Comments on: Misunderstood Song Lyrics

Question: Misunderstood Song Lyrics

mudpuppie — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 19:57:27 -0800

I'm compiling a list of misunderstood song lyrics as a gift for a friend who has an obsession with, well, misunderstood song lyrics. [...]

Some of my own gaffes, most of them from childhood:

"Go, spiders in the sky!" (Ghost Riders in the Sky)

"Because night, we are night divine!" (The BeeGees "Night Fever, Night FEEver")

"With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'/You could be an Arthur Lincoln/If you only had a brain" (Which convinced me at an early age that "Arthur Lincoln" was a great American thinker).

Can you add to the list? I need the real song name and artist.

By: ALongDecember

ALongDecember — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 19:59:34 -0800

Amiright has a whole site full of them.

By: socratic

socratic — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:03:41 -0800

For the first too many years of my life, I thought that the song "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys was about bombing Iran... Probably some weird invasion of my mind by the Iran hostage crisis... Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran! Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran!

To this day, I don't know what the real lyrics of "Blinded by the light" are (Springsteen... "wrapped up like a douche"??!?) ...

By: ..ooOOoo....ooOOoo..

..ooOOoo....ooOOoo.. — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:04:58 -0800

Here are a couple more.
General - Kiss This Guy
80's Music - eightyeightynine.com

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:07:54 -0800

Excuse me while I kiss this guy.

The girl with colitis goes by.

Our Father, Harold be thy name.

By: gleuschk

gleuschk — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:11:57 -0800

One I just learned about: "She's so pop!-u-lar" instead of "Jeux sans frontieres" (Peter Gabriel). Apparently Kate Bush's lousy French pronunciation is to blame (like so much in this world).

By: ..ooOOoo....ooOOoo..

..ooOOoo....ooOOoo.. — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:12:48 -0800

My favorite is from "Every Breath You Take" from the Police.

I *still* hear "I'm a pool hall ace" rather than "How my poor heart aches".

By: stray

stray — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:16:34 -0800

Carly Simon's "Life is eternal" was "Life is a turnip" for years before someone clued me in.

And "I'm a genie in a bottle" by (ugh) Christina A. had a line: "You gotta rub me to ride me" which apparently is actually "You gotta rub me the right way" but potato potatoe.

By: eriko

eriko — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:25:07 -0800

"I will build a bathesphere
I will choose free will."

By: Boobus Tuber

Boobus Tuber — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:27:27 -0800

A friend of mine always hears Elton John's Tiny Dancer as Tony Danza.....

"Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza"...

By: O9scar

O9scar — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:30:58 -0800

A classic:
The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind.

Also:
I'm only happy when it rains. I'm only happy when I'm constipated.

By: mono blanco

mono blanco — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:34:50 -0800

From Help, Help Me Rhonda:

Ever since she left me I've had owls pukin' in my bed.

By: trharlan

trharlan — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:37:32 -0800

Maybe this will help.

By: littlegreenlights

littlegreenlights — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:58:07 -0800

My own farkup:
Elton John's Rocket Man, Rocket man burning out the shoes of paragon (rather than, of course, Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone).

By: Arch Stanton

Arch Stanton — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:04:54 -0800

An old SNL skit had Wayne's World doing a top ten misunderstood lyrics list. My google-fu didn't turn up anything, but I swear on my life it exists. I distinctly remember them getting Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth misheard as Electric Boobs.

By: rustcellar

rustcellar — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:18:25 -0800

Some of my own:

"Ah, the lightning bolt!" (for "ah, the night before" Beatles, "The Night Before")

"If you go carryin' pictures of Jim and Al" (for "If you go carryin' pictures of Chairman Mao" Beatles, "Revolution"; I certainly had never heard of Chairman Mao at the time)

"My sensitive manatee has gone down the drain" (for "Well my sense of humanity has gone down the drain" Dylan, "Not Dark Yet")

"This restless congregating don't mean no one no good" (for "It's a restless, hungry feeling that don't mean no one no good" Dylan, "One Too Many Mornings"; this time I always thought that mine was better)

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:20:37 -0800

I newgrouped alt.music.lyricsback in 1994 because I wanted to discuss this topic.

You can find an archive of posts about it here.

By: pzarquon

pzarquon — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:31:17 -0800

We'll keep on spending sunny days this way
We're gonna talk and laugh our time away
I feel it comin' closer day by day
Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie...

By: kindall

kindall — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:38:55 -0800

A friend of mine thought the song "Jump, Jive and Wail" was about drunk driving. Or, really, a drunk drivin' whale.

By: equipoise

equipoise — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:46:52 -0800

gleuschk, I thought it was "she's so popular" until right this minute, and I've only heard Peter Gabriel himself sing it.

I'm still convinced that Macy Gray is singing, "Though I try to hide it, it's clear, I wear goggles when you are not there."

And I thought REM sung, "the sea, it swallows" (a pretty way of talking about drowning) instead of "sweetness follows." You'd think that the song title would have given it away....

By: equipoise

equipoise — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:48:47 -0800

And I just remembered a friend who used to sing, "Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of preachers." Who needs peaches when there are so many yummy preachers out there?

By: gimonca

gimonca — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:51:33 -0800

For the first too many years of my life, I thought that the song "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys was about bombing Iran...

At the time, someone had the same idea.

By: arha

arha — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 22:30:02 -0800

The Exciters version of "Tell Him".

I know something about love,
I've got a woman in bed.

By: ibidem

ibidem — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:01:25 -0800

A classic from the 80s: Go-Go's', "Our Lips Are Sealed" is widely misheard as "Alex the seal"

That's all I've got, at the moment. Too tired.

By: kindall

kindall — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:07:44 -0800

thought it was "she's so popular" until right this minute, and I've only heard Peter Gabriel himself sing it.

Gabriel doesn't sing that part, it is, as gleuschk noted, Kate Bush.

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:13:50 -0800

In the song "Descendents" by The Descendents, I heard "We're looking for a few good men to generate speed, not light" instead of the actual "We're looking for a few good men, degenerates need not apply".

In the song "Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette, I heard "Like any uncharted terror, Tori Amos seemed greatly intriguing" instead of "Like any uncharted territory I must seem greatly intriguing".

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:14:20 -0800

There's a whole book of 'em.

By: sklero

sklero — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:37:42 -0800

"I can fly higher than any gull." (Wind Beneath My Wings)

"I'll never be your pizza burnin'." (Beast of Burden)

Oh, and I thought the "she's so popular/jeux sans frontieres" thing was "she's so funky, lord."

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 01:33:34 -0800

"I've got nothing to lose, except my mind" for "I got nothing to lose if I speak my mind." (I Don't Care Anymore - Phil Collins).

"After the poison summer has gone" for "after the boys of summer have gone." (The Boys of Summer - Don Henley).

"I ain't got time to die" for "I ain't that kind of guy." (Doctor, Doctor - the Robert Palmer Version)

Oh, and check out They Might Be Giants's version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." There are several verses of original lyrics like: "In the spaceship, the silver spaceship, the lion takes control...." I'm willing to bet that these were the lyrics the TMBG guys heard when they listened to the song as children.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:53:29 -0800

CCR - "There's a bathroom on the right."

Rolling Stones - "Heartbreaker, with your bowling ball..."

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:54:29 -0800

Secret Asian man

By: pookzilla

pookzilla — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 03:49:12 -0800

I never understood why my ex was amazed that "Rock the Casbah" was played on the radio until she informed me that the song was called "Fuck the Cashbar". The shareef don't like it...

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 04:35:03 -0800

"I'm the all-night drunk-driving wolf" from The Clash's "White Man in Hammersmith Palais".

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 04:41:06 -0800

one i wasted people's time with here on askme is esos muertos viven en el tango ("those dead live in the tango" or, perhaps, "the tango brings them to life") from this poem, set to music. i thought it was esos muertos viven en el campo ("those dead live in the country" - more blur than borges).

By: handee

handee — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 06:05:58 -0800

try these two -

http://robmanuel.blogspot.com/2005/01/u2-vertigo.html
http://www.rathergood.com/alf/

By: headspace

headspace — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:00:04 -0800

I swear that the chorus to Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness" is You get your monkey down with the sickness! rather than "Get up, come on get down with the sickness." Personally, I like my version better.

By: ramix

ramix — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:04:54 -0800

"No i can't forget the semen on your face as you were leaving..." (No i cant forget this evening, or your face as you were leaving - Mariah Carey, Without You)

"Jackie Chan's on me..." (Take a chance on me - Abba)

"I want your estrogen and your KISS" (I want your extra time and your KISS - Prince, KISS)

My personal favorite:
"Who you gonna call? Those bastards!" (Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! - Ray Parker Jr. Ghostbusters!)

By: jennyb

jennyb — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:10:12 -0800

My very favorite ever is from my significant other. When he was a kid, he heard Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name", which goes "Shot to the heart, and you're to blame. You give love a bad name" as:

SHAKA-LA-HAR
The world can wait!
You made love to a bad man!

Shakalahar! That kills me every time. And now that's how I sing it because it's a terrible song and at least that make it amusing.

By: whatideserve

whatideserve — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:32:08 -0800

I always thought Simon & Garfunkel were singing, " Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon / Going through the candidates to date," when they were actually singing "going to the candidates debate" (Mrs Robinson).

I still like my version better.

By: climalene

climalene — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 08:34:53 -0800

"Ceeereal...Oooh darling, cereal...come on and cereal." (Stir It Up by Bob Marley.)

(Boobus Tuber, you have the best username ever.)

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:23:37 -0800

If you will allow Hymns:

"Gladly the cross I'd bear"
becomes
"Gladly, the cross-eyed bear."

By: xo

xo — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:29:27 -0800

Bryan Adams' "Somebody": He says, "Thought I saw the Madonna, when you walked in the room..." and I heard, "Passed out in the garden, when you walked in the room..."

By: socratic

socratic — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:17:02 -0800

gimonca - "Bomb Iran" ... You've brought a tear to my eye and validated 30 years of angst and self-evaluation! :)

By: ttrendel

ttrendel — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:25:48 -0800

Instead of making out " would you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage" in Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, one of my friends heard it as " would you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a negro in a cage". I imagine that his image of PF was much different than that of the general public.

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:42:35 -0800

"Hello, hello, I'm in a place called OREGON..." ("in a place called vertigo," U2)

"How's about a date..." ("Eyes without a face," Billy Idol)

"Like a birthday, or a preview..." ("or a PRETTY VIEW," Duran Duran)

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 11:53:26 -0800

Gabriel doesn't sing that part, it is, as gleuschk noted, Kate Bush.

He often does, live certainly, and in various studio versions.

I still don't know what the "wrapped up like a douche" thing is supposed to actually be.

By: u.n. owen

u.n. owen — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:02:57 -0800

SLG, speaking of "cross-eyed bear," in my misspent adolescence listening to Alanis Morissette I misheard the same lyric the same way in "You Oughtta Know."

"It's not fair to deny me / oh, the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me / you you you oughtta know!"

I was like, yeah, dude, if he gave her a special stuffed animal he should totally let her keep it.

*hides head in shame*

By: spaghetti

spaghetti — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:57:45 -0800

Blinded by the Light would be:

Revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night

According to this guy, link courtesy of ..ooOOoo....ooOOoo..

By: dmo

dmo — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 13:56:37 -0800

My all time favorite is "hold my clothes and tie me down, sir" for "hold me closer tiny dancer".

By: c

Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:24:19 -0800

there are three whole books

By: WestCoaster

WestCoaster — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:09:48 -0800

Jon Carroll, an excellent columnist at the SF Chronicle, has had quite a few columns about these over the past years. A google search on

mondegreen "Jon Carroll"

has 177 hits, in case (after all the above great comments) you're still looking examples.

[Of course, you could just search on mondegreen; that's about 9000 hits]

By: Gucky

Gucky — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:18:14 -0800

There's an amazing Memorex TV commercial from the last 70s/early 80s that's often on "best of" collections of advertising.

The main character holds up misunderstood lyrics. The song "The Israelites" is heard as "My ears are alight."

Finding a copy of that might be a nice present in itself.

By: TeamBilly

TeamBilly — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 17:11:16 -0800

I still don't know what the "wrapped up like a douche" thing is supposed to actually be.

Revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night

Lots of people heard "wrapped up like a douche" (myself included) thanks to Manfred Mann's cover of that song. It's okay...but...

If you listen to Springsteen's original version, the chorus is a lot more coherent. It's also a better song.

I was 21 years old before I even knew that "Blinded by the Light" was, in fact, a Springsteen song. Boy did I feel dumb.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:26:35 -0800

I love this thread.

When I was a kid, and a Monkees fan, I thought the lyrics in Last Train to Clarksville that go "we'll have time for coffee-flavoured kisses" were "we'll have time for coffee Filet o'Fishes".

And my beloved insists that "You're the One That I Want" is "yugga leggala weg" (yugga leggala weggala weg, oo oo oo, honey).

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 20:47:12 -0800

Oh yeah, I forgot, but WTF is "the pompitus of love?"

By: bdave

bdave — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 21:51:32 -0800

23skidoo, I heard exactly that. Weird. Oh, and they have had a weekly series of Mondegreens in my Sunday paper for the past week or so. They're not all classics. I'll go look.

And fixedgear, Pompitus/pompatus. Drives me nuts.

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 22:42:49 -0800

I saw Billy Bragg perform around the time Talking to the Taxman About Poetry came out. He told us a folk musicologist had written about "Greetings to the New Brunette" and had mistaken "I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet" for "...when my semen is wet."

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 04:16:06 -0800

"It's cheaper London gas" (for "it's sheep we're up against," by The Housemartins).

By: Polonius

Polonius — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 09:59:33 -0800

Just yesterday I realized that the repeated line in "Glorified G" by Pearl Jam is "Glorified version of a pellet gun," not "Glorified version of a pelican." Which was helpful, because I was having a hell of a time all these years picturing some sort of enormous, shiny robot bird getting Eddie Vedder excited. Or Big Bird.

By: kindall

kindall — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 14:14:18 -0800

From "Eye of the Tiger": "And the last known survivor stops to spray in the night..." (that's "stalks his prey.")

By: Savannah

Savannah — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 14:20:58 -0800

I could have sworn Queen sung, in Bohemian Rhapsody, "rich men laugh--no, we will not let you go! Rich men laugh...", not "Bismullah" (or whatever). My husband thought this was hilarious, but I think my interpretation actually makes more sense.

By: Yelling At Nothing

Yelling At Nothing — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 15:46:22 -0800

'Pour some sugar on me' seems to be chronically misunderstood.

Then, of course, there's 'Louie, Louie'; I don't know if anyone understood that one.

By: scody

scody — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:36:58 -0800

For awhile, I thought the Clash were demanding "Who needs the polar bears?" in "Remote Control." What exactly the Clash had against arctic wildlife, I couldn't imagine. (Oh... it's Parliament. Gotcha.)

By the way, CCR would like you to know that "there's a baboon on the right." (Er, "bad moon on the rise.") And George Thorogood is made of "bags of corn." (Oh, sorry. He's "bad to the bone.")

By: rustcellar

rustcellar — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 16:46:41 -0800

One of the saddest things I've ever seen on the internet is this amateurish flash animation created to accompany a really lame "Which Backstreet Boy is Gay?" parody—and the lyrics in the animation get the parody's own lyrics wrong (the animator clearly had no idea how to parse "soufflé" or "Pekingese").