Metallica Classic Tops Misheard Lyrics List
Metallica's classic “Enter Sandman” topped a list of songs with misheard lyrics, while Mick Jagger was named as the singer people struggle most to understand.
A survey of 1,000 Americans by WordFinder also suggested that 65% of people, on discovering they’ve been wrong for years about a favorite rock or metal song, decide they prefer the incorrect version. While the detective work crossed a range of genres, “Enter Sandman” came on top overall, with 70% of listeners believing the line “Exit light, enter night” was actually “Eggs and light end all nights.” In terms of rock music, Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” was next, with “Your sex is on fire” often thought to be “His exes are fired.”
A majority amount of people – 52% – heard the Beatles sing “I get high, I get high, I get high” on “I Want to Hold Your Hand” rather than the real words “I can’t hide, I can’t hide, I can’t hide.” Nirvana's signature track “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came next: “With the lights out, it’s less dangerous / Here we are now, entertain us” heard as “With the lights out, it’s Las Vegas / Hear me all now, entertainers” by 51% of listeners.
Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” perhaps unsurprisingly, confused 49% of listeners while the list also included Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” the Police’s “Message in a Bottle,” Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” and the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden.” “Most of us have probably had an ‘aha!’ moment when we realized what a vocalist was actually saying in our favorite song all these years,” WordFinder commented, suggesting that "maybe the frequent screaming and growling that often characterizes heavy metal vocals were tough for listeners to decipher in ‘Enter Sandman.’" The report added, “Americans mentioned Young Thug and Mick Jagger [as] the hardest-to-understand artists.”
When it came to discovering their mistake, however, 75% of metal fans and 55% of rock fans preferred to remain uncorrected. “As individuals, we all relate to art in unique ways which the creator may or may not have intended,” WordFinder reasoned. “Maybe that’s why, even after discovering the correct lyrics to a song, 69% of fans [across all genres] preferred their misheard lyrics to the original words.”
WordFinder’s Most Misunderstood Rock Songs
1. Metallica – “Enter Sandman” – 70%
2. Kings of Leon – “Sex on Fire” – 52%
2. The Beatles – “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – 52%
4. Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – 51%
5. Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody” – 49%
6. Elvis Presley – “Suspicious Minds” – 46%
7. Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer” – 42%
8. The Police – “Message in a Bottle” – 41%
8. Billy Joel – “Piano Man” – 41%
10. Rolling Stones – “Beast of Burden” – 39%