25 or 6 to 4

"25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the band Chicago. It was recorded in 1969 for their second album, Chicago, with Peter Cetera on lead vocals.[1]

"25 or 6 to 4"
Single by Chicago
from the album Chicago
B-side"Where Do We Go from Here"
ReleasedJune 1970
RecordedAugust 1969
Genre
Length
  • 4:50 (album version)
  • 2:52 (single version)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Robert Lamm
Producer(s)James William Guercio
Chicago singles chronology
"Make Me Smile/Colour My World"
(1970)		 "25 or 6 to 4"
(1970)		 "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?"
(1970)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

Composition

In a 2013 interview, Robert Lamm said he composed "25 or 6 to 4" on a twelve-string guitar with only ten strings — it was missing the two low E strings — and that he wrote the lyrics in one day. The band first rehearsed the song at the Whisky a Go Go.[2]

Lamm said the song is about trying to write a song in the middle of the night. The song's title is the time at which the song is set: 25 or 26 minutes before 4 am.[3][4] Because of the unique phrasing of the song's title, "25 or 6 to 4" has been interpreted to mean everything from a quantity of illicit drugs to the name of a famous person in code.[5]

The song's opening guitar riff has been compared to chord progressions and riffs in other songs. In the opinion of writer Melissa Locker:

...the opening guitar riff from Green Day’s 'Brain Stew' bears a striking similarity to the opening stanza of Chicago’s '25 or 6 to 4.'[6]

LA Weekly's music editor, Andy Hermann, names it "The Riff" and describes it as follows:

It's a descending five-chord pattern, typically played as power chords over four bars, with the last two chords sharing the last bar. The most common variant of it goes from A minor to G to F sharp to F to E, although it can also be played as Am-G-D-F-E or even Am-G-D9-F♯-F-E...[7]

Hermann details the riff's similarity to the chord progression in Led Zeppelin's version of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" by Anne Bredon, which came out a year before "25 or 6 to 4", and the similarity of that chord progression to one in George Harrison's song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which came out even earlier. He labels "Brain Stew", released in 1996, as "derivative" by comparison to "25 or 6 to 4".[7]

Original version

The original recording features an electric guitar solo using a wah-wah pedal by Chicago guitarist Terry Kath, and a lead vocal line in the Aeolian mode.[8]

The album was released in January 1970 and the song was edited and released as a single in June, climbing to number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart[9][10] and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.[11] It was the band's first song to reach the top five in the US.[9] It has been included in numerous Chicago compilation albums. In 2015, Dave Swanson, writing for Ultimate Classic Rock, listed the song as number one on his top ten list of Chicago songs.[12] Classic Rock Review says the song is "one of the most indelible Chicago tunes".[13] In 2019, Bobby Olivier and Andrew Unterberger, music critics for Billboard magazine, ranked the song number one on their list of "The 50 Best Chicago Songs".[14]

Bans

The song was banned in Singapore in 1970 due to "alleged allusions to drugs";[15] the ban extended to entire albums including the song, such as Chicago 18. In 1993, the ban on this song was lifted, along with long-time bans on songs by other artists such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Creedence Clearwater Revival.[16]

Later versions

An updated version of "25 or 6 to 4" was recorded for the 1986 album Chicago 18 with James Pankow listed as co-writer,[17] and new band member Jason Scheff on lead vocals. The single reached number 48 on the US chart.[18] This version was also used as the B-side for the band's next single in 1986, "Will You Still Love Me?"[19]

Through the 2010s, "25 or 6 to 4" continued to be a staple in Chicago's live concert set list[20][21][22] and in Peter Cetera's solo concert set list.[23][24][25] In 2016, the group's former drummer Danny Seraphine reunited on stage with Chicago to perform "25 or 6 to 4" and two other songs at their induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[26]

Music video

The music video for the 1986 remake won an American Video Award, in the Best Cinematography category, for Bobby Byrnes.[27]

Personnel

Chart performance

Covers and parodies

The song has been covered by various artists, including Straitjacket, Local H, Intruder,[37] Bruce Foxton,[38] The Moog Cookbook,[39] Earth, Wind & Fire, Paul Gilbert, Pacifika,[40] Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil,[41] Umphrey's McGee,[42] Nick Ingman,[43] and as an instrumental on the Dave Koz collaboration album Summer Horns.[44] Constantine Maroulis released his version of the song as a single in 2011.[45]

In 2005, Jonathan Coulton made "When I'm 25 or 64", a mashup of "25 or 6 to 4" with "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles.[46]

"25 or 6 to 4" has become a popular song for marching bands to play. In 2018 Kevin Coffey of the Omaha World-Herald named it as the number one "marching band song of all time".[47] As performed by the Jackson State University marching band, the HBCU Sports website ranked it number seven of the "Top 20 Cover Songs of 2018 by HBCU Bands".[48] In a nod to its popularity with marching bands, Chicago performed "25 or 6 to 4" and "Saturday in the Park" with the Notre Dame Marching Band on the football field during halftime on October 21, 2017.[49][50]

The song has been used in popular media as well. It appears as an on-disc track in the video game Rock Band 3;[51] has been featured on the animated TV series King of the Hill's season 11 episode, "Luanne Gets Lucky";[52][53] and was used in the 2017 film I, Tonya, directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan.[54][55]

Influence

Jason Newsted, former bassist of Metallica, says that this song was the first rock or metal riff he ever learned to play.[56]

Paul Gilbert, former guitarist of Racer X and Mr. Big, says that a "really primitive version" of "25 or 6 to 4" was one of the first songs he taught himself to play on the guitar, using one string.[57]

References
  1. Chicago Group Portrait (Box Set) (album liner notes archived online) (Media notes). New York City: Columbia Records. 1991. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  2. Lamm, Robert; Loughnane, Lee; Scheff, Jason; Pardini, Lou (October 24, 2013). "Exclusive Interview with Chicago!". 947WLS.com (radio and video). Interviewed by Danny Lake. Chicago, IL: 94.7 WLS-FM. time 11:54-13:43. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  3. Lamm, Robert (June 15, 2009). "Chicago Comes to Agganis". BU Today (Interview). Interviewed by Devon Maloney. Boston University. Retrieved February 13, 2017. It's a reference to time. It's a song about writing the song, and I looked at my watch while I was writing and it was 25 minutes to four in the morning, or maybe 26.
  4. History of Chicago (television documentary). CNN. Retrieved December 30, 2016. '25 or 6 to 4' indicates the time in the morning, 25 minutes to 4 a.m.
  5. "What does the Chicago lyric "25 or 6 to 4" mean?". The Straight Dope. October 18, 2000. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  6. Locker, Melissa (August 21, 2013). "11 Suspiciously Sound-Alike Songs". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  7. Hermann, Andy (June 25, 2016). "You Still Can't Copyright a Riff — and That's a Good Thing". LA Weekly. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  8. Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen For in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis. Yale University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-300-09239-4. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  9. "Chicago - Chart history Hot 100 | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  10. "Chicago Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  11. "CHICAGO | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  12. Swanson, Dave (December 17, 2015). "Top 10 Chicago Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  13. "Chicago II". Classic Rock Review. July 3, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  14. Olivier, Bobby; Unterberger, Andrew (April 25, 2019). "The 50 Best Chicago Songs: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  15. Leo, Christie (December 27, 1986). "Singapore Bans Fogerty LP". Billboard. 98 (52). p. 87. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  16. "Singapore Censors Relax Ban on Some Beatles Hits". DeseretNews.com. May 27, 1993. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  17. "Billboard Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. 98 (41). October 11, 1986. p. 80 (Scroll to page, see No. 48 on Hot 100 Singles chart.). Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  18. Trust, Gary (November 13, 2009). "Ask Billboard: Why We Follow The Charts - Second Helping of Seconds". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  19. Popoff, Martin (2010). Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948–1991. Krause Publications. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-4402-1621-3.
  20. Durchholz, Daniel (June 22, 2017). "Chicago delivers a satisfying career retrospective but pulls a political punch". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  21. Groller, Keith (August 6, 2017). "REVIEW: Chicago shows it's a hard habit to break with a night filled with hits". The Morning Call. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  22. Price, Robert (August 10, 2017). "Chicago feeling 50 years young". New Jersey Herald. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  23. Maloni, Joshua (October 18, 2015). "Who needs Chicago? Peter Cetera proves his worth at Fallsview". www.wnypapers.com. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  24. Varias, Chris (October 4, 2016). "Cetera: All roads lead away from Chicago". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  25. MURUGAPPAN, REVATHI (September 8, 2017). "At 72, Peter Cetera Still Commands The Crowd". Star2.com. Star Media Group Berhad. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  26. Onesti, Ron (April 15, 2016). "Chicago, Cheap Trick bring rock pride to Illinois". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, IL: Paddock Publications. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  27. "'Sledgehammer' wins". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, FL. February 28, 1987. p. 2A. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. Hung, Steffen. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  29. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  30. "Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Années 70" (in French). InfoDisc. November 22, 1969. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  31. "25 or 6 to 4 von Chicago". Chartsurfer.de (in German). Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  32. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – 25 or 6 to 4". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  33. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1970" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  34. "RPM's Top 100 of 1970". RPM. January 9, 1971. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1970" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  36. "Top 100 Hits of 1970/Top 100 Songs of 1970". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  37. "Escape from Pain - Intruder | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  38. Reardon, Tom (July 1, 2016). "The 25 Best Concerts in Phoenix in July 2016: Chicago – Wednesday, July 6 – Celebrity Theatre". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  39. KAUFMAN, GIL (October 1, 1997). "Moog Cookbook's Newest Mock Rock Recipe". MTV News. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  40. Perusse, Bernard (January 22, 2011). "Pacifika's music hard to label". Regina Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Postmedia News. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  41. "Vince Neil plays Del Mar birthday bash". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada, US: Reno Newspapers, Inc. January 18, 1996. p. 15, "Best Bets" section. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. Porio, Anabelle (January 6, 2017). ""ZONKEY" by Umphrey's McGee". Entertainment Monthly. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Emerson College. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  43. "Soft Rock - Invention". Discogs. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  44. Ragogna, Mike (May 29, 2013). "From Summer Horns to Napa Jazz: Conversations with Dave Koz and Brian Culbertson, Plus Toby Lightman's "Better" Premiere". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  45. Chicago-Admin. "Constantine Maroulis releases his version of Chicago classic: 25 Or 6 To 4". Chicago – The Band. Archived from the original on April 22, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
  46. Coulton, Jonathan (November 18, 2005). "When I'm 25 or 64". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  47. Coffey, Kevin (September 19, 2018). "The 20 best marching band songs of all time". Omaha.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  48. Rashad, Kenn (December 31, 2018). "Top 20 Cover Songs of 2018 by HBCU Bands". HBCU Sports. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  49. "Chicago, Notre Dame Marching Band Play 'Saturday'". Best Classic Bands. October 23, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  50. "Notre Dame Marching Band". www.ndband.com. October 21, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  51. Rybka, Jason (April 28, 2017). "Rock Band 3 Track List (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)". Lifewire. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  52. "Chicago (Band)". IMDb.
  53. "King of the Hill: Season 11 Episode 4 Script". Springfield!. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  54. Blair, Iain (December 18, 2017). "Craig Gillespie on directing I, Tonya - Randi Altman's postPerspective". Randi Altman's postPerspective. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  55. Bax, David (December 7, 2017). "I, Tonya: Here's Why, by David Bax". Battleship Pretension. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  56. Trunk, Eddie (host); Jamieson, Don (host); Florentine, Jim (host) (June 1, 2013). "Jason Newsted". That Metal Show. Season 12. Episode 1. Event occurs at 21:00. VH1. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  57. Frost, Matt (March 2015). "Paul Gilbert". Guitarist. No. 391 (published February 6, 2015). Retrieved October 23, 2017.
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