Mistakes in Popular Songs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Led Zeppelin

"Black Country Woman," from Led Zeppelin's album "Physical Graffiti" begins with the sound of an airplane passing by. It also begins with a short discussion among the band members about whether or not they should start over again and remove the airplane sound, concluding with one of the band members saying "Nah, leave it." The mistake didn't stop the album from being certified 16 times platinum in the U.S.

Answer: Roxanne

You can also hear a weird keyboard sound right before the laughter. The story is that Sting accidentally sat on the keyboard. The band decided that they liked the odd sound so they kept the take. The song charted in seven different countries from 1979-1980, and again in four countries from 1997-1998, so I guess they were right.

Answer: Been Caught Stealing

Singer Perry Ferrell told Classic Rock Magazine that he brought his pet dog into the studio. Once they started playing, the loud music caused the dog to start barking and the microphone picked it up. The band decided to keep it, and the song spent four weeks at number one on the Modern Rock chart. The dog barking is considered by some people to be the highlight of the song.

Answer: Polly

You can clearly hear Kurt Cobain saying "Polly said" before the rest of the band was ready to begin the third verse. Neither that nor the controversy surrounding the lyrics stopped the song from becoming one of Nirvana's most popular songs.

Answer: Rockaria!

This song has a female singer singing an aria in German. She starts singing too early and says "Oops." That didn't stop the song from becoming a top ten hit in the UK and a staple of their live shows.

Answer: A bullfrog named Jeremiah

According to Hoyt Axton, the writer of the song, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" was just supposed to be a temporary lyric that he was going to re-write. However, before he could re-write it, Three Dog Night recorded it and it became a number one hit in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa.

Answer: April 29, 1992

On April 29, 1992, there were riots due to the police beating of a black man named Rodney King. Sublime singer Bradlet Nowell participated in those riots, then wrote this song. The song is called "April 29, 1992," which is the correct date of the riots, but Bradley sang "April 26, 1992." The story is that even though he made a mistake, the band felt that the take was strong enough so they kept it. The song got some radio play, so the mistake didn't bother too many people.

Answer: Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)

In this song, someone can be heard counting to "Six" in Spanish, but he says "Cinco" twice. The mistake either went unnoticed or no one cared about it. The single charted at number one in at least ten different countries and has been certified platinum or better in five different countries.

Answer: The B-52's

Near the end of "Love Shack," singer Cindy Wilson shouts "Tin roof rusted" with no musical accompaniment behind her. This was not planned. In an interview that appeared in Booth Newspapers (a newspaper for the Michigan city Booth), Wilson said that the tape ran out but she just kept singing because she was so into it.

She envisioned the building, which was an old building so its tin roof had rusted. This is considered by many people to be a highlight of the song, which charted at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and charted in the top ten in nine different countries.

Answer: Vertigo

This song begins with Bono saying "Uno, dos, tres, catorce!" Catorce is not the Spanish word for "Four," it is the Spanish word for "Fourteen." Bono says "There may have been alcohol involved." The listeners didn't care. The song charted in the top five in at least ten different countries and the single has been certified gold in the U.S, Australia, and Brazil.