Yes, I am a pervert, why do you ask? 
Seriously, though, I have no idea what this song is about. I’ve read the lyrics and they make me think that I’m missing vital historical context.
FTR, all I’ve heard is the Save Fenris cover of the song, which probably doesn’t do much to enhance one’s understanding of the lyrics…
*Interjections –Hey!
Show excitement –Wow!
Or emotion. –Ow!
They’re generally set apart from a sentence
By an exclamation point,
Or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong. *
What the song’s about? No clue.
I dated a girl named Eileen in High School.
and I did.
FUnny thing is, my last name is Wright. SO if we got married… heh…
nevermind. :smack:
Heh.
I think I saw this song done on VH-1’s Pop-Up Video. IIRC, Eileen was a girl the lead singer (of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, who did the song originally and never had another hit) knew when he was younger. He flirted with her, yearned for her… but she always played hard to get, and never really was his girl. The song’s an anthem of sorts for guys in his situation.
I do see room for a deeper, more complex interpretation though.
Wasn`t that a joke from Clerks? The guy who works in the video store is reeling off an increasingly outrageous porn titles while a mother and her astonished-looking child are standing by slack-jawed - one of the movies was Cum On Eileen.www.
Don`t ask me how that happened.
I hate that song.
I like that song…
The lack of a comma is for intentional ambiguity between ‘come on, Eileen’ and coming on Eileen.
Heck, I’m married to a woman named Eileen.
And I was 16 when the song came out (or thereabouts).
It is a song about lust, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s not pornographic. Just your standard young man expressing his interest in a girl type of thing.
So get your minds out of the gutter.
Man, I suggested that interpretation of this song in a thread a while back, and everybody thought I was a pervert. Not one single other person admitted ever once thinking the song was about that.
Glad to see the board is degenerating down to my level.
I thought maybe it was a statement of defiance by someone who leans a lot:
“Come on, I lean!”
Well, the singer does confess that his thoughts are “junk dirty.”
Don’t need no stinkin’ comma. We are far too young and clever.
When I was in high school it was the puchline to “What’s worse than vomit on Pat Benatar?”
And now that I’ve shared that, I will try to forget I’ve ever heard it and get on with my life.
Save Fenris, hah! You do know it’s Save Ferris, right?
This kind of song is called a “beg” in the industry. The fellow is begging the young lady for her affections.
And the set up line is not vomit on Pat Benetar, it’s sweat on Olivia Newton John.
Come on Eileen is one of the quintenssential 80s hits…and one of my all time favorites!
And I think AudreyK’s interpretation hits it right on the head, especially if you compare most of the song to what he sings about Johnnie Ray and his mother’s generation at the beginning…
Hey, you have your Treasured High School Memories and I’ll have mine…
(oh, wait, I was trying to forget that one, wasn’t I?)
Just wanted to venture that I think the line is:
“My thoughts verge on dirty.”