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Oxford Collapse - "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"

Oxford Collapse on "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"
"I bought Automatic For The People on the day it came out and it subsequently became the soundtrack to my year in Eighth Grade. It still sounds like R.E.M.'s swan song; it is certainly their last exceptional record. Its quiet beauty and haunting evocations of death and sorrow have aged gracefully; to my 13-year-old ears I couldn't understand much of it; it's one of those records that grows in substance as you live with it. We chose 'Sidewinder' because it's unique on the record -- it's the one silly song. It foreshadows cloyingly gay Stipe coming up with the most annoying chorus of their career, but woven between is a wonderfully earnest diatribe basically saying, 'leave me the F alone.' And as with any song in which its featured on the album, the string section makes it."
- Dan Fetherston

Mike Mills On "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"
"That's a song that to this day I'm not really sure what it's about, but it's a lot of fun. We never do it live, but it's a good record. It's just one of those songs that never seemed like it need to be done live. We might've messed around with it at sound check a couple of times, but it never felt like something we should really try."

Check out Rogue Wave's cover of "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" here.

"The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" lyrics
This here is the place I will be
staying.
There isn't a number. You can
call the pay phone.
Let it ring a long, long, long, long
time.
If I don't pick up, hang up, call
back, let it ring some more.
If I don't pick up, pick up... The
sidewinder sleeps, sleeps, sleeps
in a coil

Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.

There are scratches all around the
coin slot
like a heartbeat, baby trying to
wake up,
but this machine can only
swallow money.
You can't lay a patch by
computer design.
It's just a lot of stupid, stupid
signs.

Tell her,
Tell her she can kiss my ass, then
laugh and say that you were only kidding.
That way she'll know that it's
really, really, really, really me.

Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.

Baby, instant soup doesn't really
grab me.
Today I need something more
sub-sub-sub-substantial.
a can of beans or blackeyed
peas, some Nescafe and ice,
a candy bar, a falling star, or a
reading of Doctor Seuss;

Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.

The cat in the hat came back,
wrecked a lot of havoc on the
way,
always had a smile and a reason
to pretend.
But their world has flat
backgrounds and little need to
sleep but to dream.
The sidewinder sleeps on his
back.

Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
I can always sleep standing up.
Call me when you try to wake
her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
I can always sleep standing up.
Call me when you try to wake
her.
Call me when you try to wake
her up. Call me when you try to
wake her.
I can always sleep standing up.
Call me when you try to wake
her.
I can always sleep standing up.
Call me when you try to wake
her.

We've got to moogie, moogie,
move on this one.

Tags: Oxford Collapse