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Charly (Alley Cat Remix) Lyrics
Charly Says: Always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere.
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soryr mate,thats wrong. but a good idea nonetheless. its actually sampled from a 1970s public awareness film called Charley Says which was about a boy and his cat teaching kids right and wrong things. like stay away from strangers etc.
'Go off somewhere' has always seemed to me to by refering to a trip. For example, taking acid and seeing the world in a different way. The user is going off to that acid altered other place.
The 'tell your mother' bit always strikes up images in my head of kiddies raving the night away whilst mum and dad sit at home reading the paper and watching tv.
I already knew that. I think the prodigy sampled those lines because in a rave and drugs context they can have the meaning I've suggested. They wouldn't have just sampled it for the sake of it, I think they saw that they could create a great piece of irony by using it in one of their songs. I think it's a genius sample, because coming from a government awearness ad it's a total piss take.
I don't know much about these things...but isn't Charly also a term of drug slang?
The "meows" that are sampled in this track are provided by late British radio DJ/comedian Kenny Everett!
It's a bit of both, Charly refers to both cocaine and the public awareness advert, its a good tune none the less but the trip into drum and bass version is better
It's definitely a song about drugs, notably the drug addled clubbing culture when this song was written. "meow meow" which is repeated throughout the song is a common street name for mephedrone, and I think "go off somewhere" is a reference to taking a trip.
The lyrics here are incorrect for 2 reasons.
1 These are (nearly) the lyrics to the Trip Into Drum & Bass version as featured on the album
2 The lyrics are "Charly says... " not "Mummy says". Mummy doesn't even know you're out, hanging around with weird cats. Mummy says f**k all because she is off her head on crack. Probably.
As a child, this cat terrified me. I found him far more sinister than the majority of strangers.
Also...
The meeeoww in this song almost certainly doesn't reference mephedrone.
Although mephedrone had been created when they wrote this, it wasn't widely available until 2005ish. The term "meeow" appeared toward the end of the decade.