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. Peter Cetera was on the lead vocals.

Background
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 a.m. (twenty-five or [twenty-]six [minutes] to four [o’clock]). Since the song has a unique title, "25 or 6 to 4", some people thought it meant the quantity of a certain drug or the name of a famous person in code.

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.

Release
The album was released in January 1970 and the song was edited and released as a single in June (omitting the second verse and most of the guitar solo), climbing to number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

Bans
The song was banned in Singapore in 1970 because of it possibly being about drugs. The ban extended to later albums that included 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.

Pop culture
The song has been used in popular media as well. It appears as an on-disc track in the video game Rock Band 3; the animated TV series King of the Hill, the 2017 movie I, Tonya, and the 2023 DCEU superhero movie The Flash.

References

Category:Chicago (band) songs
Category:1970 songs
Category:Hard rock songs
Category:Jazz rock songs