5 Hit Songs That Sound Better When You Sing the Misheard Lyrics

We’ve dabbled in misheard lyrics before, but what about those mistakes that actually make a song better? Here are five great examples of hit songs that are elevated by their misheard lyrics, from ABBA to R.E.M. to The Beatles.

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“Dancing Queen” — ABBA

“Dancing Queen” by ABBA has a few misheard lyrics, such as “dancing queen / young and sweet / only seven teeth.” You could probably make an entirely new song out of misheard “Dancing Queen” lyrics, not that it would make much sense. One of my favorites, though, is “feel the beat on the tangerine,” followed by an emphatic “ooh yeah!” Follow that up with, “you can dance / you can die / having the time of your life,” and you’ve got yourself a misheard masterpiece.

“I Want To Hold Your Hand” — The Beatles

There seem to be a lot of food-related misheard lyrics out there, and one in particular struck the Beatles’ early hit “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Instead of the titular line “I want to hold your hand,” listeners often heard “I want to hold your ham.” Why hold the ham? Does it need holding? Are you saving it for later? So many questions, so few answers.

“Purple Haze” — Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix’s hit song “Purple Haze” has a fairly common yet hilarious misheard lyric. Listeners heard “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” instead of “while I kiss the sky.” This mistake actually led to a website called KissThisGuy.com, launched in 2007, that acts as a database of misheard lyrics submitted by listeners. There, I found an alternative “Dancing Queen” lyric to the tune of “beat your meat by the fax machine.” Yes, really.

“Orange Crush” — R.E.M.

This song has always been a fun one for me, because this is one of my own personal misheard lyrics. When I first heard “Orange Crush” by R.E.M., I thought Michael Stipe was singing “I’ve got my Sprite, I’ve got my Orange Crush.” You know, like the sodas. Turns out the real lyric is “I’ve got my spine, I’ve got my orange crush,” and it’s actually about Agent Orange.

“Paradise City” — Guns N’ Roses

As for this Guns N’ Roses hit, many listeners have misheard the lyrics as “take me down to a very nice city,” instead of “take me down to the Paradise City.” I’m sure Paradise City is actually very nice, though.

[RELATED: 4 of the Funniest Misheard Lyrics From Hit Songs Guaranteed To Leave You Laughing]

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