# Chicago 25 or 624 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 25, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803 "2015-05-25T16:05:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![todd25624](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@todd25624](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd25624)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/1 "2015-05-25T16:05:19Z")
refers to LSD-25 and 624 Quaalude ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/2 "2015-05-25T16:25:13Z")
[Here’s the article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1842/what-does-the-chicago-lyric-25-or-6-to-4-mean) being referred to. And all indications are that it’s about writer’s block. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/3 "2015-05-25T16:29:22Z")
> [@todd25624](#): > > refers to LSD-25 and 624 Quaalude Nope. [As explained by the person who wrote it, Robert Lamm:](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1197) " “I was living with a bunch of hippies up above Sunset Strip. One of the advantages of this particular house was that it was in the Hollywood Hills and I could look out over the city late at night. I wanted to try to describe the process of writing the song that I was writing. So, ‘waiting for the break of day, searching for something to say, flashing lights against the sky’ - there was a neon sign across the city. That song came from the fact that it was 25 or 6 to 4 a.m. in the morning when I looked at my watch - I was looking for a line to finish the chorus.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/4 "2015-05-25T16:30:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > [Here’s the article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1842/what-does-the-chicago-lyric-25-or-6-to-4-mean) being referred to. And all indications are that it’s about writer’s block. Caused by LSD and 'ludes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/5 "2015-05-25T17:00:54Z")
Well, then, which was it? 25 or 6 to 4 a.m.? I’ve been wondering for decades… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/6 "2015-05-25T17:45:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > … > …the fact that it was 25 or 6 to 4 a.m. in the morning when I looked at my watch … I’m sorry, but those English words, in that order, make no sense to me at all. They are as clear with meaning as the original song lyrics, which is not at all. “Should I try to do some more?” Yeah, totally not about L.S.D. 25. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/7 "2015-05-25T17:50:43Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I’m sorry, but those English words, in that order, make no sense to me at all. They are as clear with meaning as the original song lyrics, which is not at all. “Twenty-five [minutes] or [twenty-]six to four [A.M.].” Why is it easier to believe it’s some sort of code than to believe what the songwriter says? Not every rock song ever is about drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/8 "2015-05-25T18:03:30Z")
“The battle is not always to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but that’s the way to bet it.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/9 "2015-05-25T18:11:57Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Well, then, which was it? 25 or 6 to 4 a.m.? I’ve been wondering for decades… Does anyone really know what time it is? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/10 "2015-05-25T18:26:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Twenty-five [minutes] or [twenty-]six to four [A.M.].” > > Why is it easier to believe it’s some sort of code than to believe what the songwriter says? Not every rock song ever is about drugs. Right. A guy looking at an analog clock mentions that it might be 26 minutes to 4. I realize that the song being about drugs is the much more complicated explanation, because no one wrote wink-wink-nudge-nudge lyrically ambiguous songs back then. And no songwriter ever basked in the obfuscating explanation of what a song meant. I don’t buy it. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/11 "2015-05-25T20:18:13Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Right. A guy looking at an analog clock mentions that it might be 26 minutes to 4. > I realize that the song being about drugs is the much more complicated explanation, because no one wrote wink-wink-nudge-nudge lyrically ambiguous songs back then. > And no songwriter ever basked in the obfuscating explanation of what a song meant. > I don’t buy it. That’s all. If you won’t believe the person who wrote the song, who _would_ you believe? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/12 "2015-05-25T20:37:12Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Does anyone really know what time it is? nice ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/13 "2015-05-25T21:16:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you won’t believe the person who wrote the song, who _would_ you believe? I don’t think it should be explained. That’s the kind of thing people used to ask Dylan, and he intentionally misdirected those whom he answered. I’d rather the songwriter said something hippy-dippy like: It means whatever you want it to mean. (Rather than try to explain it, that is.) Like when John Lennon claimed that Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was about a drawing his son made in school. Right. Better to not explain at all. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/14 "2015-05-25T21:38:57Z")
Anyway, isn’t 714 the quaalude number? 624 just doesn’t have that same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/15 "2015-05-25T21:42:26Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I don’t think it should be explained. That’s the kind of thing people used to ask Dylan, and he intentionally misdirected those whom he answered. I’d rather the songwriter said something hippy-dippy like: It means whatever you want it to mean. (Rather than try to explain it, that is.) Like when John Lennon claimed that Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was about a drawing his son made in school. Right. Better to not explain at all. Better not to open the thread at all then, I guess. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/16 "2015-05-25T23:09:50Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > Anyway, isn’t 714 the quaalude number? 624 just doesn’t have that same ring to it. Are you trying to say Joe Friday did 'ludes? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/17 "2015-05-26T06:56:25Z")
It was 0334 or 0335. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/18 "2015-05-26T12:30:08Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Does anyone really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/19 "2015-05-26T12:44:58Z")
He’s obviously lying. If he looked at his watch he would have first thought, going clockwise, that it was 26 to 4 and thus the lyric would be, “26 or 5 to 4.” ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803/20 "2015-05-27T19:51:27Z")
not really knowing Chicago, I _finally_ got a reference in Existential Blues… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-25-or-624/720803.md?page=2)