REM’s ‘The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite’ lyrics ‘most misheard’

LONDON - A new Brit survey has revealed that REM’s ‘The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite’ lyrics are most frequently misheard by listeners.

Four out of ten people admitted confusing the words to the 1993 track, mistaking the line ‘Call me when you try to wake her’ for ‘Calling Jamaica’.

Purple Haze, by Jimi Hendrix was second in the poll, thanks to the line ‘Excuse me while I kiss the sky’.

Instead, many Britons sing ‘Excuse me while I kiss this guy’.

“Some of the misheard lyrics in this poll are really quite amusing, but I’m sure the songs weren’t intentionally written to confuse fans,” the Telegraph quoted a spokesman for Cerumol Olive Oil Ear Drops, which carried out the survey as saying.

“Song lyrics and sounds in general can be interpreted in many ways and what one person hears can be different to the next.

“When you finally find out the true meaning of a song after singing it incorrectly for years it can be quite satisfying, although you may feel a bit foolish,” he said.

The study of 3,000 Brits also revealed that Abba’s Dancing Queen features twice in the top twenty, with people mistaking ‘Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine”, for “Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tangerine”.

Another line from the 1976 pop classic, “See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen” sees Brits actually sing “See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen”.

Top 10 most common misheard lyrics:

1. REM - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite

Real lyric: ‘Call me when you try to wake her

Misheard lyric: “Calling Jamaica”

2. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze

Real Lyric: “Excuse me while I kiss the sky”

Misheard Lyric: “Excuse me while I kiss this guy”

3. Aerosmith - Dude Looks Like A Lady

Real Lyric: “Dude looks like a lady”

Misheard Lyric: “Do just like a lady”

4. The Foundations - Buttercup

Real Lyric: “Build me up buttercup”

Misheard Lyric: “Fill me up buttercup”

5. Adele - Chasing Pavements

Real lyric: “Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements”

Misheard lyric: “Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing penguins”

6. Bon Jovi - Living On A Prayer

Real Lyric: “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not”

Misheard Lyric: “It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not”

7. ABBA - Dancing Queen

Real Lyric “Dancing queen, Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah”

Misheard Lyrics: “Dancing queen, Feel the beat from the tangerine, oh yeah”

8. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John - One That I Want

Real Lyric: “You’re the one that I want”

Misheard Lyric: “You’re the wobbly one”

9. Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit

Real Lyric: “Here we are now, entertain us”

Misheard Lyric: “Here we are now, in containers”

10. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Real lyric: “Spare him his life from this monstrosity”

Misheard lyric: “Spare him his life for this one cup of tea” (ANI)