# Bow chicka bow wow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663 "2006-05-13T18:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IGJoe1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9bcb4/32.png) [@IGJoe1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/1 "2006-05-13T18:37:57Z")
:eek: Yeah, this question is about porn music. See, as soon as you read ‘bow chicka bow wow’ you knew this thread was likely porn or sex related. I know many people across many social, economic and racial groups and they all understand the implication of ‘bow chicka bow wow’. The question: How did ‘bow chicka bow wow’ become the ubiquitous catch phrase to represent the ever awful quality of porn music? I (and others) understand BCBW = porn music = sexual innuendo, no need to explain that. Since icons generally have some grounding in reality I’ve always been curious where this dubious punctuation got started and whether it can be rented at my local shady video store. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/2 "2006-05-13T18:43:28Z")
I don’t think it’s meant to imply “awful quality” of music, the idea is that it represents the actual sound of a bass-heavy, and quite possibly wah-wah influenced sound, with a deep, swaying rhythm - which is supposedly often used in pornos. However, many of the pornos I’ve seen don’t really have all that much music, or it’s amateur-produced internet porn that has a variety of tracks layered over the video, that often don’t sound anything like that at all. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/3 "2006-05-13T19:54:24Z")
I think of two reasons: - porn got big in the '70’s when wah-wah-heavy funk was prevalent - see the Starsky & Hutch theme song, the song Shaft, etc. - it just was the music of the day when porn got hot. - there are a couple of comedians - can’t remember their names - who I have seen who use that Bow Chicka Wow Wow phrase as a part of their act - first them watching porn as a kid and then when they got lucky in their dating years. One guy hit it maybe 4-5 times during his act as the key catchphrase… that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/4 "2006-05-13T20:03:39Z")
I first heard that phase in [Denis Leary’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Leary) stand up act. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/5 "2006-05-13T20:15:34Z")
Good golly, I had no idea that this phrase had become a coded reference to porn movie music and/or sexual activity. Thanks for the heads-up! (Er… oh, never mind.) Um, is “boom chicka boom” now interpreted in the same way? Because I still use that one sometimes when singing along to songs I don’t know, and if it’s become a dirty joke then I guess I’d better stop lest I embarrass myself! ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/6 "2006-05-13T20:24:31Z")
The power of that music is well illustrated in [this clip](http://www.devilducky.com/media/44661/). (Totally Safe for Work, but some of the links on the site may take you to NSFW content. Don’t click through them and you’ll be OK) ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/7 "2006-05-14T03:59:35Z")
I heard it was “wakka chicka wow wow.” ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/8 "2006-05-14T04:33:40Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Um, is “boom chicka boom” now interpreted in the same way? Because I still use that one sometimes when singing along to songs I don’t know, and if it’s become a dirty joke then I guess I’d better stop lest I embarrass myself! No, that’s for the stripper. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/9 "2006-05-14T10:59:59Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > No, that’s for the stripper. Boom chicka boom was also the name of a Johnny Cash record, apparently named for his rhythmic style on guitar = pick one bass string + downstroke strum + upstroke strum. ---
**Author:** ![Daylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/10 "2006-05-14T11:40:25Z")
Bown chicka bown? 70’s porn music… I think the “wakka wakka” came from Shaft. Okay, so here’s the question, which movie or song has a track that sounds like “bown chicka bown bown”? Let’s figure this out! D. ---
**Author:** ![IGJoe1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9bcb4/32.png) [@IGJoe1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/11 "2006-05-14T12:48:42Z")
> [@Daylon](#): > > Okay, so here’s the question, which movie or song has a track that sounds like “bown chicka bown bown”? > > Let’s figure this out! Thank You, thats eventually where I was heading with this Regarding boom chicka boom: > [@Antigen](#): > > No, that’s for the stripper. Thats funny 'cuz its EXACTLY what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/12 "2006-05-14T14:48:05Z")
I read **Bow chicka bow wow** and my first thought was not porn, but _dog_ porn. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/13 "2006-05-14T16:10:17Z")
Then there’s the children’s book [Chicka Chicka Boom Boom](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068983568X/102-2607039-1193703?v=glance&n=283155) , which you really don’t want to confuse with porn music. (And yet, I always think “porn music!” when I see that book…) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/14 "2006-05-14T18:24:31Z")
Porn is a low-budget thing. They don’t want to pay residuals to real musicians, and a lot of musicians don’t want to be associated with porn work. So, the sound track ends up being done by a garage rocker with a guitar and a looping keyboard. In the credits, he’s called Loudon Bored or something. We can guess how he got paid. :rolleyes: I saw a couple of them with Joe Satriani tracks; I don’t know if they asked Joe or not. Sometimes they’ll use classical music. Mozart is long dead, and they don’t have to pay him. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/15 "2006-05-14T18:27:35Z")
> [@Daylon](#): > > Okay, so here’s the question, which movie or song has a track that sounds like “bown chicka bown bown”? > > D. I’m hearing “Brick House” - (“Shake it down, down” I _think_ are the lyrics at this point) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bow-chicka-bow-wow/356663/16 "2006-05-14T21:39:52Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > I heard it was “wakka chicka wow wow.” I’d heard “walk a chicken walk a chicken walk a chicken.”