'Fore my pistol starts rockin.'

Overtones of the Oedipus complex are subtly woven into the main theme. Mother love is a distraction on the path to perfection:

Well, she's my mamma loocha

And she do the hoocha koocha.

When she starts to lovin'

I holler great googly mooga.

Naturally, the American singer is sophisticated enough to realize that love involves submission; and he struggles with the question of whether this submission involves a higher freedom or mere restrictions. The late Big Bopper caught this metaphysical problem and reduced it to concrete terms. His lyric wrestles with the problem of freedom on three levels, the personal, the social framework, and the allegorical transcendental dialectic:

Honey, what's this jazz about love, honor, and obey

That cat's talking to me? (laugh)

All look at these good lookin' bridesmaids standing around.

Hell-loo--baby, and the man in charge keeps saying

"Look here! do you take this woman or don'tcha?

Do you want this woman or don't cha?"

And I say, "pardner, I don't believe I do."

Lemme out of here.