1984 "Lights Out"... establishing a pecking order

Lights Out - Peter Wolf

Peter Wolf's "Lights Out" was a big hit in 1984. Unluckily, when you are the youngest sibling of four - it doubles as an excuse to to prank your little brother. "Lights Out" became what they sing when pulling someone's hat down over their eyes. Although I have memories of Tommy, Mike and Amy doing this to me (and eachother for that matter) I can still hear Mike singing "Lights Out" in my head.

The act of pulling someone's hat over their eyes was a total kid's pecking order establishment. It was something simple you could do to someone short of making fun of them or even worse beating them up. Totally harmless. It is sort of humiliating and funny at the same time. While it's always been popular to do this sort of act (especially among boys), now there was a theme song for it! The first time, the prank funny to everyone involved. The second time, the victim grins as if he/she should have known it was coming. By the third and fourth time, the victim is greatly peeved.

Humans are not the only animals to do this. Deer spar, elephants have pushing contests, and kids prank each other. Butts of a prank establish a pecking order among kids. I didn't make these rules, but I was forced to live by them. Getting away with it unscathed put you higher in the pecking order. Blocking an attempt, etc. possibly prevents you from other (and possibly worse) pranks in the future. This is right around the time you had to pick teams using the "eenee meenee miney mow" scheme. And you are NOT IT! I was no bully by any means, but in my circles I did what was necessary to not be the runt.

Aside from the social connotations to my childhood, revisiting this song is still kind of fun. The beat has a feel-good energy to it. I do however wonder what exactly this song was written about. "Lights out" in terms of my already wired imagination still doesn't provoke any visual images other than pulling someone's hat down... the permanent effects of childhood!