Mondegreens (Misheard Lyrics).

[noogies]

Or "Mondegreens" (there, happy now?). This may have been done before, but a thread search reveals nothing, so here goes:

We all know the classic ones, like "Scuse me while I kiss this guy," or "There's a bathroom on the right," but what song lyrics have you personally heard wrong or otherwise misinterpreted?

What brought this to mind was, I was listening to "Voices Carry" by Aimee Mann and 'Til Tuesday. Great tune, and I hadn't heard it in ages. And then I recalled that when it first came out, I could have sworn the chorus went: "Hush, hush, keep it down now, you're so scary."

How 'bout you guys? Any personal favorites?

 

[fhawk618]

What you are referring to, misheard or misinterpreted lyrics, actually has a term--mondegreens... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen

 

[gadget73]

I think John Fogerty was a plumber in a former life.
CCR - There's A Bathroom On The Right (Bad Moon On The Rise)
CCR - Have You Ever Cleaned The Drain (Have You Ever Seen The Rain)

There is also a Black Keys song, Little Black Submarines, that I swear has a line that says "old can of beans", though I think its supposed to be "oh can it be?"

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"....Dirty Dean and the Thunder Chief...

 

[mhardy6647]

What you are referring to, misheard or misinterpreted lyrics, actually has a term--mondegreens... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen

Yup.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080714025445/http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/carroll/mondegreens.shtml
(sadly the original pages are NLA, but some trace remains thanks to the Wayback machine)

 

[noogies]

What you are referring to, misheard or misinterpreted lyrics, actually has a term--mondegreens... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen

Okay, I knew that once, but I forgot. Thanks, but where's your example?

 

[noogies]

Just remembered another one -- when "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry was a big hit, my mother insisted that the chorus was "... play that f**kin' music, white boy..." to the point of calling up the radio station to complain about obscenity on the air. When apprised of her mistake, she didn't really think "funky" was that much of an improvement, and continued to snap the radio off every time the song played.

 

[jsisk]

Just about every Elton John song.

 

[Sandy G]

"Blinded by the Light"- ESPECIALLY the Manfred Mann version.

 

[anytune]

I think John Fogerty was a plumber in a former life.
CCR - Have You Ever Cleaned The Drain (Have You Ever Seen The Rain)

Also "Have You Ever Seen Lorrain?" and "Who'll Stop Lorrain?"

 

[noogies]

Also "Have You Ever Seen Lorrain?" and "Who'll Stop Lorrain?"

This Lorraine must be quite a character.

The Who -- "Eminence Front" : "Living is Fun!"

 

[Permanent Waves]

What brought this to mind was, I was listening to "Voices Carry" by Aimee Mann and 'Til Tuesday. Great tune, and I hadn't heard it in ages. And then I recalled that when it first came out, I could have sworn the chorus went: "Hush, hush, keep it down now, you're so scary."

How 'bout you guys? Any personal favorites?

When I was a little kid I always thought that was "Hush, hush, keep it down now, this is Aimee". I guess because I knew the singer's name was Aimee or some such silliness and that lyric has never been clear so you're not the only one who got it wrong!

Great song and pretty good band btw, I have all of their albums (and all of Mann's) now.

When I first heard Rush's "Closer to the Heart" from the live album Exit...Stage Left (so no lyrics and this was before the internet), I thought the line "to mould a new reality" was "the moment in reality".

 

[Montycat]

"Blinded by the Light"- ESPECIALLY the Manfred Mann version.

One of my co-workers actually said "wrapped up like a douche" just 2 days ago! I hadn't heard that in a long time.

 

[HTHMAN]

"Blinded by the Light"- ESPECIALLY the Manfred Mann version.

No matter what you use for lyrics on that one, it makes about the same amount of sense.

 

[anytune]

What about Elton John's "Hold me closer Tony Danza"?

 

[noogies]

When I first heard Rush's "Closer to the Heart" from the live album Exit...Stage Left (so no lyrics and this was before the internet), I thought the line "to mould a new reality" was "the moment in reality".

I still think that!

 

[Sandy G]

"Justin Bieber is a Whore"...Let the Bodies Hit The Floor....

 

[classicform]

Once again with nugent. "road i cruise is a bitch now"...has always been "Lori Cruz is a bitch now" to me.

She still is by the way

 

[screenersam]

Ain't no woman like the one-eyed Gott

 

[noogies]

Forgot one (not mine): "Life could be ecstasy,
You and me and Leslie ..."

-- Young Rascals