Lyrics we love to mangle

Abba’s Dancing Queen tops the chart of misheard words

YOU’VE probably sung along to Abba’s Dancing Queen a million times. But would you be able to recite the words right now?

Apparently not, according to a nationwide poll which found the 1976 classic has the most commonly misheard song lyrics.

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed got the words wrong, believing the Swedish quartet are singing about a rather more violent scenario than one usually played out on dancefloors.

Instead of the correct lyric, ‘See that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the dancing queen’, they thought Abba sings, ‘See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen’.

We Will Rock You by Queen was the second most misheard song, with nearly a fifth of respondents thinking lead singer Freddie Mercury says, ‘Kicking your cat all over the place’, rather than, ‘Kicking your can all over the place’.

And even with the clue in the title of the Monkees’ 1966 hit I’m A Believer, 12 per cent think the band are singing, ‘Then I saw her face, now I’m gonna leave her’, rather than, ‘now I’m a believer’.

The poll of 2,000 adults found Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne was the star who is most difficult to understand, with 28 per cent of respondents struggling to make out his words.

The study by online streaming service Blinkbox Music also revealed that we are less likely to understand more modern genres of music. Some 56 per cent said fast-paced rap and hip hop songs are the most difficult to understand, while emotive indie-rock songs by bands such as Nirvana came second on 13 per cent.