Benton Harbor Superintendent Paula Dawning cited the song's allegedly raunchy lyrics in ordering the McCord Middle School band not to perform it in Saturday's Grand Floral Parade, held as part of the Blossomtime Festival.Now many other parents have complained about the ban and the superintendent may give in and let the show go on.
But what I found most interesting is at the end of this story:
The best-known, most notorious version was a hit in 1963 for the Kingsmen; the FBI spent two years investigating the lyrics before declaring they not only were not obscene but also were "unintelligible at any speed."
So I decided to check this out and indeed the FBI did investigate Louie Louie. Of course "The Smoking Gun" has excerpts from the FBI's investigative file.
And here is an FBI version of the lyrics (Click to enlarge or go to link but check these out...good for a laugh):
They had another version too.
Here are the real lyrics.
Doesn't sound obscene to me and you know what the Supreme Court said about how I'd know it if I saw it.
I guess this song is doomed to be controversial even though there seems to be nothing obscene there. That aside.....it's certainly interesting to note that so often these Bobo World stories are the instigation of one disgruntled moral wacko. Reminds me of another 60's thingee that still seems applicable today.....the Silent Majority. Today's version of it would be the rational and sane people who have been silent for the most part regarding these values vultures picking away at our cultural life and generally ruining a good time. That is until it happens in one's back yard.
So let the Silent Majority raise their voices.
Where's Nixon when you need him? oh yea,
A-Way we go, yea, yea, yea, yea, yea ......Louie, Louie, Oh Yea
Away
We
Go
No comments:
Post a Comment