The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” | Controversial Tunes 😈🎶

On the 37^th edition of Controversial Tunes, we explore the controversy behind the song, “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen.  

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ring on the controversy, won’t you? Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  On the 37^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2021), we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “Louie Louie” by 🎙 The Kingsmen.

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Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Louie Louie, oh no, you take me where you gotta go.” Folks, censor-shit – I mean – censorship has been around forever.  That’s the reason why a 1960s rock record unintended to be controversial, and NOT controversial by today’s standards, ends up earning its spot among the most controversial tunes in history.  The thing with 🎵 “Louie Louie” by 🎙 The Kingsmen is that the controversy arrived not because of what singer 🎙 Jack Ely sang, but rather the fact that his lyrics were indecipherable. An article about “Louie Louie”, written by Anwen Crawford in 2015, and published in The New Yorker expounds on those indecipherable lyrics brilliantly:

“If Jack Ely had stood closer to the microphone on the morning of April 6, 1963, … then the history of popular music would have been different.”

Indeed, Anwen, indeed! When people can’t understand what’s being sung, they begin to mishear, misinterpret, and misread, and soon enough, you have a song that’s totally obscene. Think about how often we mishear lyrics and then are utterly disappointed when we read what they really say.

“Louie Louie” earned its controversial stripes thanks to being perceived as obscene – pornographic lyrics! That’s amazing considering that save for an accidental, confirmed “fuck” dropped while recording (by the drummer), there’s nothing outright explicit, profane, or sexual.  Sure, it’s suggestive, made even more so with the Jamaican, tropical vibes, but we do much worse in the 2020s, that’s for sure!  Also, worth noting, The Kingsmen didn’t write it or perform it originally! It was 🎼✍ Richard Berry who wrote it, while others performed it first.  Regardless, they own the definitive version, with all its controversy! The controversy for this beloved classic grew so loud that the FBI investigated it – FO REAL! Those misheard, misinterpreted lyrics had parents outraged that their daughters (in particular) were consuming smut!

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Final Thoughts 💭

Playing “Louie Louie” all those years in pep band, I was unaware of how much of a stir the song caused – it was well before my time, after all. Sigh, I guess I didn’t realize just how badass the song really was, getting the conservative folks in a stir 😈! And with that, this edition of  Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is signing off!

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🎙 The Kingsmen • 💿 The Best of the Kingsmen • 🏷 Kingsmen Int’l Licensing, Inc. • 🗓 2006
The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 37 [📷: Aidan Feddersen on Unsplash, Brent Faulkner, Kingsmen Int’l Licensing, Inc., The Musical Hype]

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