One of my best friends in the entire world — my best pal from kindergarten forward, all the way through school — pulled a funny one morning when we were in junior high. Except, she wasn't trying to be funny. She was serious.
Because it's Friday, and it's been a long, hard slog through the week for everyone with all the waiting, I want to share this story with you. In the hopes that it will encourage you to share your stories of the lyrics that could have been.
You see my friend — let's call her "G" to protect her current integrity as a grown-up person of respect — loved the music of The Police, as I did. Because, let's face it, in the early 80s for a junior high girl who was into rock music with a hint of jazz, The Police were pretty awesome. (Okay, and Sting was and is still very hot. Ahem.)
Every morning, our bus got into school very early — and we would tra la down the hall to our respective lockers to get out some textbook or other to go back over homework assignments or study for a test or something. The vice principal happened to be a man of eclectic music taste, but in deference to the rest of the teaching staff he would keep the radio tuned to the local Top 40 station instead of blasting old Hank Williams records (most days, anyway) — and the music would crank out over the announcement speakers.
This particular morning, we were headed down the hall to our lockers and The Police were blaring out in that great jumble of guitar, bass and drums. And then I heard this from ahead of me, echoing out of the locker that my friend G was digging into for her textbook:
Ah…spar.a.gus. In my, my cer-e-al bowl. Ah…spar.a.gus. In my, my cer-e-al bowl.
Ah…spar.a.gus. In my, my cer-e-al boooooooooooowl.
And I fell over laughing. Hands down, this is the funniest mistaken lyric that I have EVER heard come out of anyone's mouth. But I know there have to be more. (Hell, the first time I heard "Like a Virgin," I thought Madonna was singing "Like a virgin…HEY…fucked for the very first time." and could not believe our local radio station was actually playing the song! It's actually "touched," but I digress…)
Any hilarious misheard lyrics in your past? Do share.
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Hehe Apereragus…
Fitz!
Hi Ed* Please don’t stand so close to me.. hehe
Not hilarious, but I used to hear a line from Elvis Costello’s “Beyond Belief” as “you know she has no sins for all your jealousy;” whereas the line is “you know she has no sense of all your jealousy” which makes the meaning of the song quite different.
It would be a much shorter list for me to name the songs that I’ve heard the lyrics RIGHT! Maybe that’s why I listened to instrumental jazz so much.
OT, but fun – Spazeboy and I interviewed Ned Lamont today; we asked him about running for office in ‘08…here’s what he said:
http://ctbob.blogspot.com/2007…..oment.html
Is there a gene that keeps one from remembering lyrics? Or jokes? If there is, I’ve got that gene. I can memorize music far faster than I can memorize words. And I’m PFD (pretty f*cking deaf), so I mishear lyrics and conversations and questions all the time.
707 @ the asparagus.
I got my Police tix, though…
I used to think “My Shirona” was a song about Rice-a-Roni.
Back in the 80s, my mom was quite the Huey Lewis fan, but she thought the song was “I want a new Truck” not “I want a new Drug”! And my little brother thought the Clash’s “Rock the Casbah” was “Rocks and Asphalt”!?! I suppose perhaps that I must have bogarted the q-tips to clean my ears…leaving Mom and Bro’s ears quite vulerable?
LOL!!!
“Ah-sparagus…in my my cereal bowl!” Hell, I’ll be humming that one all night! Hee hee!
Elspeth
Da do do do do Da da da da
That’s all I have to say to you
YouTube Music Video – A Young Sting
I had a friend that thought the early ’80s Motels song lyrics were “only the lonely get laid” until we pointed out that it made no sense.
I could never get the start of Help Me Rhonda until Dave Barry (I think) reported it as (IIRC)
“Well since she put me down I’ve got owls pooping in my hair”
I’ve never been able to listen to it without laughing since then
can’t figure out what song that is-spirits in the material world?
I used to always butcher Elton John songs-goodbye yellow brick road comes to mind.
Ow a brick— house
she’s my tomato…
OK, after emberassing myself, I have to go. My personal lyric malfunction was the Rolling Stones song ‘Angie’.
All I ever could make of it for years was
‘Ah In Jail, AHHH In Jail’.
To this day I cannot make out the lyrics to most songs,too much hearing damage from air tools, heavy equipment, and of course, Heavy Metal turned up to 11 and the neighbors calling the cops.
People often misinterpret lyrics when there are things stuck up their noses.
;>)
As to music, I’m a dinosaur. Beatles, Stones, the Airplane, Santana, Grateful Dead, It’s a Beautiful Day, The Doors, Led Zepp, and the like. But I love Leonard Cohen and Brian Setzer and a bunch of others.
When I was little I misunderstood the lyrics of a Christmas Carol:
Holy imbecile tender and mild
sleep in heavenly beast
darkblack @ 16
You went uptown riding in your limousine
In your fine park avenue clothes
You had the dom perignon in your hand
And the spoon up your nose
And when you wake up in the morning
With your head on fire
And your eyes too bloody to see
Go on and cry in your coffee
But dont come bitchin to me
Because you had to be a big shot, didnt you…
Not a misheard lyric, but I used to sing Amazing Grace a good bit when buzzing around the house doing chores. One day my granddaughter said, “Grandma, who’s Grace?”
No, not a song lyric, BUT on tonight’s episode of PBS’ “Inside Washington,” Mark Shields got off the BEST line in years, “While the House was impeaching Bill Clinton, Newt Gringrich was BANGING more than just his gavel.” HAHAHAHAHA!
My mom thought “if you like pina colada” was “if you like beans and enchiladas”
And apparently Mike McCready (or a different member) of Pearl Jam thought that Kiss was singing “I, want to rock and roll all night, …and part of every day.”
That little gem is on their Live at Benaroya Hall album.
I once kept mishearing Prince’s “party over” lyric as “body odor.” Got stuck in my head.
BTW- my take today on getting RIF’d yesterday.
.
There’s a small paperback my guy used to have (wish I could think what became of it) of mis-heard rock lyrics. Two favorites:
‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy- Jimi Hendrix
Looking at a parallelogram- Depech Mode
@ 16 – In the video link posted, tantric sex Gordon Summers takes his shirt off and exhibits his young and virile chest in all its glory”
Here’s another one “Walking on the
BroomMoon.” YouTube LinkConnecticut Bob @
5
Never leave your pizza burnin’
Never never never never never be!
Marie Roget @ 24
Drat, trying to pry myself outta here, the first one is reportedly attributed to Ozzie.
She’s gotta tick in her eye
And she don’t care!!
ben @
4
Well, it’s a terrific song either way, one of my all time favorites.
I’ve always had a lyric hearing block, but can’t think of anything appropriately amusing right now …
I’d like to laugh but I just read over at Kos’s place that GIve ‘em Hell Harry invited JoeLIE to do the DEMOCRATIC response tomorrow regarding Walter Reed!!!!!!
I’ think I’m going to lose my dinner.
I remember briefly thinking Voices Carry by Til Tuesday was Voices Scary (or maybe it was voice is scary although it doesn’t make much sense either way – I thought they were being oblique LOL) Talk about over analyzing…
Oh, RevDeb, that sounds like a bad joke.
brownandserve @ 11
Oh, that has me laughing too! Had to go check BB on YouTube here
RevDeb @ 31
EWW! Puke alert, RevDeb!
RevDeb, that is exgusting! (as my friend’s son used to say when he was three years old.
Reverse Barometer @ 33
I truly wish it was.
My story isn’t so much about misheard songs as delayed understanding. My husband has been a huge Frank Zappa fan since pubehood, but he didn’t speak English until a couple of years after he came to the USA (20 yrs ago now). So I will still occasionally come downstairs and find him laughing his ass off at the lyrics to old Zappa albums that he is “getting” for the first time.
Can you remember the first time you heard “Watch out where the huskies go. Don’t you eat that yellow snow”?
Twisted Martini @ 19
‘There’s a bathroom on the right’
;>)
Bobby G, sorry about your RIF. Been there twice and they are no fun. Thanks for the Bono joke though, it was great.
ack, someone already posted this one… (tick in her eye).
I remember hearing kids say “Pajamas” to Marley’s “We’re jammin’” — too cute
A couple years ago, my husband was listening to a Barenaked Ladies cd, and he suddenly said, “I don’t get this song at all. And when did Brian Wilson die?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked. “He’s still alive, I think.”
Then, I realized how he heard the lyrics…
‘Lie in bed, just like Brian Wilson, dead.’
I always hear that song that way now.
Marie Roget @
24
No edit button this eve…Depeche w/an e.
Depeche lyric is actually “Staring down the barrel of a gun.”
rxbusa, for my hubby English was a second language, too. Took me a while to realize he meant “dish” when he said about a certain very hot woman “she’s a real platter.”
Oklahoma Kiddo @17: Hey, fellow dinosaur. Love that you have It’s A Beautiful Day on your list. I’ve gotten so many blank stares over the years when I mention that group.
rxbusa, oh, you bring back memories. Just me and the pygmy pony over by the dental floss bush.
My father tells a joke about the kid in a Catholic elementary school asked to illustrate a scene from the story of the passion of Christ who drew a burly furry creature with a funny gaze and, when the teacher asked him what it represented, said it was “Gladly, the cross-eyed bear.”
When my now-29-year-old daughter was little, she thought the words from the song from Flashdance were “take your pants off” instead of “take your passion.”
– oh, yes, the “bathroom on the right” song!
my daughter just brought me a get well card…aren’t kids awesome?
Twisted Martini @ 40
Thanks. Actually, I was sittin’ in my exit interview and my cell phone rang. It was a vendor we’ve been working with, wanting to know whether I’d be interested in working for them, LOL!
I’m leaving for Florida Tuesday to go deal with me Ma and Pa. So, gig stuff can wait.
.
LindaR @ 46
That’s one of my favorite songs! I used to play it for my daughter. It’s one of the few Zappa songs you can play for your kids.
rxbusa – LOL!
Oh, speaking of Sting, I remember seeing an interview of him years ago when he talked about how a lot of people did not understand the meaning behind the words in songs. He said that often he gets people who come up to him and say how much they love “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and tell him that it was the song they had their first dance at during their wedding… he doesn’t have the heart to tell them to listen to the lyrics closer and realize it’s a song about a psycho stalker. Instead, he just says, “uh, well, good luck with your marriage.”
Bustednuckles @ 28
Jimi’s Purple Haze- ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky. I wasn’t much for Ozzie even in the old days :)
My wife thought that the lyrics to Irene Cara’s
Song: Flashdance…What a Feeling said:
“Take your pants down and make it happen.”
(instead of “Take your passion, and make it happen”).
I had a cousin who swore that the Eagles “Life in the Fast Lane” was saying “Life in the Vaseline”. I’m serious.
Interested Observer @ 55
LOL — check out my post at 48. This will make my daughter feel so much better!
Riesz Fischer @ 27
Took me a minute to figure out its to the Stones’ “Beast O’Bierne”
;)
Jose’ can you see
by the donzerly light
Celtic Music @ 45
I saw these guys in a small club in San Francisco many ago, called the ‘Family Dog’. “White Bird” was popular then. Doesn’t get any better than “Hot Summer Day”.;0)
There’s a song called “Lunatic Fringe” by a group called Red Rider. I thought they were singing “Lunatic French, I know you’re out there”.
Since I’m part French I didn’t particularly like being called a lunatic, even if there was some truth to it.
Hell, I was thirty before I realized that the title of a certain Creedence Clearwater Revival song was not “Sweet Anjahaika”.
lagunatic @
11
What? They’re not!
My inescapable misheard lyric is from Dire Straits:
Here I am again in this mean old town
Get your sofa away from me
And where are you when the sun goes down
Get your sofa away from me
Sofa away from me
That sofa, I just cant see it
Sofa away from me
Get your sofa away from me
I was pretty active in the forums at Peter Gabriel’s website, when he came out with UP, his 02 album. Growing Up is a fine song from this album, I’d always heard “My goats like to travel”. When I wrote this to my fellow forum posters, well, let’s just say it was read around the world…
My english still nedds oodles of work, please be kind to this francophone.
My brother in law spent years of his childhood mishearing the Hail Mary- Full of Grapes the Lord is a Tree.
LindaR @ 29
To the Beatles “Ticket to Ride”? My sister and I used to sing that in the car.
Down on the corner / Out in the street / Willie & the Poorboys are playin’ / Bein’ a Negro can’t be beat
[And the word is ‘mondegreen.’]
mayor z dotes and little lambs e divy…
Tramps Like Us
Baby We Were Born to Run
came out of the radio, but in my ears I heard
Trans fly Gus
Baby We Were Born to Run
I bought the lp and read the lyrics and had a nice chuckle about it. I haven’t given that a thought in a very long time.
These aren’t mis-heard, but they are the lyrics that my friend and I sang in high school choir during the Christmas concert. The choir director even had us sing it for a recording, and my friend and I tipped our heads back and sang directly up at the overhanging microphones, to make sure our version got on the tape:
Oh Battlestar Galactica
How smooth we see the fly
Above the deep and endless space
The Cylon ships go by.
Yet in thy quadrant fighting
The laser-blasting foes
The tinted hair of Lorne Greene
Shines through your perilous woes…
We had lyrics for the whole song…
Late to the party here, but one of my favorites was Phoebe on “Friends” who thought the lyrics to the old Elton John song were:
“Hold me closer, Tony Danza”
I’ve heard it said that math is the universal language. And I certainly love fiddlin’ with numbers and variables. Buy I think music is THE universal language.
Marc: You beat me to the punch…a misheard lyric is indeed a “mondegreen.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen
Riesz Fischer @
8
Cheech Marin thought it was ‘My Scrotum’.
Okay, now I can say this.
When I read Peterr’s post about George the Third and George the Forty-third, my mind kept hearing George the turd and George the farty turd.
Albatross @ 63
Ha! Get your money for nothin and your checks for free ; )
“Pay no mind to what they say/if they just can’t s’il vous plait– hey ay ay! Our lips are seals!”
Also not a misheard lyric, but I had a college buddy who was very erratic in class attendance. When he asked about Doctor Zagoon, it took us a while to figure out that he was referring to Darkness at Noon.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 59
I bought the first “It’s a Beautful Day” album because the cover art was by the same artist who did Quicksilver Messenger Service and I hoped it would be similar. Boy was I disappointed.
OK, it’s not actually one that I misheard, but I read this in a book of misheard lyrics and it always cracks me up.
I got shoes
They’re made of plywood
And I’m losing the bows
(”You’re The One That I Want”, from Grease)
Or was it: “Our lips have healed” ?
Marie Roget @
24
Alright. Found the book on Amazon. Sample mis-heard lyrics in the sell teaser:
“The ants are my friends/They’re blowin’ in the wind” (”The answer my friend/Is blowing’ in the wind”-Bob Dylan)
“Sweet dreams are made of cheese” (”Sweet dreams are made of this”-Eurythmics)
“The girl with colitis goes by” (”The girl with kaleidoscope eyes”-The Beatles)
“Whether it’s Eddie Vedder singing about “forty-five versions of a pelican” or Bruce Springsteen proclaiming “everybody’s got a hungry horse,” ‘Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy is sure to make you want to get your hearing checked.”
Dru @
65
[gasp!!!]
You know, it’s really important to check with kids occasionally on what they think they’re hearing.
I hesitate to place one of my little mishearings in the shadow of such greatness, but once upon a time I did have a hard time with
“Life will be ecstasy!
You and me and Leslie
Groovin’ “
(I’m going to be spazzing on those grapes for the rest of the evening at least, I fear.)
the web site is here for all your misheard needs (and then some)
http://www.kissthisguy.com/
Almost right. It’s “This is Scary” and still makes perfect sense to me.
brownandserve @ 32
Yeah, there is a website something like “scuse me while I kiss this guy.com” with all kinds of goodies. Been a while since I checked it.
I have two – one is my sister’s, the other my daughter’s.
When we were little, my sister would sing “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille, four hundred children and a crock full of beer.“
My daughter’s is funnier. We were driving along once and heard the Martina McBride song, “This One’s for the Girls.” My daughter heard the 3rd verse as “This is for all you girls about 42, throwing panties into the fountain of youth.
brownandserve @ 79
My first date with my first husband was at the Filmore in San Francisco, 1969 – It’s a Beautiful Day and Ike and Tina Turner.
paul @ 84
Thanks, paul!
“Life will be ecstasy!
You and me and Leslie
Groovin’ “
I too thought it was so.
And I am sure The Nefarious Leslie will agree!
I distinctly heard
“where the deer, and the antel O’Play”
CTBob and Spazeboy: Wow, great video there guys! I would love to see Ned be a candidate again and would gladly work for him again!
see
http://www.kissthisguy.com/
brownandserve @ 79
Dino Valenti!
I loved It’s a Beautiful Day! I had a high school girlfriend who came back from her dad’s in SF with that disc and we listened to it over an over and over.
It was years until I found out the correct lyrics, instead of “there’s a bathroom on the right” were really, “there’s a bad moon on the rise”.
My first true love used to put earphones on me and make mad passionate love to me while I listened to “White Bird” and WAR’s “All Day Music” — woo hoo!!
A small boy whom I love very very much and who has a fetish for large sun umbrellas has a favorite song I sing to him very often, but I have to sing what he first heard and with a straight face and I don’t know if I can ever sing it the way it should go, ever:
The pale moon was rising above the green mountains,
The sun was declining beneath the blue sea; When I strayed with my love by the clear crystal fountain
That stands in the beautiful vale of Broll-ee.
My mom thought the line from Elton John’s “Yellow Brick Road” went “Someone shaved my wife tonight, Sugar Bear.” And from then on she didn’t like his music because she thought he wrote crap.
Yes, well, when you’ve just got in from Illinois you are looking more for a bathroom on the right than a bad moon on the rise.
LindaR @ 100
CCR!
My latest and greatest is from Counting Crows “Sullivan Street.”
“I’m almost drowning in her seed…”
Which, of course, is:
“I’m almost drowning in her SEA…”
paul @
84
I was actually a little excited that I’d scrolled through 80 comments and no one had mentioned that yet. That was going to be my contribution. Phooey.
Somewhere I have a book by that same name, “Scuse me while I kiss this guy”. The pictures are *hilarious*.
My best friend Susie spent the night at my house in 7th grade, and we listened to the tiny transistor radio almost all night.
That morning we heard what sounded like the beginning bars of “(I can’t get no) Satisfaction” and were really abashed to find out…
it was my dad’s electric razor from the next room.
My father had a rough depression upbringing on the Southern Oregon Coast. The Baptist minister who lovingly fostered him and his sister had to break it to him that in “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” — it wasn’t
“God damned sinners reconciled.”
That’s right up there with the little boy who explained the roly poly fellow in his nativity drawing — That’s Round John Virgin.
When my son first learned the ABCs, he would end it like this, “Now I know my ABCs, next time, no more ABCs.”
A gay pair of guys, put up a parkin’ lot
Olive, the other reindeer.
-GSD
OT, but I just watched the video link put up by CTBob. Ned Lamont. This is such a sweet sweet view of the man. I say that in the best way.
Misunderstood lyrics? Try “Donkey Serenade”. Or Spike Jones. Or “Begin the Beguine”.
Might as well face, your dick is a glove.
-GSD
Oklahoma Kiddo and Everhopeful: I’m offically jealous. Y’all caught It’s A Beautiful Day live. Back in the day. OK…agree with you on Hot Summer Day. Also, have always liked Time Is. And, of course, White Bird. I introduced a friend of mine to that album some time in the early ’90s. He’ll still break out singing “White Bird” once in a while.
LindaR @
90
See?! See?!
I must say, that moment of sudden resolution—that Escher moment? that Homerifying clarity? Other ideas?—almost makes the accompanying mortification worthwhile.
Valley Girl @ 109
And I am still smarting about the treatment Mr. Lamont got from Senator Clinton during the campaign.
I’ve always wanted a place to share this. Smashing Pumpkins, Disarm. The actual lyric is “Inside of me and such a part of you… “
what I STILL hear is “sodomy is such a part of you”
startles me every time.
This is a great thread, I’m dying laughing at most of these!
my sister would completely butcher lyrics and was tone deaf–too many to name, but mostly bob seger songs–and would be singing full force on every song on the radio when we would be cruisin around in my 68 ford falcon in late 1970’s……what a riot…….she now listens to country music and finally gets the lyrics right…..she finally started reading the liner notes…….and teaches 9th grade english…she just visited and we were cracking up about it…used to drive my precise-self crazy when she did it…..she would argue that she was right, and oh how not right she was…..i am cracking up remembering it……..
friend had a daily calendar of mis-heard lyrics, many of them are still up on their refrigerator…..
and-
ok kiddo, i left you a compliment on last thread at 190.
I haven’t read all the ones above this one, so this may be common…but for the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why Credence was singing “There’s a bathroom on the right.”
ROTFLMAO!
vincula @ 115
Oh the humiliation – until this minute, I thought that’s what the lyric was. No wonder my kids always looked at me funny…
My mom thought that Kiss’s “Ladies Room” was “three feet in the baby pool”. But then she also watched a vasectomy on one of the science/health channels for five minutes before she realized what she was looking at: “That looks familiar . . . is that a dog?”
I’m trying to remember some of the misheard lyrics of my time but can’t remember anything actually funny. I’ve confused words and jumbled words for sure but I dont remember totally changing lyrics except in cases of where I do so on purpose. Hmmm…definitely got to do some thinking on this one.
Cozumel @ 119
The original three-way.
these are great! Love the “sinners reconcile”.
And then there are intentionally perverted lyrics. One of my college friends changed the words of a lot of songs, and I can’t hear Bananarama’s song “I’m Your Venus” without these lyrics:
She’s got it! Yeah baby, she’s got it!
I’m your p*nis, I’m on fire, your desire!”
Alright…my brother just turned me on to this site. Go check it out…it is friggin’ hilarious. Really!! Amazing!!! Not pimping…just in awe…and it’s almost on topic. Trust me!!!!
http://www.dylanhearsawho.com/
For many decades I thought the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” was an Australian cowboy song, mishearing “Jai Guru Dev” as “Jackaroo Dave” – some sort of cowboy from Down Under, obviously!
everhopeful @ 88
Ah yes. The Fillmore, Avalon, Carousel Ballroom, The Family Dog, The Cow Palace, ‘The Stick’ (Candle Stick Park, The Beatles).
Celtic Music @ 112
Well, while I liked It’s a Beautiful Day, I’m more with brownandserve – BIG Quicksilver fan – I wore out those albums.
Another big favorite of mine, from a bit later on, Willie De Ville – well, actually Mink De Ville – yowza!
GSD @ 111
or, might as well face it, you’re a dickhead in love. (another one of my friend’s perverted lyrics.)
come to think of it, the original country music hit, the Carter Family’s version of “Wildwood Flower” is one misheard lyric after the other, on their part.
.
The song is an old Victorian parlor song, but the Carters never saw the actual lyric sheet. the actual line is “the pale oleander, whose eye looks so blue.”
Oral tradition baby…
PA Lady, I originally thought “S’cuse me while I kiss this guy” *was* what Hendrix was singing.
pny @
106
that’s hilarious.
Marie Roget @
82
There is a bird called a Pelican,
And his beak holds more than his belly can.
He holds enough fish in his beak for a week,
And I don’t know how in the Hellican.
My daughter used to ask me to sing “Rock-a-Baby Treetop”.
ValleyGirl re Ned Lamont: Yeah!
In the movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, the Samuel Jackson character sings “I’m not talking ’bout the linen, and I don’t want to change your mind” Sounded fine to me ’til the Geena Davis character corrected him “moving in, not the linen”.
LindaR @ 123
I guess, still…LOLOLOLOL
Interested Observer @ 55
And then, many years later, STP sang that very line…
Oklahoma kiddo @127:
And don’t forget Winterland – saw Springsteen there for the first time in ‘78 and fell in love.
Also saw the Beatles at the Cow Palace in ‘64 – my daddy took all the little girls in the family and in the neighborhood.
pny @ 99
This one keeps cracking me up *s* (wiping a tear)
everhopeful @ 128
The late great Dino Valenti. QSMS. “Have another hit… of fresh California Sunshine”
http://www.penncen.com/quicksilver/valente/
whenever i want to get a rise out of my buddy i sing the theme song to “firefly” with my own lyrics. “take my hand, take a stand, fly me to uzbekistan”. guaranteed to produce an anguished cry from whatever part of the apartment he’s hanging out in.
“firefly” and “the wire”. now that’s tv.
For all the Olbermann fans this was over at Raw Story in the Anti-Olbermann site shutting down story. It should be popular with all you Plamealcoholics:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0302.html
BobbyG @
23
Thanks for sharing that, Bobby. I got a giggle out of the Bono story. And I have the same side drawer.
Well, for years my son thought that the phrase from Star Wars was “The Forest be with you”
everhopeful @ 140
I could never, ever forget Winterland. ;0)
I grew up listening to Billy Joel. My friend used to sing “Only the good Tye Young” as if Billy was singing about a man named Tye Young. He didn’t believe us that the name of the song was “Only the Good Die Young”.
I think he was in a Catholic state of denial…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZgmWwMheXkk
hey Brendancalling! welcome again.
I hope I can say this without it being taken the wrong way… and it is a compliment… but this post is “Christy does Late Nite” ;)
A friend at work thought Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” started out with, “A little to soft,
coulda used a few browns”…
Reverse Barometer @ 68
My father taught me that one when I was little. He used to sing it all the time.
I cannot make out lyrics in songs, which is probably why I stick to instrumentals. I knew “Blinded by the Light” could not contain the sentence “Wrapped up like a douche“, but that’s all I could hear.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 94
everhopeful @ 128
I have “Happy Trails” on the turntable as I type this.
Who Do You Love? LOL
PA_Lady @ 87
Hell, Kenny Rogers sings it half the time as “four hundred children…”. (Though my favorite misheard version thereof is “four hundred children and a crotch that won’t heal.” Well, no wonder!)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 141
Wow, OK – thank you!
When I was a kid, I used to think there was a Christmas song just for me: “Carolyn, Carolyn through the woods, Christmas bells are ringing”
carolyn urban @ 155
Well, it was just for you!
Twisted Martini @
50
Why, Twisted? Everything okay?
Renee in Ohio @ 131
LOL! Well, I don’t feel so bad now.
mayan @ 125
If it weren’t for lyric sites, I wouldn’t have a clue what Dylan was saying. It always sounded like mumbles to me.
Supposedly the song Inagadadevita was a drug addled, blurbed version of the original name…In the Garden of Eden.
Phoenix Woman @ 153
Sweeeet Jesus! I have tears running down my face . . . :)
This may very well be my favorite thread all week. I needed this giggle. Thanks, guys.
I was told by a musician that this is a joke.
I’m reffering to Dylan Hears a What.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 160
CHS- after the week you’ve put in, you deserve a few.
Phoenix Woman @ 153
Oh Jeebus! That’s a good one! I can’t stop laughing!
PA_Lady @ 120
I am SO glad I’m not the only one. Everyone I’ve mentioned it to just thinks I have a dirty mind.
Dr. Rickles @ 126
You mean it’s not Jackaroo Dave??!!
motherlowman@121: This is the best laugh I’ve had all week. “Looks familiar…is that a dog?”
After four hundred children, no wonder she won’t heal.
Brownandserve @152:
I’m so jealous! Now I’ll have to go see if I can find that CD online somewhere – gotta hear those songs again!
worked in rock’n’roll production for a lot of years. one of my favorite moments was overhearing jackson browne ask steve miller “what the hell IS a “pompetus”??
as it was my rock’n’roll days, i have no memory of the answer.
vincula @ 166
No one ever told me I was singing it wrong, so maybe they think that’s what it is too – that or they enjoyed a silent laugh at me.
Judge Walton’s Memorandum suggesting Libby’s lawyers should have had Cheney testify.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0302.html
PDF file of Memorandum:
http://www.rawstory.com/images…..randum.pdf
“Money for nothing and your checks for free.”
That’s what I thought it was until now!
sigh.
everhopeful @ 170
beware, there are some real dismal Quicksilver reissues as well
well I admit I was stoned but Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” always sounded like ” Angel… where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?”
I once saw a comedian refer to his messed up lyric moment as:
“Oh, Big Old Jed had a light on
don’t get me too far away”
give up?
Steve Miller,
Oh, Oh big ol’ jet airliner
Don’t carry me too far away
Oh I love that Ned video too. Thanks CT Bob and Spazeboy.
everhopeful @ 170
Mona By Quicksilver Messenger Service
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpTGM74dbuQ
I misspent my youth (and much of my adult years) clerking in record stores (remember record stores?)
One day a woman came in to the Hazel Park, MI Harmony House looking for a song, “Every Birthday Cake”
No one knew it.
Finally, in frustration (and out of key) she sang
“Every birthday cake – I’ll be watching you”
Yep – the Po-lice reinvented.
I’ve finally figured out that the reason I keep getting EPU’d is because I read through every damned comment and when I finally get a word in, it’s the last f***ing one. So, I’m just jumping in. I have no idea what’s been said. And no lyrics either. I’m with somebody up above; never get any right. Might have something to do with the wine.
Oh can’t you see
you belong to me
I’m a pool hall ace
with every breath you take.
Also, Hotel California. (Though this one isn’t real.)
This just starting happening for me the last few weeks, but Steve Miller’s (actually Paul Pena’s) “Big ‘ol Jet Airliner” is now “Big ‘ol Wells the Liar.”
Don’t carry me to far away
Oh, oh, oh, big ‘ol Wells the liar, cuz it’s here that I got to stay.
(at least through another weekend, Teddy.) Still hopefull next week Wells will be singing another Miller song, “Take the Money and Run.”
CelticMusic: mr spiderpaws still plays with the violinist from Beautiful Day every now and again…
When I was about 5 or 6, I liked Sinatra and I always sang “…the yet is best to come…”. First everyone thought it was funny. Then they got annoyed when it continued. Still later, people wondered that maybe I was dyslexic. Though not dyslexic, it turned out to be the earliest obvious sign that I had a mild learning disability.
mack @ 175
Although it doesn’t skip, my ancient vinyl had a goodly amount of clicks and pops so a new CD might still be an improvement. “Who Do You Love” is still playing BTW at 25:22 it is an entire side.
I had a 68 ford falcon…my girl friend and I would blare the radio singing the meat loaf tune “before we go any further, do you love me, will you love me forever, do you need me will you never leave me, will you make me so happy for the rest of my life..will you take me away, will you make me your wife….I gotta know right now…I couldn’t take it any longer, lord I went crazy, when the feeling came upon me like a ton of gravey, I started swearing to my god and my mother’s gravey I would love you till the end of time, I swore I would love you till the end of time.
I thought there was something really sick about mixing sex and mother’s gravey…but we would sing it to the tops of our lungs and back then we didn’t have fancy cd players or tape decks in our car…so if the song came on the radio…it meant we would meet some good looking guy.
I loved that falcon.
Again: there you go. Now try it again, this time at the beginning of a thread.
Duval #177: We musta been on the same Steve Miller wavelength….hehe
hesikastor @
98
This is weird.
…it isn’t Wrapped Up Like A Douche????????? Am so disappointed!!!
carolyn urban @ 178
I’m glad you liked it; we had a great time interviewing Ned.
1984 Purple Rain – I was studying all summer to get through my Physics labs, and really struggling. Newton’s laws anyone?
I kept hearing Prince sing, “When doves collide.”
katie jensen @ 187
Well, now I’ve got to Windex the monitor! Too funny!
PBS has a Lovin’ Spoonful special on now. That is a band with clear lyrics.
Connecticut Bob @ 191
CTBob- almost brought tears to my eyes, for what might have been. Ned is such a class act.
Thought it was about a travelling revival with nasty ol Reverend Bluejeans
brownandserve
another hallmark of california psychedelia, the Byrds’ Untitled was nicely remastered, expanded and reissued a couple years back
Clarence White
nuff said
My brother and I always like to substitute the word drugs for the word love in any song.
- “Might as well face it you’re addicted to drugs”
- “When a maaaaaan drugs a woman”
- “And IIIIIIIIIYYIIIII will alwaaaaays druuuuuug youuuuuuuu”
and so on and so forth
hesikastor @
98
POLICE? Help!
Exceedingly late to this party:
The Cars’ “Touch and Go” –
“I’m flying like a semen kite…”
It was cement.
‘ere, ‘ave another hit, of Fresh Air.
Cozumel @ 179
Wow – I think my life just passed before my eyes!
Dru @ 136
Ook, I always thought that was the line too!
But then again, I thought another lyric was “All the small things/in Drew Carey’s Sebring”
watertiger @ 201
707 as the Pepsi flows freely through his nose!
This is the best one yet!
mack @ 198
Thanks for the suggestion. Now I need to replace…
Illinois Speed Press
Gun
Wishbone Ash
and my complete Uriah Heep collection
LOL
FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 199
OK, THAT had me busting up…
sooometimes druuugs don’t feel like it shooouuuld…
I drug you to drug me…
drug in an elevator, livin it up while your going down
brownandserve
you might want to visit strawberrybricks
hte book should be done by summer
(full disclosure – it’s a friend’s project)
bdu @ 207
You got the hang of it, you got it! It works for them all, its a universal replacement.
Eagles tune…Life in the fast lane
He was a hard headed man, He was brutally handsome,
she was terminally grey (real words: she was terminally pretty).
Today I like to think that I am terminally grey. (silver haired that I am.)
well, I’m off to bed. I hope you all have a great night, filled with silly lyrics to great songs!
Valley Girl @ 196
VG – Yeah, he enjoyed doing it, and he really got into the spirit of the moment. He completely improvised that little speech.
I always wondered why he wasn’t talking about the linen. Now I know!
This thread and all the laughter it has brought is a friggin perfect way to start off the weekend. Thank you, CHS.
Rob Zuber @ 213
I always thought it was the livin’, but movin’ in makes more sense, I suppose.
“My eyes of Georgia, no one ever laid a hand on you, my eyes of Georgia.”
And, MAN!, your JHS speakers must have been lousy.
My favorite…
My husband used to call Rusted Roots’ Send Me on My Way “The monkey song” because he thought the chorus went “Simian Away”.
By the way, substitution of the word love for drugs works in the reverse way too!
- “I want a new love! One that wont make me quit!”
- “You are the perfect loooove the perfect loooove the perfect loove”
- “I dont like the love bu the love likes meee dont like the love the love the love the love”
asparagus in my my cereal bowl—-
originally thought it was-
we are theorists in an ephemeral world……..
really
Two lyrics which could not be made sillier by mistake:
“Someone left the cake out in the rain. I don’t think that I can make it….”
All of “I Will Survive”
This isn’t a lyric but when my daughter was 2 she was helping my husband make dinner.
She stood on a chair beside him and asked questions about what he was doing (and turned out to be a pretty good cook in the end).
She asked him what something was and he told her “Avocado”. She immediately reached out and hugged him and they have been “‘ave a cuddles” ever since.
dmac…that is exactly what I thought the words were too. I swear…the ephemeral world…I had to look the word up to see if the darn song made any sense.
Just took my hound out. Amazing beautiful night here in VT. Nearly 5 ft of fresh powder in the last two weeks, full moon shining through a haze of snow clouds and utterly still and silent.
Night folks. Thanks for the laughs.
Everhopeful @203: “Wow…I think my life just passed before my eyes.”
Same feeling I had when I followed Cozumel’s link.
dmac @ 219
THANKS
I was seriously challenged trying to figure out what the post title ws referring to…
(not the sharpest knife in the drawer, am I?)
mack @ 208
Fascinatin’
Thanks.
night y’all
i got the walking pneumonia and the boogie woogie blues
well the first half, and need more rest sez the doc
Oooo…this could be good news. Hopefully Mr. Waxman will live up to the hype. You just knew Halliburton had to be invloved in the Walter Reed scandal.
Fini: That’s a fun game. Especially with Roxy Music’s “Love is the Drug”
Drug is the Love….hehe
I found the misheard lyrics book and posted a couple of the pictures here.
spiderpaws@184: Do they play public venues? If so, where?
brownandserve – What is your favorite wishbone ash album?
Brother-in-law thought “Rock the Casbah” was “rock the cashbox.”
Then again, when I was little, I thought “…for the Bible told me so…” was “…for the sign-oh told me so…”; and sang it loud and clear in church.
and katie jenson–
my first car was a 68 ford falcon in the late 70’s/i mentioned that earlier, riding around with my lyrically challenged and tone-deaf sister, i loved that car too!!!!!!
Eureka Springs, AR @ 232
I think it’s just called “Wishbone Ash”. It has a wishbone with a burned end on the cover.
On first hearing the Donna Summer song, I thought it was: “She’s a Whore for the Money.”
When I was a young kid I thought the Carol King song (sung by the Ronettes, I think) was
“Will Used to Love Me Tomorrow.” I figured this Will was quite a guy, he functioned in past and future at the same time.
Sorry for the OT, but this is too funny:
“A website set up to counter the nightly broadcast of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has thrown in the towel after NBC Universal extended the contract of the former sports newscaster, whose nightly Countdown program has seen its ratings grow in the past year.”
Full article here: http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0302.html
bonkers @ 229
Perfect!
Celtic Music: there is no “They” anymore, just that violinist working at an editing house in SF…I’ll ask mr paws when he comes back to town what the deal is with the rest of them and let you know.
cliffradz @ 235
ohoh! That’s what I thought too!
(waving to spidey) i would like to know also. thanks
brownandserve @ 235
Blast from the past. I am ordering it now. tks
Waving back(nice night, eh?) Just remember…they are all geezers now
I heard “[dirty deeds] and they’re done dirt cheap” as “. . .and the Thunder Chiefs.”
Speaking of funny lyrics, long before Weird Al Yakovic, for those of us who grew up in Phoenix, there was Commodore Condello and the Salt River Navy Band singing the classic “Soggy Cereal.”
cliffradz @ 236
Ha! Where there’s a Will, there’s a way, I guess…
My brother once got his fellow brass players, in a public concert, to add a 5th halleluia in the Messiah.
Needless to say the conductor was startled.
Dirty jeans and they wont come clean
Dirty jeans and they wont come clean
-Bon Scott
did you hear the one about fresh Pach doing Late Nite upstairs
dmac @ 234
Hello! My girlfriend and I drove around in the British Green Valient1
g’nite all–
and forgot to mention, most butchered song by my sister was a
bob seger song–
cat-man-doooo
full blast….and tone-deaf…….embarassing for her for me to repeat her version of the lyrics, but think about it, can’t understand one word of it……except-if we ever get outta here, she butchered that, too….
this was fun….
and for years i have watched video of jimi, still sounds like he’s sayin ’scuse me while i kiss this guhy, even though i know the right words.
Spiderpaws: By “they” I meant Mr. Spiderpaws and the violinist. Didn’t figure the original band was still playing. But I guess you answered my question. You’re in SF and I’m in NYC, so I don’t guess they’re playing any local clubs. Anyway, hope they’re having a blast and making great music. Guess we’re all close to geezerdom now.
Whenever I hear Cream’s “White Room”, the phrase “platform ticket” always sounds to me like “platform dickhead”. Also, the first time I heard the chorus “All We Like Sheep” from Handel’s Messiah, I couldn’t help hearing “Oh, We Like Sheep!”. (I’m going to hell for that last one, I’m sure.)
Andy @ 252
Yep. I’ll probably meet ya there.
“Silent Night” Child looking at a creche asks:
Where’s Round John Virgin?
“A-Hoooooo Where was the Thunder”
It wasn’t until college (bout 10 years ago” that I realized this was “Werewolves of London”
Andy @ 252
Don’t get me started on hymns that are mis-heard . . . the night ain’t long enough for that!
when i heard my friend belt out …
“Climb every woman…!” … i laughed ’til i cried. i still laugh. i’m laughing now.
ahem.
~itunkala, who has not yet had a chance to introduce herself … (shout out to my volunteer state colleagues!)
Rob Zuber @
151
And I still do, to this very day!
I thought the Four Tops were so broken hearted they were singing “Burn Me Dead!”
and like a some other dummies I’ve known, I thought Clearwater Credences big hit was
“Theres the Bathroom on the Right”
From U2:
Ooo, bork bork bork, the Swedish thing
this says more about the skippy’s than we would like it to, but mrs. skippy always thought the hollies old song was “all i need is some lsd and to love you.”
while skippy himself thought that when aretha spelled “respect,” she said
“r e s p e c t
find out what it means to me
r e s p e c t
take some pcp!
sock it to me sock it to me…”
The Hooters:
“Pizza’s gonna fall on you!”
But nothing was as funny as being in the car at the moment my mother, trying to be cool and sing along to my brother’s music, realized that the Kinks’ “Lola” was about a transvestite.
I’m really late to the thread, but I wanted to delurk to add my favorite lyrics, sung by my son when he was four years old, to The Twelve Days of Christmas:
Five Golden Things
Four Falling Birds
Three Friendships
Two Little Ducks
And A Car Thief In A Tree
It was in the early 80’s and my girlfriend and I were managing a little island bar in Canada, eh. The ancient clock on the wall advertised some local jewelery store called ‘Les Dance Jewelers’. The clock had something wrong with the second hand. It would rise to the 12 and promptly fall, swinging back and forth at the 6 position. It would sit there for 30 seconds before resuming its path to the 12 again.
As this was 1983, MTV , the latest craze , was being picked up by the 6 foot dish on the roof and beamed to our bar.
I remember the bartender had the hot’s for David Bowie, and when ever ‘Let’s Dance’ would pop up in rotation, she’d crank up the volume and all serving would come to a stop until the song was over.
To this day when I hear that song, I remember Sylvia giggling and twitching to the screen, the locals whining for drinks, David Bowie blasting out ‘Les Dance’ with the clocks second hand dropping in sync with the music.
That works pretty well actually… asparagus… in my cereal bowl… it’s got a beat and you can dance to it… :)
does anybody know what the lyrics to “Blinded By the Light” actually say? i’ve never seen them and i’ve wondered for more than twenty years ….
fahrender,
wrapped up like a deuce.
google manfred mann
fahrender @ 266
The original lyrics, on Springsteen’s first album, are “…cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night…” or “wrapped up like a deuce…” (I believe both are present in the song). The important fact is that the key word is “deuce”, not “douche”.
I see that Mark beat me to it (and that Mannfred Mann changed Springsteen’s lyrics). Anyway, “deuce” is the word.
I was a young Puerto Rican kid growing up in NYC in the early 70’s. I loved Sesame Street and (although I did not know why at the time) could relate to it very well because there were no other programs on TV that reflected me. As a 4 y.o., I was keenly aware that the guest singer, Jose Feliciano, was Puerto Rican like me because my Mom told me. When I started school, the song “Jose, can you see by the dawn’s early light” made sense to me.
This is from WAY back — circa 1967. I was in Jr. High and had quite the 45 record collection. Anyway, I heard a song on the radio that I loved. I ran to the record store, with my 98 cents for the record. The person asked me, “What’ll it be?” I said “Africa Benny.” He didn’t know the song. I sang a bit and he burst out laughing. I thought he was laughing at my singing. Turns out the song was Abergavenny. I’d never heard of it!
“Taking a trip out to Abergavenny, hoping the weather is fine ….”
My brother, 8 years old at the time and in LOVE with large freight trucks sings along with Jimmy Buffet ” wasting away in my old peterbilt…looking for my lost shaker of salt”
Check John Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle. Search for ‘mondegreens.’ He’s been watching this vital lyrics issue for about 30 years. The Beatles: The girl with colitis goes by… CCR: There’s a bathroom on the right. etc.
I first heard Van Halen’s Panama as
Manimal! Manimal! Ah Hah!
Also used to play in bar bands, and purposely change lyrics to see the reaction.
Example; Santana’s Evil Ways:
“You got to change your underwear, Baby!
Before I stop jumpin you
You get em changed
Or even twerps never get in you”
We knew it was a bad night if no one noticed.
this has got to be one of the funniest threads ever!
This was on a road trip with 3 highschool girlfriends back in the ’70’s. We were all singing along to the radio — American Pie was on and one girl sang:
(instead of “in the gym.”)
We were dyin’!
Thanks for all the hearty laughs!
Since no one will ever see #275, I’ll tell a tale on my eldest son. We had passed through many states on a family vacation while he was still in kindergarten. When we returned home, he sang loudly with others in his class with one exception: “My country Tennessee…”! So Tony, this one’s for you. Now anyone who gets this far in FDL posts this day/night will know my favorite story of your childhood goofs. LOL
OMG! #268, Andy: It’s not douche? Really? And I’ve never even wondered, I just knew it was. LOL
Once back in Jr. High, I made a bet with a guy who claimed that the lyrics to the Ohio Players song “Love Rollercoaster” were
“Join the Cub Scouts”
I think I won his lunch money or something.
Good grief, Stewart Copland was an amazing drummer. But what really stands out about the misheard lyric in TFA is that even if you have a megaphone the size of A&M Records putting out your message, you can’t guarantee that you’ll be heard with any fidelity.
Now, when you’re not being heard and you want to be heard, I figure you have two options: say the same thing louder, or turn around and do-as-you-would-be-done-by listen to your audience. (If you’re not being heard and you don’t mind what was misheard because the albums are selling, you just make another album, Pete Townshend.)
When it comes to political campaining, if I were smart and not terminally lazy, I’d go and listen to what my audience told me they wanted to hear before I said anything – which the repugs have done with their well researched framing, and – perhaps – Hilary has done with her Listening Tour. So far it seems to me that Barack’s just old-fashioned lucky, but with time he’ll have to work like the rest.
Bah. I am become EPU. Unheard, again. WTF.
That Elton John Classic:
“Foldin’ clothes with Tony Danza
Count the head lice on the highway”
(just say it out loud)
Here’s my contributions, and I knew I was hearing the lyrics wrong, sometimes for decades, which is why I include the whole lyrics here, to emphasize just why I was sure the lyrics I heard were wrong, and didn’t fit in with the correct lyrics
“Misty Mountain Hop” by Led Zeppelin
The Actual lyric is “hey would we care, to all get in line, get in line”
I heard it as, “hey whoopie cat, to all get in line, get in line”
Incidentally, that’s how I came up with the nickname for my cat
“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath
The actual lyric is “treating people just like pawns in chess, wait til their judgment day comes”
I heard it as, “treating people just like sausages, wait til their judgment day comes”
“Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley
The Actual lyric is “We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out, because I love you too much baby”
I heard it as “we call him the tramp, I can’t walk out, because I love you too much baby”
More Elton from Don’t Let The Sun Come Down On Me :
“I can’t take, no more Oggy Dogness…”
So glad to pass along the link to Jon Carroll’s fine collection of lore on the ethical treatment of mondegreens.
http://www.sfgate.com/columnis…..eens.shtml
An ally, and he has fun.
need to visit http://www.kissthisguy.com – lots of entries for spirits in the material world.
my favorite from that sight – from “I’m a Believer” – ‘I thought of my ugly shoes as hairy snails’
Speaking of “I’m a Believer,” I thought for years that Mickey Dolenz was singing:
“When I needed sunshine on my brain”
rather than
“When I needed sunshine, I got rain.”
That part’s much clearer in the Smashmouth cover.
P.S. Given a combination of a cheap radio and the stressed and unstressed words in the refrain, I thought Sting was singing, “Our spirits are material.”
I’m only at # 122 and I’m laughing so hard I’m tearing up. This stuff is too funny. It has happended to all of us – a universal experience. Thanks for all your wonderful comments and for thinking of this topic.
I always thought that in Live and Let Die, the line was
And in this everchanging world in which we live in . . .
whereas it appears it is actually
And in this everchanging world in which we’re livin’ . . .
Department of Redundancy Department — false alarm.
It took me a looong time to find out what they’re singing in the Flintstones theme —
Let’s ride with the family down the street
Through the courtesy of Fred’s two feet.
Thought it was something like
To see a fate complete
which never made any sense to me, always wrote it off as one of life’s mysteries.
The book Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy has some good stuff in it.
OK, now we’re getting to where I can contribute. I’ll join MarchDancer from 276 and tell tales of my son–younger in this case. He was 37 this past year, and I remember when he first started to take notice of professional athletes, his favorite basketball player was “Carene AB-dul JAB-ber”.
Not lyrics, but it is always good for a laugh by all in the family. It’s one of those things we enjoy discussing every so often. This has been a GREAT thread.
I’ve loved Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” since I was a kid 30-some years ago. Up until a few months ago I thought the words were:
“Admiral Halsey notified me,
He had to have a bath or he couldn’t get to sleep”
in reality:
“Admiral Halsey notified me,
He had to have a berth or he couldn’t get to sea”
I like my version better….. ;)
As a 5-year old in Sunday School, I used to think “round yon virgin” meant Mary was very pregnant…
Enya – “The Memory Of Trees”.
I always hear her sing, “wheel tab”.
way into EPU territory
For several years Mr. NJP and I both misheard the lyrics to “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads as “I hate people when they’re not sublime”
[it’s “I hate people when they’re not polite”].
I had even graphed a sampler to cross stitch with the misheard lyrics [which we still prefer to the line that David Byrne actually wrote].
njprogressive @ 293
I love it!!! You should still do it.
obsolete @ 290
You have totally enlightened me. I have ALWAYS thought it was the lyrics you heard.
I myself continue to have no idea what “Killer Queen” (by Queen) is about or what the lyrics really are. Lyrics.com and other sites conflict with each other. Is there ANYone who really knows? Please tell. My little one and I listen to it every week.
presque vu @ 288
I better stop commenting in epuland on other’s posts! But THANK YOU for explaining the Live and Let Die lyric. It always has just annoyed me, and now I am free, free, free to enjoy the song!
One of life’s little mysteries, indeed! I’ve accepted so many lyrics by just thinking, “Those crazy artistic people! God love ‘em!”
There would be a lot fewer mistaken lyrics if these people could actually freaking sing properly. Most of these idiots have such poor diction it’s astonishing.
When the judge read the legal standard to the Libby jurors I thought I heard “treasonable lout”.
My husband calls it Chronic Lyricosis and I’be got it bad.
So enjoyed these comments!
Legions of children in San Antonio recited these words everyday in school:
I pledge allegiance to the United States, one nation under God with liberty and “Joskes” for all.
Joske’s was a venerable department store, dow the alley from the Alamo, and now closed.
Good comments, all.
I thought Elton John was saying “Bring another pair of shoes along” in Rocketman. My brother-in-law said the line was “Burning out his fuse out there alone”. I like mine better.
ANYWAY – CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT LINE THE “ASPARAGUS IN MY CEREAL BOWL” IS SUPPOSED TO BE?????
David Bowie’s Suffragette City: A huge music fan friend of mine asked me, the Bowie fan, about the line where he sings “the smell of black chicks” has put my spine out of place. He was looking for “this mellow-thighed chick”, of course. Snicker.
Gin Blossom’s Found Out About You, I heard as Oksana Bauil which I knew made no sense. Cause for much derision from teenage offspring.
ESaund @ 301
“I swear it’s in my material world” … I think. Not entirely sure about the “I swear” part. :-)
ESaund @ 301
“We are spirits in the material world” (from the Police’s “Living in the Material World”).
Oops, the song title is “Spirits in the Material World” (no “Edit This Comment” link any more, for some reason).
Mayan @125,
Thanks a bunch for the LP soundtrack.
Now I can play my CD’s and between the tracks I hear the needle on the record and I am 40 years younger!
What a strange joy.
I miss LPs.
My five year old daughter paraded around at the family reunion singing “Strut, shout, cut it out, you pukka pukka women” at the top of her lungs. (Sheen Easton, Strut – words should be “strut, pout, put it out, that’s what you want from women”)
Riesz Fischer @
18
Gosh, when I was little I thought it was “sleep in heavenly peas”
Don’t drink goat’s milk, what do you do?
Don’t drink goat’s milk, what do you do?