ZeroIntelligence.net

‘Louie Louie,’ You Gotta Go

Updated 16 May 2005: Band plays Louie, Louie. See bottom of post for details.

The McCord Middle School band was forbidden from playing the venerable classic Louie Louie at the Grand Floral Parade on May 7th. The tune was banned due to “allegedly raunchy lyrics” despite the fact that it was going to be an instrumental, not vocal, performance.

In a letter sent home with McCord students, [Benton Harbor Area School District Superintendent Paula Dawning] said “Louie Louie” was not appropriate for Benton Harbor students to play while representing the district — even though the marching band wasn’t going to sing it.

Parents and band members complained to the school board that they didn’t have enough time to learn another song for their performance. Dawning agreed to let the band play the song if enough support could be raised for it. Unfortunately the many voices raised were not enough to outnumber the ONE parent who had complained about the song.

“It was not that I knew at the beginning and said nothing,” Dawning said. “I normally count on the staff to make reliable decisions. I found out because a parent called, concerned about the song being played.”

“Louie Louie,” written by Richard Berry in 1956, is one of the most recorded songs in history. 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.”

Dawning would have known this if she had bothered to take two minutes to look it up.

The lyrics to Louie Louie:

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.

(Tip credit to Bumper)

Benton Harbor lifts “Louie Louie’ ban for middle school band

In a letter sent home with McCord students, Dawning had said that “Louie Louie” was not appropriate for Benton Harbor students to play while representing the district — even though the marching band was not going to sing it.

But she reversed herself Thursday after consulting with parents.

“Based on them granting permission and the multiple versions of the song, the students will march in the parade and play “Louie Louie,” she said in a news release.

(Tip credit to Ulrike)