According to the co-writer and longtime group member Bob Gaudio, the song's lyrics were originally set in 1933 with the title "December 5th, 1933," and celebrated the repeal of Prohibition, but after the band revolted against what Gaudio would admit was a "silly" lyric being paired with an instrumental groove they knew would be a hit, Parker, who had not written a song lyric before by that point, wrote a new set of lyrics.