Pop loving Brits love nothing more than belting out the Abba classic Dancing Queen but the iconic tune has now topped the charts of the song most commonly sung wrong. The Swedish supergroup group spent six weeks at number one with the 1976 banger and it was given a fresh lease of life after being sung by Meryl Streep in the smash-hit movie Mamma Mia! But despite approaching almost two billion online streams and tens of millions of record sales and being a standard feature of wedding bands and birthday discoes, a study has found many fans muddle up the lyrics to sing “dancing queen, feel the beat from the tangerine”.
This is instead of the correct – and more sensible – words “dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine”. Some 70% of participants in the poll revealed they have sung the lines to the biggest hits incorrectly, with a remarkably honest 15% admitting they have done so for more than a decade.
Queen’s popular anthem We Will Rock You is the second-most misquoted track, with the line “kicking your can all over the place” being swapped to “kicking your cat all over the place”.
The survey also found fans of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space sing “all the lonely Starbucks lovers” rather than “got a long list of ex-lovers”.
And in what many know only to be a common “dad joke”, the Johnny Cash classic “I Can See Clearly Now” is misquoted with the lyrics “I can see clearly now the rain has gone” changed to “I can see Deirdre now Lorraine has gone”.
Rock god Bon Jovi’s mega 80s hit Livin’ On A Prayer is also often misheard as saying “it doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not”, rather than “it doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not”.
Yet despite many online music platforms having the option to display lyrics whiulst playing the songs, it seems many people are more than happy to continue singing the wrong words as they have done for decades.
The poll by Butlin’s Big Weekenders found around two in five respondents insist they will continue to sing the wrong lyrics even when corrected.
When it comes to which regions are most guilty of singing the wrong word to songs, London comes out on top, with more than four in five (83%) amateur crooners being told they’ve done so, narrowly beating 74% of those in the North East and 70% of the West Midlands.
According to the data, not only does ABBA sit at the top of the most misheard song charts but also takes the crown as the nation’s most popular karaoke classic. Polling 20% of the vote, it shares the honour with Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline.
Presenter and DJ Pat Sharp, who partnered with the holiday resort chain for the study, said: “Seeing Dancing Queen take the crown as the most misheard song to me is testament to how iconic it is.
“Whether you know the words or not, it is a universally loved tune you can’t not sing along to.”
Meanwhile, the survey also discovered more than a quarter (27%) of music lovers believe they are good singers and more than a third (35%) admit to singing songs without knowing the words.
Kate Jeeves, lead singer of Leeds-based cover band Re:Boot said: “When we play Dancing Queen in our repertoire it’s an instant dance-floor filler, people – especially the girls – really love it. Audiences really belt it out but you can definitely tell some enjoy singing the wrong words. I’ve definitely heard more than my fair share of tangerines.”
Hits with confused lyrics
1. Dancing Queen – Abba – ‘Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine’ sang incorrectly as ‘Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tangerine’
2. We Will Rock You – Queen – ‘Kicking your can all over the place’ sang incorrectly as ‘Kicking your cat all over the place’
3. Blank Space – Taylor Swift – ‘Got a long list of ex-lovers’ sang incorrectly as ‘All the lonely Starbucks lovers’
4. Starships – Nicki Minaj – ‘Starships were meant to fly’ sang incorrectly as ‘Starfish were meant to fly’
5. I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash – ‘I can see clearly now the rain has gone’ sang incorrectly as ‘I can see Deirdre, now Lorraine has gone’
6. Livin’ On A Prayer – Bon Jovi – ‘It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not’ sang incorrectly as ‘It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not’