Ballad of the Kingsmen
Todd Snider Lyrics

The Kingsmen came together in a garage,
The Kingsmen formed as a band in a garage despite lacking experience in playing music.

They could hardly even play
The Kingsmen were not skilled at playing their instruments when they started.

But they practiced night And day pretty soon they got to where they could really play that song Louie, Louie
The Kingsmen relentlessly practiced until they became proficient enough at playing the song 'Louie, Louie'.

So, they saved up all the money from the shows, Went in to one of them studios and gave their version of the song a try
The Kingsmen saved up their gig money and recorded their version of the song 'Louie, Louie'.

Now, I don't know the words to that song Louie, Louie and I'm pretty sure the singer for the Kingsmen didn't know 'em either, If he did know 'em he didn't get 'em right on the record Cause on the record they sound jumbled in his jaw? It says,
The song 'Louie, Louie' had lyrics that were hard to understand on the Kingsmen's record, and even the singer might not have known them.

Me think of me girl oh so constantly Ahmayaaah makaaaah aahh ooohoooh aaaaah
The lyrics of 'Louie, Louie' were hard to discern and the ones on the Kingsmen's record sounded nonsensical.

Well, that last part scared everybody from the PTA to the FBI You see, the kids had been going kind of crazy lately And it seemed like nobody could figure out why, So they decided to form a coalition, Launch an investigation, you know for the children, they at least had to try
The hard-to-understand lyrics of 'Louie, Louie' caused major controversy, and parents and authorities formed a coalition to investigate music's effect on the youth.

It's the feel good hit of this endless summer It gets these kids out of control Singin along to that star spangled bummer, Hail, hail rock and roll
The song 'Louie, Louie' became a big hit and was associated with the rebelliousness of the youth of the time.

Marilyn Manson's real name isn't even Marilyn Manson, He's a skinny public high school Kid from Florida, Not some monster from out of this world and like of a lot other skinny long hair public High school kids he was sick of getting Beaten up by the pulling guard all week only to go out on the weekend, And watch the Quarterback get all the girls so, He formed a band man Now' he gets all the girls,
Marilyn Manson was a skinny kid from Florida who started a band to improve his love life and become popular.

A few years later a couple of latchkey kids go tragically Mad and everybody's standing around the television store at the mall trying to figure out what went wrong, This guy says, You think the life of a kid going to high school could've gotten so bad this other guy says nah, It's just the words to one of them goddamn Marilyn Manson songs, You know the one
Marilyn Manson's music was blamed for a school shooting incident, but it may not have necessarily been the cause.

You know, every ten years or so our country and some other little country, We start firing all of our newest weapons At each other for some reason or another, right or wrong, Like it or not, it happens, and when it happens People get shot and when people get shot, They show it on tv a lot every night at six o clock
War and violence happen between nations regularly, and it is broadcasted on TV.

And you don't even have to be eighteen to see it you don't even have to be in first grade, First grade where they teach the kid pride They tell him he'll need to thrive, In a world where only the strong will survive, So he's taught the art of more To compare to and to keep score Monday thru Friday while He stares at the floor til' Sunday they make him go to School once more only this time they make him wear a suit and a tie And listen to some guy who claims to know Where people go When they die tell him that only the meek are gonna inherit the earth Well shit,
Violence is so prevalent that kids can see it at a very young age, and our society conditions kids to be competitive from a young age.

By this time the kid doesn't know what anything Is worth, now brothers and sisters I am only one guy And I don't even know the words to that song Louie, Louie but I can tell you right now without batting an eye That the next time some latchkey kid goes wrong It aint gonna be cause that Eminem gets to say the word Fag in his song
Kids are exposed to so much violence and competition that they lose sight of their values, and violent incidents cannot solely be attributed to music or other forms of entertainment.

And I'm not trying to preach to ya either, I'm just trying to sing to ya too, you know string a few words together Hey kids... Lets get it on, Lets get it on
The singer is not trying to preach, but rather encourages his audience to come together and create music to spread positivity.