WCSX Classic Cuts : 25 or 6 to 4

WCSX Classic Cuts

Chicago: "25 or 6 to 4"

The Hook: For this one, Robert Lamm knew precisely what time it was.

Year: 1970

Album: Chicago

Writer: Robert Lamm

Stats: Peaked at number-four on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background: The title "25 or 6 to 4" may sound cryptic, but it really it wasn't meant to be, according to Chicago saxophonist Walter Parazaider.

Chicago saxophonist Walter Parazaider on “25 or 6 to 4.” OC:…and germs. :23

“That’s a song about writing a song. Robert Lamm wrote it and I was asked on an interview to England one time, ‘I say, we’ve got this figured out out here, old chap — it’s odds on a horse race.’ And other people thought it was something about a drug song, or whatever. And all it was was Robert was writing a song and he looked and it was 25 or 6 to 4 and he was having a rough time finishing the song and he didn’t know whether he should go to sleep or finish the song. As simple as that ladies and germs.”