1975 Songs: Squeeze Box
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (76769)
United States
May 18, 2025 10:50am CST
Soo…what follows the Carpenters? Yep. It’s all part of the wild and wonderful world of 1975. Remember, fifty years ago I made the dramatic shift from listening to the same Buck Owens and Jim Reeves music I’d been listening to all my life until that point and went to rock and roll. What a year for an introduction, huh? Here’s today’s song.
Squeeze Box - The Who
I’ve told this story on myself before, so why not embarrass myself again? The subject matter of this song is so blatantly obvious (sex) that a child could get the message. Believe it or not, in my extreme innocence of just starting to listen to rock and roll, I did NOT get the message. I thought my mom might like it because it had a banjo on it (played by Pete Townshend), but she told me that it was a dirty song. I argued that it was about an accordion.
Nope, mom knows best. 
And yes, this is one of the few rock hits that has a banjo on it. Thanks, Pete.
Squeeze Box
Written by Pete Townshend
Recorded by The Who
From The Who By Numbers, 1975
The kids don’t eat and the dog can’t sleep:
And yes, this is one of the few rock hits that has a banjo on it. Thanks, Pete.
Squeeze Box
Written by Pete Townshend
Recorded by The Who
From The Who By Numbers, 1975
The kids don’t eat and the dog can’t sleep:Your browser isn’t supported anymore. Update it to get the best YouTube experience and our latest features. Learn moreRemind me later
16 people like this
14 responses
@wolfgirl569 (119366)
• Marion, Ohio
18 May
Yep yep. And I didn't think that at first but then I thought of it.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
I wasn’t trying to think dirty, I guess. Heck, I didn’t even know what Elton’s “Sweet Painted Lady” was about! 
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (119366)
• Marion, Ohio
19 May
@FourWalls I had My Ding A Ling playing at work one time and someone complained to the manager that it was dirty. 
. Know where her mind was
. Know where her mind was1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
@wolfgirl569 — little bells on a string? DIRTY????
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (192895)
• United States
18 May
In my naivete I didn't get what the song was about either, until I read about it somewhere.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
18 May
Oh, to be that young and innocent again.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (192895)
• United States
18 May
@FourWalls Yeah, and it wasn't until fairly recently I got the lyrics to Kokomo and the "tropical contact high." Duh, I guess when you are on the straight and narrow, it colors your world quite a bit.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
@snowy22315 — my parents didn’t “get” “Wildwood Weed” when it first came out in 1964!
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (95407)
• Arvada, Colorado
19 May
Not only do I remember them, but seen them do this.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (95407)
• Arvada, Colorado
20 May
@FourWalls I hadn't been following
I hadn't been following1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
Hooray! If you’ve been following this stuff with Zak Starkey, The Who has become the “What the Heck?!”
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (10832)
•
18 May
Aye.
Daltrey described it best I think.
A great song.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (10832)
•
19 May
@FourWalls
Most of them kids I hung around with in those days knew what the song was about.
The " good" kids wouldn't have had a clue..
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (7618)
• United Kingdom
20 May
In 1975 I thought I knew it all, but I wasn’t sure about this song. A squeeze box you wear on your chest? It has to be an accordion surely? But there was definitely a lot of innuendo in the lyrics.
I’ve always admired anyone who can play the accordion. I’ve tried myself a failed miserably. Too much going on!
A squeeze box you wear on your chest? It has to be an accordion surely? But there was definitely a lot of innuendo in the lyrics.
I’ve always admired anyone who can play the accordion. I’ve tried myself a failed miserably. Too much going on!1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
20 May
“A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn’t.” — Tom Waits
@LeaPea2417 (38065)
• Toccoa, Georgia
18 May
I didn't get it either when I was young. I was a very naive kid.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
I wasn’t thinking dirty, but then I had grown up listening to country music and songs like “The Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp.” Dad didn’t object to songs like that…
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
Like I told someone else, the lyrics of country songs weren’t exactly G-rated in the late 60s and early 70s but my parents never said “don’t listen to that” (until that annoying Conway Twitty song came along)!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
Slokay. Don’t you have a summer vacation to plan for? 
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76769)
• United States
19 May
You needed to be listening to one of those nighttime AM radio stations that fade in and out and in and out and in and out….
2 people like this
