Come On Eileen was an iconic ’80s hit – but what was the REAL inspiration behind the Dexy’s Midnight Runners song?
Come On Eileen was 1982’s best-selling single, but do you know the real inspiration behind Dexy’s Midnight Runners hit?
The band’s founder and lead singer Kevin Rowland has explained the meaning in a new interview while promoting his new album, The Feminine Divine.
In an interview with The times, Dungarees-loving Kevin said the inspiration was about the explosive combination of hormones and Catholicism.
He said, “It’s a very guilt-ridden religion, especially around sex. You always felt like you shouldn’t be doing it. Come On Eileen is about a boy who says to a girl, “I really want to have sex with you, but my thoughts are dirty.”
“Eileen was a composite of Irish Catholic girls I grew up with. The one thing you weren’t allowed to do when you hit puberty was to associate with the Irish Catholic girls.
Divas in Dungarees: Come On Eileen was an iconic ’80s hit – but what was the REAL inspiration behind Dexy’s Midnight Runners song?
Come on, tell us: The band’s founder and lead singer, Kevin Rowland, explained the meaning in a new interview while promoting his new album, The Feminine Divinem (pictured in October 2022)
“You’d go with the English girls because they were “sl**s.” That’s how it was. These are the good ones – these are the ones you marry.’
The lyrics include the famous words: Oh, I swear (what he means). At this time. You mean everything. In that dress. Oh, my thoughts I must confess. Well, they’re dirty.’
Kevin, who has battled cocaine addiction, later made amends with the women in his life whom he says he “harmed.”
He has a daughter named Althea Jane, whom he fathered at the age of 20, but he did not meet her until she was 17.
Kevin said his daughter is now almost 50 and things are going well between them. He has three grandchildren.
His new album is more women-worshipping and he’s tapped into his emotions. He is now single.
Kevin has been drug free for 30 years now and will be celebrating his 70th birthday in August and he’s celebrating with a clean birthday.
His band, Dexy’s, will be touring from September 5 and Kevin has hired an actress to play a “goddess” on stage.
Hopefully he’ll have a different take this time around as he admits he “didn’t enjoy it the first time” and admitted he was “too competitive and driven.”
He said, “It’s a very guilt-ridden religion, especially around sex. You always felt like you shouldn’t be doing it. Come On Eileen is about a boy who says to a girl: “I really want to have sex with you, but my thoughts are dirty”‘
He said, “Eileen was a composite of Irish Catholic girls I grew up with. The one thing you weren’t allowed to do when you hit puberty was go with the Irish Catholic girls.