Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia.

My name is Jody Abergan.

This day, May 1964, the US government, after much speculation, finally backs away from a prosecution, declining to bring formal charges and the full weight of the law against the producers and

distributors of the pop song Louis Louis. Now you may know the story of this song

it was a smash hit for the Kingsman in 1963 full of jangly guitars and ramshackle drums and most importantly totally

indecipitable lyrics and that created a vacuum for basically everyone to hear what they wanted to hear in this song.

Kids thought that the lyrics were naughty.

Adults panicked over whether the lyrics were obscene.

Soon the FBI was on the case, the band was under surveillance, and it wasn't until more than a year later that everyone

came to their senses and said you know what it's probably just a song and the

lyrics they're probably just stupid lyrics you know it's not corrupting our kids. It's not secret communist propaganda. Nothing special happens when you play it backwards. All of these were theories that were floated and not just theories. intelligence that the FBI was investigating.

So let's talk about the Louis saga and the moral panic of 1963, 1964 here is always, Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt, and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

Hello there.

Hello Jody.

Hey there.

Uh, where do you want to start?

Do you want to talk about the actual lyrics to

Louis and point out that they're total BS?

Like I was scanning the lyrics like where is...

Yeah, it's one of those songs that we always listen to like, you know, they'd have like an oldies channel on on the bus whenever we're going to school and it's exactly songs like this and nobody knows what the words are so you just kind of make them up and it's it's

anodyne certainly by the 1980s. Yeah well it's anodyne but also

indescribable I mean I wouldn't listen to the song now and say oh I know what those lyrics are it is

...