Misunderstood lyrics
robert kyle
Here's some misconstrued R.E.M. lyrics that I pulled off of the
Compendium of Misunderstood Lyrics. (http://www.flash.net/~trevas/)
Some of them are great!
Any Comments?
(R = real lyrics, P = perceived lyrics, N = corresponding note to P)
"Cuyahoga" (thanks, Jenn)
R: We knee-skinned them, you and me.
P: Weenie-skins for you and me. (dlt)
"E-Bow the Letter"
R: Aluminum tastes like fear.
P1: Aluminum tastes like fear.
N1: Yes, I was actually right. When I heard it, I thought, "This can't
be right!" But, it was. Now all I can say is."Huh!"
(perdix)
P2: Adrenaline tastes like fear.
N2: Hey, it makes sense! (Margaret)(Y'know, Margaret, you're right.
I was grinding something made of aluminum the
other day, so I tasted some of the filings. Aluminum does not taste like
fear, it tastes like bemused sarcasm, like when
you hear something that makes you roll your eyes and go "Sheesh!")
John from London, Ontario writes: Michael Stipe [of R.E.M.] said in
Rolling Stone that when he's scared and is
experiencing an adrenaline rush, he get's a metallic, aluminum taste in
his mouth. Thanks, London John, I have been
very curious if that lyric meant anything and am grateful for your
enlightenment. I hope others have been helped as well. perdix
R: Aluminum tastes like fear
P: Illumina tastes like fear
N: Okay, so my lyrics make no sense. (Is "illumina" a word??) So what?
Like the real ones do anyway! (retrochick)(No, but
alumina is. It is aluminum oxide, which would still make no sense because
everybody knows that alumina tastes like
the satisfaction of accomplishment with a hint of residual dread. This
is the feeling you get when you take a test and it
seems easy: you're pretty sure you did well, but you have this tiny
suspicion that it was so easy because you completely
screwed it up.)
"The Wake-Up Bomb"
R: Practice my T-Rex moves just to make the scene.
P: Practice my T-Rex moves just to make the scene. (I got it right!)
N: R.E.M. has weird lyrics sometimes, but they're still the greatest
band on the planet. (London John)(If more people join
you and I, London John, we may open a page of correctly heard R. E. M.
lyrics that people didn't believe.)
R: I look good in a glass pack I look good and mean I look good in
metallic sick wrapped around black-out tease
P: I look good in a glass pad I look good in mink I look good in
metallic silk wrapped around black-out tees
N: I just figured that the first verse was about clothing. I guess I
was wrong.(London John)(Do you use black-out tees with
X-out golf balls?)
"The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight"
R: Call me when you try to wake her up.
P1: Going to Jamaica.
N1: Well, he sings it so fast it all kind of runs together. Why the
heck can't they just give us the lyrics sheets anyway? What
are they trying to prove? (Jennifer Hord)
P1': Call me in Jamaica, mon. (EmilyH)
P2: Calling Treblinka (concentration camp in Poland) (Eran Tomer)
P3: . . . when you're going to rape her (!!!)
N3: I knew this couldn't be right, but it was kind of funny because
the rest of the band is echoing these words right
afterwards in a somewhat joyful way. . .(Chris)
P4: "Come in, try to wake her up"
P5: "Gummin, gonna make her up"
P6: "Colin, try to wake her up"
P7: "Callin' China bakery"
P8: "Golly, Chinese baker, huh"
P9: "Wallin, shy a taker, huh?"
N: All of these are my (mostly way off) attempts to figure out what
the heck it is he was saying in that part of the song. I
have lots more, but these are some of the ones that were kinda funny
(except for the first, which is the closest I came before
learning the real words)(David W)
P10: Callin' Shelly Baker up.
N10: I have a good friend named Shelly Baker who'd sing this all the
time. She knew how it really went, but it's fun when it
sounds like a big rock group made a song just for you!(Cory Calhoun)(I'll
bet she got a lot of dates by subliminal
suggestion.)
R: I can always sleep standing up.
P: I can almost speak Spanish now.
N: Considering he's going to Jamaica it made a lot more sense!
(Lipi)(No, it doesn't. English is the official language of
Jamaica and they also speak Jamaican Creole. The page that educates and
entertains!)
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth"
R: I never understood, the frequency, uh huh
P: I'm not a monster, the frequncy of love
N: Well, it is the name of the ablum, isn't it??? (Granty)
"Man on the Moon"
R: Andy are you goofing on Elvis
P: Annie are you cheating on Elvis?
N: I first heard this song on a radio with bad reception, and ended
singing the wrong lyrics for 3 years before I found the real
ones. (John from London, Ontario)(Maybe Annie was listening to the
Beatles?)
R: Hey, Andy, did you hear about this one?
P: Hey, Annie, did you hear about the swan?
N: My former girlfriend (non blonde) asked me for a song with this
line in it. And I knew this song, but with her hint I had no
chance of identifying the song for her. (Tom Gudella, Munich)(I hope this
wasn't the reason you broke up! Although, one
girl broke up with me for beating her in Scrabble. I think it was my
gloating victory dance that sealed my doom.)
"Exhuming McCarthy"
R: Exhuming McCarthy
P: I'm losing my car keys
N: I knew the real lyrics, but when a friend jokingly made these up I
couldn't get them out of my mind--and prefer to sing
these. Credit goes to Evan E. (Adam S.)
"Orange Crush"
R: We are agents of the free
P1: We are ancient Sophocles
N1: I believe in reincarnation....(Lizzy K.)(Even the kind of
reincarnation where one ancient Greek simultaneously
occupies every member of a rock band?)
P2: We Religions Sell For Free
N2: I know R.E.M. always like to comment on society, so you can
understand my mistake. At least Michael has said that
the listener's perceived lyrics are always more "real" than the
original.(London John)(In that case, I must rename the page
"The Compendium of Alternatively Perceived Lyrics!")
"The One I Love"
R: A simple prop to occupy my time
P: A simple bra to occupy my time
N: Yikes! Hope that time isn't being occupied all alone. (Kaiser)
(Maybe you could make a double-barreled slingshot out
of it like Ellie Mae did.)