The following words were not included in your search : 25, 6, to, 4

[bienville]

I can't possibly be the first person to ask this, but the hampsters insist that I start a brand new Thread as they won't gimme nuthin' when I try to search.

So, anyway, in the song 25 or 6 to 4 (lyrics) what does the title phrase mean???

25 what? 6 to 4 what?

[Charlie Tan]

Originally Posted by Robert Lamm

It is what it is, and people who [get] caught up in trying to overanalyze it or read deep meanings into it are just kinda funny.

From the liner notes to the reissue of the album. Cite.
The two most ongoing speculations is either what Lamm has claimed himself (he did write the song): It's about staying up till dawn with writer's block, trying to write a song. Or for those more bent to conspiracies and hidden meanings: It's about tripping on LSD.

[Peter Morris]

Depending who you believe, it either means 25 or 26 minutes to 4 AM or else is about drugs 25 = LSD and 624 = qualudes.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=1197
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=1753

[jebert]

The 25 or 26 minutes to 4am explanation has much greater credence AFAIC.

[Monstre]

Originally Posted by bienville

25 what? 6 to 4 what?

Maybe it's about women's clothing sizes...

[jayjay]

Is there ANY song from the 60s or early 70s (other than "The Ballad of the Green Berets") that hasn't been speculated to be about drugs?

[rfgdxm]

Originally Posted by jayjay

Is there ANY song from the 60s or early 70s (other than "The Ballad of the Green Berets") that hasn't been speculated to be about drugs?

I always thought "The Ballad of the Green Berets" was a song about a guy singing about a wickedly bad LSD trip he had.

[SkipMagic]

It's a reference to the time of the day. So sayeth Songbird saying the author, Lamm, sayeth. Straight Dope Staff Report.

[rfgdxm]

Originally Posted by Peter Morris

Depending who you believe, it either means 25 or 26 minutes to 4 AM or else is about drugs 25 = LSD and 624 = qualudes.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=1197
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=1753

As someone in his mid-40s with all kinds of knowledge about drug culture references, the latter doesn't make much sense. Calling Quaaludes "624s" WAS indeed quite common street slang. However, on the streets LSD commonly would have been called either "LSD" or "acid". LSD-25 comes from the notes of the inventor Albert Hofmann. He was working at the time on synthesizing derivatives of lysergic acid. (In German lysergic acid is "LS", because in German acid is "saure".) The 25th derivative he made was what we call now LSD. The average street user wasn't aware of this history, and thus the designation LSD-25. People who were going to trip just didn't say "I'm gonna drop some 25 tonight".

And, it seems quite odd to me that anyone with an inkling to take drugs would be deciding between LSD and Quaaludes. LSD is a psychedelic with a speedy quality. Quaaludes are downers that just get the user fucked up. This would be like a druggie thinking "Do I want to pop a bunch of Valium tonight, or should I bang methampetamine instead?" What would make sense is debating whether to do LSD or shrooms.

As such, I'd say taking the word of the guy who wrote the song seems reasonable.