The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite 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 kid 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
Sidewinder (comics) create more Sidewinders. Upon being improved, Sidewinder later sprung the other Serpent Society members from their cells. After the group had captured and chained Captain America and Diamondback (who was really an L.M.D.) in this underground New York headquarters, the pair escaped. Sidewinder was knocked out by "Diamondback". S.H.I.E.L.D. subsequently took Sidewinder and the rest of the Society into custody. During the "Secret Invasion" storyline, Sidewinder re-joined the Serpent Society. The Society held a number of civilians hostage in a compound in the American Midwest claiming they were protecting themselves from the Skrulls. However, they were easily defeated by Nova