A middle school marching band in Michigan has been forbidden by the school superintendent to play “Louie Louie.”
Yes, it’s not that anyone would actually hear what the lyrics are — assuming that there are actual lyrics, or that anyone actually knows them beyond the chorus — since it’s a marching band we’re talking about. And it’s not like they were having any rogue Texas cheerleaders dancing to it. No, it was just considered inappropriate.
Which leaves the band songless for their Saturday performance. Great lesson there, Ms. Superindendent Ma’am.
There have long been rumors that the lyrics for “Louie Louie” are raunchy (or, at least, raunchy for the 50s-60s), but …
“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.”
Sort of like school superintendents.
(via BoingBoing)