EVER discovered you’ve been singing a song wrong and thought, wait, my version was better? These lyrics are vastly improved by being misheard:
‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy’ – Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix
The founding father of misheard mumbling, this mishearing turns a confusing song about tripping on acid into one where Hendrix politely excuses himself from conversation to briefly experiment with his sexuality. In short, it transforms standard wanky rock into an etiquette-conscious gay anthem. Transgressive and superior.
‘Kickin’ the dancing queen’ – Dancing Queen by ABBA
The world’s greatest disco Swedes were less great at enunciating, and nobody had earnestly claimed to ‘dig’ something since Ted Heath was in office. And when you consider the titular queen had brought a tambourine to the club, it makes all the more sense that Agnetha and Anni-Frid would want to kick shit out of this smug 17-year-old.
‘It’s gonna be May’ – It’s Gonna Be Me by *NSYNC
Nineties boyband *NSYNC are best remembered for not being the Backstreet Boys, so lucky for them that this song gets memed every April and they can rake in the royalties. It’s more memorable and makes more sense in context, where Justin and the gang are telling a woman when she’s going to love somebody again. Late spring. Get it in the diary.
‘All the lonely Starbucks lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane’ – Blank Space by Taylor Swift
It’s not that farfetched to imagine that Swift would attack Starbucks. Her feuds with Kanye West, streaming services and record labels have laid the groundwork for her to beef with an international coffee chain by painting a vivid picture of the frappuccino-addicted loser customers who dare question her sanity.
‘Tiramisu, like the deserts miss the rain’ – Missing by Everything But The Girl
Fancy Italian booze-soaked desserts were big in the 90s and this song sold a million of them. And is the layer where the sponge meets the creamy bit not unlike when desert meets rain?
‘Wrapped up like a douche’ – Blinded by the Light by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Originally a Springsteen song, this is stream-of-consciousness nonsense written with a rhyming dictionary. Why not use your platform to bring attention to feminine hygiene products? It’s time Manfred and Bruce embraced their position as vagina-cleanliness spokespeople.
