It just might be the world's most famous rock-and-roll song.

Evening Magazine

But how did a song recorded so sloppily wind up as a hit?

Why did J. Edgar Hoover's FBI investigate the lyrics?

How did Louie Louie very nearly become the state song of Washington?

And what are the lyrics anyway?

Tacoma's rockin' Robin Roberts discovered the record in a thrift shop. His version, recorded with the Wailers, scored a huge regional hit in 1961, but never hit the national charts.

In the segregationist 1960s, radio DJ's wouldn't touch it.

Just about every Northwest band played "Louie Louie," including the Kingsmen – Portland teenagers who bashed their way through a recorded version in 1963.

But it was this version that eventually topped the charts – much to the Wailers' dismay.

Responding to concerned parents, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover sent federal agents to interview the Kingsmen on the road. But after a 31-month investigation, the FBI failed to crack the case.

The lyrics, it turned out, were hardly obscene. They're about a Jamaican sailor.

Eventually, thousands of rock artists recorded "Louie Louie."

Click on the video to find out Louie Louie's rocky history and find out how it almost became Washington's state song.