wanted to write a song with similar character. "Louie, Louie" was the result.

---

23 May 00 - 05:13 PM (#232698)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Liam's Brother

So, there is folklore even in rock and roll! We have a monthly sea music sing in New York at the Seamen's Church Institute. Someone did sing "The Sea of Love" one night. Will the follow-up be "Louie, Louie?"

All the best,
Dan

---

23 May 00 - 07:47 PM (#232769)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Sheila

Dan- what is the Seamen's Church Institute about? Are there services, concerts? Where are they held? Sheila

---

23 May 00 - 08:47 PM (#232795)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Liam's Brother

Hi Sheila!

I guess we're a little off the topic but, after all, this is your thread. The Seamen's Church Institute is the arm of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church that ministers to sailors. They have a building close to South Street Seaport (on Water Street) in Manhattan and one of the priests hosts an open "Chantey Sing" once a month. Everyone is welcome to come and lead a song. There is no religious slant to the event.

The other regular New York area sea music function is the concert series on board Peking at South Street Seaport Museum. Those concerts are every Tuesday between 6 and 8 PM from June through September. We are a 12-member group, The New York Packet, and we have a "spotlight guest" every week. Guests this summer include Heather Wood, David Jones, Peta Webb & Ken Hall and members of our own group such as The Johnson Girls and Bob Conroy & myself.

I hope you can make it to one of these events.

All the best,
Dan Milner

---

24 May 00 - 05:16 PM (#233319)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,Sheila

Hi, you all. Thank you for all this wonderful input. Who is the difference between Richard Berry and Chuck Berry? Sorry for the grammar. I can't say "What." S.

---

24 May 00 - 05:55 PM (#233344)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Hollowfox

And then, there's the book...there's always a book. "Louie, Louie: the history and mythology of the world's most famous rock'n'roll song" by Dave Marsh, Hyperion Press, 1993. This book has everything except the actual lyrics to the song. Really.

---

24 May 00 - 06:52 PM (#233373)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Gary T

Sheila, Chuck Berry was a seminal Rock'n'Roller who wrote his own songs and had a distinctive style of guitar riff (copied by the Beach Boys for the intro to "Fun, Fun, Fun"). Some of his better-known songs are "Roll Over Beethoven", "Rock and Roll Music" (both covered by the Beatles), "Sweet Little Sixteen" (which tune the Beach Boys used for "Surfing USA"), "Maybellene" (sp?), "Johnny B. Goode", and later (embarassingly) "My Dingaling".

Richard Berry, as far as I know, is known only for writing "Louie, Louie". I'm pretty sure the two men are not related.

---

24 May 00 - 08:58 PM (#233437)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Dani

Does anybody else remember the Louie Louie parade in Philadelphia? It was terrific fun, put on by local rock radio station WMMR. Crazy, kazoos, marching, singing, and paying tribute to the King of Fa was the Fa King String Band. Altogether a great celebration of a fun song.

Dani

---

10 Feb 12 - 11:40 AM (#3305406)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: mayomick

I wonder if Louie Louie was the only song to have gotten its very own FBI file .The file was 119 pages long according to the BBC this morning:
"The early rock and roll song Louie Louie by the Kingsmen, for instance, was the subject of a 119-page file. The lyrics, written in a quasi-Caribbean metre, are famously difficult to discern.
Some, including an official at a Florida high school and Indiana Governor Matthew Welsh, suspected the words were secretly obscene, and the FBI launched an investigation.
"The laboratory is requested to determine if enclosed record Louie Louie can be considered obscene for purposes of prosecution," an agent wrote in the file "
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16974695

---

10 Feb 12 - 12:17 PM (#3305428)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: GUEST,999

http://louielouieweb.tripod.com/lyrics.htm

Excellent article about the song at that site.

---

10 Feb 12 - 02:53 PM (#3305535)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: meself

"an official at a Florida high school" - Oh my, that sounds serious!

---

17 Feb 16 - 01:06 PM (#3773367)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: keberoxu

What drove me nuts about hearing the Kingmen sing this chorus: i always wondered why it had to be "Lou-ie, Lou-AYE"....

---

17 Feb 16 - 03:50 PM (#3773399)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: voyager

Louie Louie....it's all here -

The Louie Report - DUH-DUH-DUH -- DA-DA -- DUH-DUH-DUH -- DA-DA

voyager

---

17 Feb 16 - 05:56 PM (#3773424)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Joe_F

I always thought the second line was "I lost my Suey".

---

18 Feb 16 - 11:46 AM (#3773580)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Louie, Louie
From: Cappuccino

Our little dog is called Louie. Can you imagine the number of times I sing the song to myself when we're on our walks? Clean version, that is.

On the Kingsmen cut, did they not make some almighty mistake just as the guitar solo comes in? I'm sure I remember a story that the guitarist came in too early, or something like that.

---