Zero dark thirty and 25 (or 6) to 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some phrases are rather cryptic. For example, Zero Dark Thirty is 2012 political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow about the manhunt for Osama bin Laden. A Wikipedia page explains that title is:

 

“American military slang for an unspecified time between midnight and sunrise.”

 

There is another Wikipedia page about the Chicago song, 25 or 6 to 4 that was released as a single in June 1970. It was written by Robert Lamm, who said his cryptic title was telling about trying to write a song in the wee hours of the morning. There is an article by Jay McDowell at American Songwriter on February 1, 2024 titled The Mundane Meaning Behind “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago. It is not about LSD (sometimes known as LSD-25), or heroin, or cocaine.

 

This post was inspired by my listening to the album, The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition.