# "Come on Eileen" Um, should there be a comma? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077 "2002-07-21T08:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/21 "2002-07-22T18:51:46Z")
It always sounded lile “blow job dirty” to me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/22 "2002-07-22T20:28:06Z")
Well what has bothered me for years now is one time, seeing the video, I noticed that the group presented its name thusly: “Dexie’s Midnight Runner’s.” With the apostropher in “runners.” This disturbed me so much I was unable to even entertain possible deeper meanings for the song. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/23 "2002-07-22T22:46:15Z")
[One](http://www.spiritonline.com/dexys/lyrics.html) of the sites I found listed two versions of the lyrics; one included what I posted, the other, what you posted, **cher3**. The “were on the dirty” one is the version record label EMI pushes; the “verge on dirty” one is supposedly more accurate, and includes parts the EMI version leaves out. Me, I just posted the first version I found. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![big\_yellow\_kingswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@big\_yellow\_kingswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_yellow_kingswood)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/24 "2002-07-23T05:08:12Z")
In Australia we have a drinking game for this song. When you’re in a bar and it starts playing, you have to drink a mouthful of beer whenever you hear “Eileen”. It occurrs about 27 times during the song, and during the “Eileen, too rye you rye ay, Eileen, too rye… etc” bit you get absolutely plastered. It’s great fun, but works best with pints as you run the risk of running out of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/25 "2002-07-23T20:49:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Save Fenris, hah! You do know it’s Save Ferris, right? Yep, I noticed that, but the board gerbils decided to call it a night right after I started the thread, so I never got to correct it. And, hey, Fenris is downright _begging_ for porn in another thread so I figured, hey, this could only help. 😃 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*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. \*\* Hey, this was a _grammar question!_ Honest! Dirty mind, me? Never. ::looks around to see if anybody bought that:: ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/26 "2002-07-23T21:33:27Z")
Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Overalls, red bandanas, and an over-abundance of pit hair. :eek: I like the song, though. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/27 "2016-06-01T08:02:29Z")
I would love to know if Olivia Newton-John has ever commented about this song. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/28 "2016-06-01T09:15:03Z")
I guess this thread is the proof that Homer Simpson was right. We hadn’t heard the last of Dexys Midnight Runners. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/29 "2016-06-01T10:00:28Z")
As an aside, I wonder if Dexy’s Midnight Runners is a reference to dexedrine, the stimulant (more commonly known as speed) used to treat ADD. When I first took dexedrine I found myself wide awake at 4am and remembered that this drug is used to treat narcolepsy. Treats narcolepsy? I thought in my wide-awake state. No shit! This stuff could treat DEATH. And I found myself wondering if that’s why the group was called Dexy’s Midnight Runners. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2016, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/30 "2016-06-01T10:33:43Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I would love to know if Olivia Newton-John has ever commented about this song. Why would she? Is there a connection? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/31 "2016-06-01T10:41:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Why would she? Is there a connection? 😕 In Xanadu, all things are connected. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/32 "2016-06-01T10:57:43Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > As an aside, I wonder if Dexy’s Midnight Runners is a reference to dexedrine [Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexys_Midnight_Runners). > [@](#): > > they then named the band after Dexedrine, a brand of dextroamphetamine popularly used as a recreational drug among Northern Soul fans at the time.[2] The “midnight runners” referred to the energy the Dexedrine gave, enabling one to dance all night. And there’s no apostrophe in Dexys. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/33 "2016-06-01T11:17:41Z")
> [@tetsusaru](#): > > Don`t ask me how that happened. How’d that happen? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/34 "2016-06-01T12:38:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > How’d that happen? For _14 years_ everyone has been honoring his request, and then you come along… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/35 "2016-06-01T12:50:25Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > For _14 years_ everyone has been honoring his request, and then you come along… 😃 Hey, if we can eventually release JFK documents, surely we can do the same for Come On Eileen.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077/36 "2016-06-01T13:50:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Hey, if we can eventually release JFK documents, surely we can do the same for Come On Eileen.😃 No, I do _not_ want to hear about the shooter from behind the grassy knoll… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-eileen-um-should-there-be-a-comma/120077.md?page=1)