Untangling The Kingsmen’s garbling of the lyrics of this song was the topic of a classic article by Cecil: What are the REAL lyrics to “Louie Louie”?.
I thought that Unca Cece’s loyal followers would be interested to know that they can hear for themselves the entire original song–a far superior version clearly sung by Richard Berry–by going to the Lost in Time page, and selecting song A60, near the bottom of the page.
You can also read the FBI report investigating the lyrics at
http://www.apbnews.com/media/gfiles/louie/index.html
Fascinating stuff folks…
Wonder what Haunted Castle sounds like???
Our little bar band used to sing different lyrics every night we did the tune, none of which sounded a bit like the ones Mr Berry sang. Go figger…
When the song was a Top Forty hit, I found it de rigueur to carry a copy of the lyrics in my wallet. Often, with great flourish, I would whip them out to tittilate the prudish among my classmates. Long after the record had fallen from the charts, I kept the scandalous lyric sheet. Years passed . . . my worn wallet (in that quainter time we called it a ‘billfold’) needed replacing. Carefully, I removed the bedraggled piece of folded notebook paper that by then resembled a scrap of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I threw it away.
My youth had fled.
What makes you think that whatever they sang were the lyrics? I’d argue that whatever the listeners heard (or didn’t hear) were the lyrics.
(Getting philosophical here. 
)