The FBI Investigated the Song ‘Louie Louie’ for Two Years

[Blue_Tires]

Last edited Thu Aug 6, 2015, 03:25 PM - Edit history (1)

he song “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen might not strike you as Federal Bureau of Investigation material. But the song was under investigation by the FBI for two whole years. The bureau’s interest had to do with the lyrics of the song, which most listeners find either confusing or simply impossible to understand. Those muddled words turned out to be big trouble for “Louie Louie,” as at least one person heard a few things in there that weren’t exactly suiting for a teenage audience.

Part of the FBI’s job is to fight obscenity, and in the FBI’s files on the case, they explain that someone from Sarasota High School complained that the lyrics to the song were obscene. “The lyrics are so filthy that I can-not enclose them in this letter,’” the complaint read. “We all know there is obscene materials available for those who seek it,” it went on, “but when they start sneaking in this material in the guise of the latest teen age rock & roll hit record these morons have gone too far.” On Page 14 of the FBI document, someone did include what they thought the words to the song were. (Warning, they are not safe for work.) https://vault.fbi.gov/louie-louie-the-song/louie-louie-the-song/view

Here are the actual, full lyrics:

Louie, Louie,
me gotta go.
Louie, Louie,
me gotta go.

A fine little girl, she wait for me;
me catch a ship across the sea.
I sailed the ship all alone;
I never think I’ll make it home

Three nights and days we sailed the sea;
me think of girl constantly.
On the ship, I dream she there;
I smell the rose, in her hair.

Me see Jamaica moon above;
It won’t be long me see me love.
Me take her in my arms and then
I tell her I never leave again.

You can understand why people might not have sorted those exact words out by listening to the song below.

And, in fact, rather than attempting to figure out where the different, dirty versions of the lyrics came from, the FBI spent two years analyzing the song. They even played it at different speeds to see if they were missing some hidden obscene message. And in all that time, the bureau never once contacted Jack Ely, the man who sang the words of the song in the first place. At the end of the two years, the FBI didn’t even exonerate “Louie Louie,” they simply said that “the lyrics of the song on this record was not definitely determined by this Laboratory examination, it was not possible to determine whether this recording is obscene.”



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[Turbineguy]

1. Or as teabaggers would say...

"your tax dollars at work"

But it's OK, since it was a waste of time and resources.

[panader0]

2. The lyrics I heard were much better.

You've ruined the song for me....

[Beausoleil]

3. Todd Snyder's take:

[HeiressofBickworth]

4. Movement to make Louie Louie the Washington State Song

Louie Louie started out as a fairly obscure song written by rhythm & blues artist Richard Berry. But around 1960, the song was discovered by several Washington state artists who began playing it in their local shows. In 1961, Rockin’ Robin Roberts and the Wailers from Tacoma released the first cover version (and the first rock-n-roll arrangement) of Louie Louie, which became a regional hit in the Seattle-Tacoma area. After that, Louie Louie became something of a regional anthem, and seemingly every Washington rock ‘n roll band included it as part of its repertoire.

And Washington bands have continued to play and record it in disproportionate numbers. A sampling of Washington bands that have recorded Louie Louie includes: the Wailers (1961), Little Bill (1961), the Viceroys (1963), the Ventures (1965), the Sonics (1966), the Feelies (1968), Jr. Cadillac (1972), Mr. Epp (1981), the Mellowdramatics (1981), Girl Trouble (1985), George Barner and the Original Trendsetters (1985), Charlie & the Tunas (1994), and the New Original Sonic Sound (2000). Louie Louie is also a staple of the UW and WSU marching bands.

In 1985 there was an effort to make Louie Louie the official state song of Washington. The Whatcom County Council passed Resolution No. 85-12 asking the state legislature to make Louie Louie the state song, and to name a newly created county “Louie Louie County.” The legislature, unfortunately, missed this historic opportunity and failed to adopt Louie Louie as the official state song.
http://louielouieweb.tripod.com/LLAMAS/washington_song.htm

It never happened, but people who have been here before 1990 closely identify Louie Louie with our state.

[cemaphonic]

8. I love The Sonics' version

That's some primal garage rock there.

I always thought it was funny that there was this big mystery about a cover of an already published song. Guess they didn't have the internet back then.

[LiberalElite]

5. those are the lyrics?

FINALLY I know after more than 50 years!

[mackerel]

6. Why don't they just go on a shopping spree, it would cost far less.

[DFW]

7. Who needed to be chasing KGB sleepers when there was lyrics-chasing to be done?

Besides, "Louie, Louie" would never shoot back.......

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Who signed the complaint letter? Frank Burns?