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The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
| cover = R.E.M. - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = R.E.M.
| album = Automatic for the People
| B-side = The Lion Sleeps Tonight
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 4:06
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer = * Michael Stipe
* Peter Buck
* Mike Mills
* Bill Berry
| producer = * Scott Litt
* R.E.M.
| prev_title = Man on the Moon
| prev_year = 1992
| next_title = Everybody Hurts
| next_year = 1993
}}
"'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite'" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was influenced by the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", both in the title of the song and through the song's opening refrain. (SongFacts writes, "Rather than follow industry practice and simply pilfer the song, R.E.M. paid for the rights to use it. As part of the deal, R.E.M. were asked to do a cover of the original "Lion Sleeps Tonight".) The band used "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as the B-side to this song. The song was released on R.E.M.'s 1992 album, 'Automatic for the People', and was later released as a single in February 1993, reaching number one in Iceland, number 13 in Ireland, number 17 in the United Kingdom, and number 29 in New Zealand.
The song was included on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. "best of" album 'In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 19882003' in 2003, one of four songs from 'Automatic for the People' to make the compilation. In the liner notes, Peter Buck remarked: "We included this song on 'Automatic' in order to break the prevailing mood of the album. Given that lyrically the record dealt with mortality, the passage of time, suicide and family, we felt that a light spot was needed. In retrospect, the consensus among the band is that this might be a little too lightweight."[http://blog.jivewired.com/2011/10/misunderstood-lyrics-sidewinder-sleeps.html "Misheard Lyrics: The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite by R.E.M."]
Despite the songs success, it was one of few R.E.M. songs never performed live by the group.[https://diffuser.fm/rem-sidewinder-sleeps-tonite/ "R.E.M. TAKE POP HEAVEN TO MOTEL HELL ON 'THE SIDEWINDER SLEEPS TONITE'", Diffuser, Oct 2017]
Lyrics
The lyrics are famously easy to mishear. A 2010 survey found that the chorus line "Call me when you try to wake her" was the most misheard lyric in the UK, beating second-place "Purple Haze", with the most common mishearing according to the survey being "calling Jamaica".[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8015543/REM-song-is-most-misheard.html "REM song is most misheard", The Telegraph, Sep 2010]
A laugh by Michael Stipe can be heard at 2:33, immediately after he sings the closing line in the third verse "or a reading from Dr. Seuss" which refers to Dr. Seuss's rhymes. When trying to name-check Dr. Seuss, Stipe kept saying "Zeus" and laughs at his own inability to pronounce that correctly, which Mike Mills kept trying to get him to do. Stipe says he loved Dr. Seuss as a child but always pronounced his name the wrong way.
The song's complete title is not featured in the lyrics, but there is the line "the sidewinder sleeps in a coil" as well as the later line "the sidewinder sleeps on its back". A sidewinder is a species of rattlesnake ('Crotalus cerastes'), and also an antique style of telephone, with a winding handle on the side. The lyrics frequently refer to making and avoiding phone calls. It is also an air pump such as the one used for inflatable mattresses. All three meanings seem to involve wordplay, but this seems to be the primary meaning.
Mike Mills said: "It's about somebody that doesn't have a place to stay. Part of it is also about what man can do that machines can't. The rest of it I don't have any idea what it's about."'Melody Maker', 1992
Mills also allegedly said, "Half of the song is about somebody trying to get in touch with someone who can sleep on his floor. The other half - you're on your own."
In the liner notes for 'Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 19822011', Stipe said the song has one of his favorite lyrics: "'Their world has flat backgrounds and little need to sleep but to dream.' Cartoon characters never just get sleepy, they always have to have a dream of some floaty kind."
Critical reception
Music writer James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, "Everyone's favourite track off the 'Automatic For The People' album finally gets a single release to clock up another hit for the band who appear to be able to do no wrong. Whether it will realise its commercial potential is doubtful given sales of the album but it is generating media interest if only over the vexed question of exactly what Michael Stipe is singing about."
Music video
The accompanying music video, released in February 1993, was directed by Kevin Kerslake,[http://www.kevinkerslake.com/listofcredits.htm Kevin Kerslake Credits] produced by Tina Silvey and Line Postmyr through production company Silvey & Co. and edited by Robert Duffy. Silvey and Postmyr produced many of Kerslake's music videos in the early 1990s (e.g. Ride's "Vapour Trail" and "Leave Them All Behind",[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400860/fullcredits The Story of Creation (Video 1992) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb] Nirvana's "In Bloom",http://designarchives.aiga.org/entries/%2Bid%3A7393/_/detail/relevance/asc/0/3/7393/nirvana-in-bloom-video/1 AIGA Design Archives Red Hot Chili Peppers's "Soul to Squeeze"[http://www.discogs.com/Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers-Greatest-Videos/release/2028769 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Videos (DVD) at Discogs] as well as Soundgarden's 'Motorvision' home video[http://www.worldcat.org/title/motorvision/oclc/028190528 Motorvision (VHS tape, 1992) [WorldCat.org]]). The video is often erroneously attributed to Peter Carein the past even on R.E.M.HQ,[https://web.archive.org/web/20061026081531/http://www.remhq.com/videos/sidewinder.html Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight] this has since been rectifiedwho was never signed to Silvey & Co. and who directed through Propaganda Films' sister shop Satellite Films from 1992 to 2000. The wrong director credit originated on the rec.music.rem newsgroup.
Track listings
All songs were written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe except as noted.
'US 7-inch, cassette, and CD single'
# "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" (album version) 4:04 (4:06 on CD)
# "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" 2:41
'UK 7-inch and cassette single'
# "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" (LP version)
# "Get Up" (album version)
'UK CD1'
# "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" 4:06
# "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" 2:41
# "Fretless" 4:49
'UK CD2'
# "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" 4:06
# "Organ Song" 3:28
# "Star Me Kitten" (demo) 3:04
'German CD single'
# "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" 4:06
# "Fretless" 4:49
# "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" 2:41
# "Organ Song" 3:28
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Usage in media
The song was featured in the 1996 American Mafia trial movie 'The Juror', starring Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
References
Category:1992 songs
Category:1993 singles
Category:Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake
Category:Number-one singles in Iceland
Category:R.E.M. songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Bill Berry
Category:Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe
Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Mills
Category:Song recordings produced by Peter Buck
Category:Song recordings produced by Scott Litt
Category:Songs about telephones
Category:Songs written by Bill Berry
Category:Songs written by Michael Stipe
Category:Songs written by Mike Mills
Category:Songs written by Peter Buck
Category:Warner Records singles
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