In February, 1964, an outraged parent wrote to Robert Kennedy, then the Attorney General of the United States, alleging that the lyrics of "Louie Louie" were obscene. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the complaint. In June 1965, the FBI laboratory obtained a copy of the Kingsmen recording and,
after two years of investigation, concluded that the recording could not be interpreted, that it was "
unintelligible at any speed,"[6] and therefore the Bureau could not find that the recording was obscene.[2] In September 1965, an FBI agent interviewed one member of the Kingsmen, who denied that there was any obscenity in the song.[2]
The lyrics controversy resurfaced briefly in 2005 when the superintendent of the school system in Benton Harbor, Michigan refused to let the marching band at one of the schools play the song in a parade. She later relented.[7][8]
also covered in
Snopes and the
Straight Dope.
(BTW, The Straight Dope is a great trivia resource; a friend of mine has edited it for over 20 years).
Louie Louie, me gotta go
Louie Louie, me gotta go
Fine little girl she waits for me
Me catch the ship for cross the sea
I sail the ship all alone
I never think I'll make it home
(chorus)
Three nights and days me sail the sea
Me think of girl constantly
On the ship I dream she there
I smell the rose in her hair
(chorus)
Me see Jamaica moon above
It won't be long, me see my love
Me take her in my arms and then
I tell her I never leave again
