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Poll Reveals Most Frequently Confused Lyrics, Blames iPod

by Tim Stevens on July 31, 2008 at 06:32 PM

Do you sing along to your favorite songs? If so, do you know the lyrics? Are you sure? You might be surprised. A recent poll from the U.K. has revealed the top 10 misunderstood lyrics that someone somewhere has blasted out in a drunken sing-along:
  1. Madonna, 'Like A Virgin' - "Touched for the 33rd time." (Real lyric: "Touched for the very first time.")
  2. REM, 'Losing My Religion' - "Let's pee in the corner." ("That's me in the corner.")
  3. Nirvana, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - "Here we are now, in containers." ("Here we are now, entertain us.")
  4. Bob Dylan, 'Blowin' In The Wind' - "The ants are my friends, they're blowin' in the wind." ("The answer, my friend, is...")
  5. Spice Girls, 'Wannabe' - "If you wanna do my mother, you gotta get her a Benz." ("If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends.")
  6. Abba, 'Chiquitita' - "Chicken tikka, tell me what's wrong (Chiquitita, tell me...")
  7. U2, 'Mysterious Ways' - "Shamu, the mysterious whale." ("She moves in mysterious ways.")
  8. Eagles, 'Desperado' - "You've been outright offensive." ("...out riding fences.")
  9. Starship, 'We Built This City' - "We built this city on the wrong damn road." ("...on rock and roll.")
  10. Red Hot Chili Peppers, 'Can't Stop' "Can't stop the ferrets when they need food." ("Can't stop the spirits when they need you.")
The poll attempts to make a correlation between the growing digital distribution of music and this ignorance of lyrics, blaming the lack of liner notes with a downloaded album. We're not buying it. If that's the case, why is it that all but two of these 10 songs predate digital downloads? That's not to say people aren't downloading older songs, but we're thinking most people who download 'We Built This City' loved the song on the radio in the 80's and are just adding it to their digital collections. And seriously, how many kids do you see rockin' it to 'Desperado' on their iPod, anyway?

If anything, the prevalence of lyrics websites makes it even easier to figure out what your favorite singer is crooning about than it was 20 or 30 years ago, when most of these songs were released. On that note, if you found the above list entertaining (or perhaps enlightening) you may want to head over to KissThisGuy.com (named after the famously confused lyrics from 'Purple Haze' by Jimi Hendrix). There you'll find a collection of such continually misunderstood songs and their real, honest to gosh lyrics. If you don't check it for yourself maybe you should send it to your friend who still insists Credence is giving directions to the toilet. [Source: The Daily Star, and The Telegraph]

Tags: lyrics, music

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