The “Dirtiest” Song Ever!

What the F did he say?

For those of you of my generation, I’ll bet you remember the garage band classic of the 60s, “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen.

The song is on my dance-alone-around-the-kitchen Alexa playlist, along with a host of others. Being that my musical tastes are all over the lot, I’m down with everything from Sinatra to Gaye (oh, yeah) to Zep.

For example, today I gyrated to the title song, as well as “After the Dance” and “Inner City Blues” by Marvin Gaye, “Stand,” by Sly and the Family Stone, “Fire” by the Black Pumas, “Liar Liar,” by the Castaways (another garage band classic), “Mushrooms and Roses,” by Janelle Monae, “Everywhere I Go,” by The Call, “Evil Ways,” by Buddy Miles (awesome live version with Santana) and “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” by Nina Simone.

I waited until my husband went out because really, dancing alone is the most fun when no one’s there so see you.

For me, when the first, iconic strains of “Louie Louie” issue from my Echo, my body instantly reacts. Still one of the best party jams, the song was recorded in 1963 by the Portland-based, garage band, the Kingsmen. Although this wasn’t the first recording of the tune — a group called the Pharoahs recorded it in 1957 — it’s undeniably the most memorable due to the incomprehensible vocals that, to the listener, were filthy AF!

The Kingsmen’s lead singer, Jack Ely, was wearing braces at the time of the recording. The story has it that the mic was hung from the studio’s ceiling and dangled several feet above his head. Already one can understand how that muffled his vocals. Add to that the fact this his bandmates were closely gathered around him in a circle, banging the hell out of their instruments, which further obscured Ely’s vocals…and a legend was born!

Given the times, because the words were taken way the hell out of context, parents were up in arms while their kids were enthralled with the song. The record was declared to be “disgusting,” “obscene” and worse, which naturally made it all the more enticing. There was even a short-lived FBI investigation after people wrote to Bobby Kennedy expressing their outrage.

What a world!

The “dirtiest” song ever starts out rather tame, with the lyrics:

Louie Louie, oh no Me gotta go Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said Louie Louie, oh baby Me gotta go

It’s the second verse and beyond where things get dicey and it’s believed that Ely warbled:

Every night at ten I lay her again Fuck you girl All night long

Yowzer, baby! That’s hot! Others thought that Ely sang:

Every night at ten I play with my thing I fuck you girl, all the way

On my bed, I’ll lay her there I feel my bone ah, in her hair

This makes “Louie Louie” the greatest Karaoke song ever as the singer can basically plug in any sexually charged and/or filthy lyric he or she wants. A couple of Jager shots and it’s anyone’s game.

In actuality, “Louie Louie” is a tender tale about a Jamaican sailor who travels for three days to see his girl. In the original version by the Pharoahs, the lyrics, which were written by frontman, Richard Berry, are crystal clear but Kingsmen fans preferred the dirt.

As do I. Certainly, this shocks you. I apologize.

Author of The Year the Music Died, Dwight Rounds wrote that the Kingsmen insisted that they sang nothing lewd, but…the jury's out on that one. Check out how Rounds describes the further “dirtification” of the song’s finish:

The real thing.

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

The dirt.

Hey lovemaker, now hold my thing. It won’t take long, so leave it alone. Hey, senorita, I’m hot as hell. I told her I’d never lay her again.

Before I forget, here’s a fun bit of trivia from the ever-reliable Wikipedia. In 1985, there was a failed attempt to make “Louie Louie” the state song of Washington. There’s also an annual “Louie Louie” street party in the Chicago suburb of Peoria! As I live in the Chicago area, I’ll have to check that out one day. I’m sure NewsBreak would love my “woman on the street” reportage.

Finally, whether you prefer to “hold his thing” or not, “Louie Louie” still rocks, whether it be in a garage, a basement party, or in your very own kitchen as you load the dishwasher.

Crank it up, let it move you, and above all, don’t hesitate to get dirty with it.

“Hey Kingsmen! Okay, let’s give it to ’em, right now!”

© Sherry McGuinn, 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s soon-to-be-ex-manager is currently NOT pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.

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