A double entendre is a figure of speech used to express a thought with a double meaning. Usually, one is socially acceptable, and the other is…not. Music has been a breeding ground for these hidden dirty ramblings since the beginning of time—or at least the beginning of music. Let’s look at the meaning behind “Squeeze Box” by The Who.
Videos by American Songwriter
What Is a Squeeze Box?
A squeeze box can be any type of bellowed instrument. An accordion or concertina are the most common types. However, anything that uses hand-pumped bellows to push air past a reed or reeds is referred to as a squeeze box. An aerophone squeezes in and draws out air, producing a vibration of the reed and resulting in sound. Pushing keys or buttons changes the pitch of the note. Accordions have keys operating perpendicular to the bellow’s travel, while concertinas have keys operating parallel.
Mama’s got a squeeze box
She wears on her chest
And when daddy comes home
He never gets no rest
‘Cause she’s playing all night
And the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
[RELATED: 5 Deep Cuts From The Who]
In the liner notes for Scoop, his 1983 compilation album of unreleased songs and demos, Pete Townshend said, “I had bought myself an accordion and learned to play it one afternoon. (That is not meant to be flash, I don’t mean I learned to play it properly, just manage to work it without falling over!) The polka-esque rhythm I managed to produce from it brought forth this song. Amazingly, recorded by The Who, to my disbelief. Further incredulity was caused when it became a hit for us in the U.S.A.”
Well, the kids don’t eat
And the dog can’t sleep
There’s no escape from the music
In the whole damn street
‘Cause she’s playing all night
And the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
Is It Dirty?
Sexual innuendo certainly defines the song. Townshend later said the song was a poorly aimed dirty joke. He was shocked The Who agreed to record it. As he remembered in his 2012 book Who I Am: A Memoir, “It was Ronnie Lane who encouraged me to consider ‘Squeeze Box’ for the album. It was a rank outsider as a song, not even included in the songs I had first suggested to Roger [Daltry]. I had written it entirely for my own amusement, to show off my abilities on an accordion I bought at a local music shop. One evening, I played Ronnie my demo, and he loved it. He said it sounded like a crazy Country & Western polka.”
She goes in and out and in
And out and in and out and in and out
She’s playing all night
And the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
It Is What It Is
Lead singer Roger Daltry never had a problem with the song. He told Uncut magazine, “What’s great about ‘Squeeze Box’ is that it’s so refreshingly simple, an incredible catchy song. A good jolly. I’ve never had a problem with that song because it doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is, and I love it for that. Live audiences love it. Nothing wrong with a bit of ‘in-and-out,’ mate!”
She goes, squeeze me, come on and squeeze me
Come on and tease me like you do
I’m so in love with you
Mama’s got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
The Who by Numbers
John Entwistle told Jonh Ingham of Sounds in 1976, “I dunno. Most songs have double meanings, or no meaning at all. It’s stupid—people trying to find hidden meanings in Beatles lyrics are long gone. ‘Squeeze Box’ isn’t that dirty. It doesn’t say ‘tits.'”
The cartoon on The Who by Numbers was drawn by Entwistle. He told Ingham, “The cover drawing only took an hour, but the dots took about three hours!” Mojo magazine reported that he charged the band £30, in sharp contrast to photographer Ethan Russell’s black and white picture spread on the previous album, Quadrophenia, which cost the band £16,000.
“Squeeze Box” was the lead single from The Who by Numbers in 1975 in America and 1976 in the U.K. It became the band’s first Top 10 hit in Britain since 1972’s “Join Together.”
She goes in and out and in and out
And in and out and in and out
‘Cause she’s playing all night
And the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
Pete “Just Can’t Hold Back,” Apparently
Townshend confessed to Dave Schulps of Trouser Press in May 1978: “That was supposed to be a funny song. It came from hearing somebody referring to a woman’s tits as a ‘squeeze box.’ A ‘squeeze box’ to me has always been an accordion, and I just wrote that little rhyme about it. I’m sexist to the extent that I love tits, and love women practically to the extent of being unstable on the issue—like a lot of men are. I just can’t repress it; I just can’t hold it back. It’s not because I want to put them into a corner; they can do whatever they like. They can mother me or dominate me. I don’t care, just as long as I can get it out of them.”
Townshend played both the accordion and the banjo, as well as the guitars on the recording. The Who dabbled in many styles of music throughout their career, but country didn’t show up very often in their body of work. Townshend listened to Chet Atkins growing up, and he added some rollicking guitar licks to this recording. But perhaps the best thing about it is that the drums are still unmistakably Keith Moon.
Is the real meaning behind “Squeeze Box” the worst thing? Depends on your threshold for third-grade-boy humor!
Photo by P. Floyd/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
