Oasis' Wonderwall lyric among most misheard of all time
The Police, Bee Gees and The Beatles top poll
Oasis' belting one-liner "You're gonna be the one that saves me" has been voted as one of the most common misheard lyrics of all time. The Police top the chart for When The World Is Running Down with Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive and The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds at second and third respectively.
The survey, carried out by hearing aid retailer Amplifon, discovered that deaf or hard of hearing Wonderwall listeners actually hear "You're gonna be the one at Sainsbury's".
We've touched on this subject before, citing Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin among our top listening errors. And, although the 'hard of hearing' are no laughing matter, would anyone mind if Kate Bush actually did wail "Heathcliff, It's me, I'm a tree, I'm a wombat"?
Top 10 misheard song lyrics
1. The Police - When The World Is Running Down
Lyric: "You make the best of what's still around"
Misheard as: "You make the best homemade stew around"
2. Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
Lyric: "It's alright, it's okay. You may look the other way"
Misheard as: "It's alright, it's okay. You make love the other way"
3. The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Lyric: "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes"
Misheard as: "The girl with colitis goes by"
4. U2 - Mysterious Ways
Lyric: "She moves in mysterious ways"
Misheard as: "Shamu the mysterious whale"
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5. The Beatles - Michelle
Lyric: "Michelle ma belle, sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble, tres bien ensemble"
Misheard as: "Michelle ma belle, some say monkeys play piano well, play piano well"
6. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Lyric: "Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango"
Misheard as: "Scallaboosh, Scallaboosh, will you do the banned tango"
7. The Police - Message In A Bottle
Lyric: "A year has passed since I wrote my note"
Misheard as: "A year has passed since I broke my nose"
8. David Bowie - Changes
Lyric: "Strange fascination fascinating me"
Misheard as: "Strange vaccinations are killing me"
9. Oasis - Wonderwall
Lyric: "You're gonna be the one that saves me"
Misheard as: "You're gonna be the one at Sainsbury's"
10. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Lyric: "Heathcliff, It's me, Cathy and I've come home oh, so cold, let me in-a your window"
Misheard as: "Heathcliff, It's me, I'm a tree, I'm a wombat. Oh, so cold at the end of your winter"
"I'm like, I'm freaked out right now. I'm scared. I feel like I'm drowning on stage and I feel like I'm failing”: SZA on that misfiring Glastonbury headline set
“It sounded so amazing that people said to me, ‘I can hear the bass’, which usually they don’t say to me very often”: U2 bassist Adam Clayton contrasts the live audio mix in the Las Vegas Sphere to “these sports buildings that sound terrible”
Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
"I'm like, I'm freaked out right now. I'm scared. I feel like I'm drowning on stage and I feel like I'm failing”: SZA on that misfiring Glastonbury headline set
“It sounded so amazing that people said to me, ‘I can hear the bass’, which usually they don’t say to me very often”: U2 bassist Adam Clayton contrasts the live audio mix in the Las Vegas Sphere to “these sports buildings that sound terrible”