10 Mistakes Purposefully Left In Classic Rock Songs

Not sweating the small things.

By Tim Coffman /

Whenever entering a studio, an artist has a chance to create something unprecedented. With nothing but time, tools, and creative ingenuity at their disposal, plenty of acts have tried to move the earth and stars to achieve perfection on the final take. Though some might fall just shy of perfection, there are plenty of songs that become classics that are actually a bit of a mess.

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While you might recognize these songs whenever they are played on the radio, there are a few weird extracurriculars going on just beneath the surface. From internal band drama to just technical foul-ups, there are certain parts of these songs that weren't necessarily supposed to be in the final cut. Many could see these little screwups as a case of rock bands being unprofessional, but they actually end up giving these songs a lot more character.

Other times it gets so pronounced that you can't even think of the song the same way without going to the little imperfections that are right in front of your face (or ears). Despite not having the most spotless track record in the studio, these screwups have remained as classic as the songs they are associated with. No human is perfect, but even in the mistakes we can find little bits of brilliance.

10. Acquiesce - Oasis

A lot of songs from Oasis' glory period in the '90s were notorious for being a bit messy. Given that producer Owen Morris pretty much invented the technique of enhancing the sound for maximum impact, it's no wonder that even the most subtle details end up slipping through the cracks. Then again, this is a more overarching issue that stems more from what happened after the song was recorded.

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On the surface, Acquiesce has all the power to be a phenomenal Oasis single, complete with a call and response vocal from Noel and Liam between the verses and choruses. However, there's something about the second verse that has sort of been lost to history. When you come out of the first go around, the actual lines about Liam singing his soul to sleep and bringing him back to bed have never really been performed live outside of a few occasions.

So is this a mistake on the recording or on the live stage? While Noel has made mention of Liam never singing it live when Oasis were still together, Liam always half-jokes that the person who gives him the teleprompter always screws it up. Okay... so which is it then? Even though there have been many parts of Oasis songs that can stick with you for decades, it's almost like this section is intentionally getting buried before it had time to grow.

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