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Today’s edition of the Weekend Word Wrap is on mondegreens.
Long before I ever knew what a mondegreen was, I used to think the lyrics of David Bowie’s “Suffragette City” went like this:
Hey man, oh leave me alone, you know
Hey man, oh Henry, get off the phone, I gotta
Hey man, I gotta straighten my face
This malaprop chick’s just put my spine out of place
Of course, now I know the original malaprop chick is actually a “mellow-thighed chick,” and my head hangs low in shame.
But we all do it, right? We all make up lyrics (even words!) when we don’t know what the artist is actually singing.
Well, a misheard, thus made-up lyric, is called a mondegreen, after Lady Mondegreen.
So who is Lady Mondegreen? Well, she’s a misheard lyric herself from an ancient Scottish ballad called “The Bonny Earl of Murray.” The last two lines of the original lyric go like this:
“They have slain the Earl of Murray,
And they layd him on the green.”
The American writer, Sylvia Wright, is the one who misheard the lyric when she was a child and wrote about it years later, coining the word “mondegreen” for this first time in a Harper’s Magazine essay published in 1954.
So okay, “Lady Mondegreen.” Not so funny, but the ballad is over 300 years old. Much funnier, perhaps, is the mondegreen used in the TV show, Friends, when Phoebe mishears the words of a certain Elton John song and sings, “Hold me closer Tony Danza.”
As for my Suffragette City mondegreen, “malaprop”-isms will be the subject of next week’s Weekend Word Wrap. In the meantime, we’d love to know what some of your favorite misheard lyrics are.
Comments (120)
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My husband never understood why Alanis Morrisette was so upset over a stuffed animal:
“It’s not fair / to deny me / the cross-eyed bear / that you gave to me.”
posted by Mary on 8-4-2006 at 6:24 pm
Heh. You mean like Rick Springfield’s Jessie’s Girl? Where:
“I wish that I had Jessie’s Girl”
…could be easily confused as…
“I wish that I was Jessie’s Girl”
…which, you know, changes the meaning slightly.
posted by Radical Bender on 8-4-2006 at 6:27 pm
“Excuse me while I kiss this guy!”
Jimi Hendrix
Or
“There’s a bathroom on the right.”
Creedence Clearwater Revival
posted by Savanna on 8-4-2006 at 6:34 pm
I like Michael Jackson’s “The chair is not my size.”
posted by Will on 8-4-2006 at 6:45 pm
Ben Folds Five’s “Air”
Reads: “Floating overhead, undoing his helmet.”
Heard: “Farted on her head, and doing his helmet.”
Nonsensical, but hilarious.
posted by Justin on 8-4-2006 at 6:53 pm
Blinded by the light / Wrapped up like a douche on a runner in the night
(Blinded by the Light – Bruce Springsteen)
… There’s a ton more here:
< http://www.amiright.com/misheard/song/>
but this is my favorite.
posted by Phil on 8-4-2006 at 6:58 pm
Phil, I swear to God, my entire life I have thought that word was “douche.” (I’m not sure why this never struck me as odd.) I just looked it up and apparently it’s “wrapped up like a deuce,” which doesn’t make much more sense, does it?
posted by Mary on 8-4-2006 at 7:18 pm
I have a younger cousin who misheard that oldies song, “Bernadette” as “Burn to death.” She’s a grown woman now and we all still tease her about it.
posted by Megan on 8-4-2006 at 7:36 pm
You know, I think it’s pretty clear that Bruce Springsteen is saying “deuce,” but there is no way that anyone can convince me that Manfred Mann isn’t saying “douche.” Maybe he just misread the lyrics.
posted by David C. Casey on 8-4-2006 at 7:47 pm
These are sweet! And Phil, thanks for the linkage. Hours of fun there.
posted by David on 8-4-2006 at 9:27 pm
The lyrics in a Stone Temple Pilots song sounded like “Feeling like a ham and mustard shake.” The real lyrics are “Feeling like a hand in rusted shame”, whatever that means.
posted by Tamra on 8-4-2006 at 9:40 pm
Somehow up until I started college I thought that Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” was “Pay the rent Collette”
posted by Abby on 8-4-2006 at 10:10 pm
I have a couple…none of mine…I can just admit I have no idea and just ask or google it.
‘Lucille’ by Kenny Rogers (Courtesy of my ex sister in law)
“You left two hundred children and the crops in the field”
There actually weren’t “two hundred” just two that were hungry.
And ‘Friends in Low Places’ by Garth Brooks (Courtesy of my tone deaf best friend)
“I’m not big on Salsa Graces”
I have no idea what ’salsa graces’ are but I know very little about ’social graces’ too, so that’s okay.
PS “Blinded by the Light” its “revved up like a deuce” not “wrapped”. Deuce is a car…Corvette I believe.
posted by Tigerlily on 8-4-2006 at 11:21 pm
When i was growing up, my mother always sang along with the radio but rarely knew any of the words. One of my favorite instances was her rendition of “smoke on the water” by deep purple. As i recall it went something like this…
“slooow coming home girl, they’ll find her in the sky”
posted by Amanda on 8-4-2006 at 11:31 pm
First of all I think it’s hilarious in this context that someone gave Bruce Springsteen credit for “Blinded by the Light” when it was Manfred Mann. And secondly, the Deuce that is referred to is a reference to the Beach Boys song, “Little Deuce Coupe” which was a 32 Ford redone as a hot-rod. Very fast, very cool (read “hot”).
My favourite misheard lyric is from the Eagles Hotel California, “The warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air.” I’ve heard of colitis, Lynus, and coal heaters.
posted by Terry on 8-5-2006 at 6:44 am
Okay, let’s set the record straight on this “Blinded by the Light” stuff:
- The person who thought it was Bruce Springsteen was right. So was the person who thought it was Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Bruce wrote the song and performed it first; MMEB made it a hit. MMEB is not to be confused with “Manfred Mann,” an earlier version of the group named after its keyboardist, Manfred Mann, né Manfred Liebowitz.
- Is it “wrapped” or “revved” or “cut loose?” Cecil of The Straight Dope thinks it’s “wrapped” (he was my original source); I’m inclined to go with “revved” now that I know what a deuce is. Bruce originally wrote “cut loose like a deuce.”
posted by Mary on 8-5-2006 at 8:59 am
“Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves”, an indispensible plum from Cher, lo these many decades ago.
Chorus as sung by her gloriousness:
“Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves,
we’d hear it from the people of the town,
they’d call us Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves;
and every night all the men would come around,
and lay the money down.”
And, as mishead by my dear friend Joan and her sisters in childhood:
“Gypsies, Chimpanzees,
we’d hear it from the people of the town,
they’d call us Gypsies, Chimpanzees;
and every night all the men would come around,
and lay the monkey down.”
Priceless.
posted by MSC on 8-5-2006 at 9:26 am
Cher’s (and NO I’m not a big fan) song titled,
“Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”
heard as….
“Gypsies, Trans Am Thieves”
Why is Cher singing about gypsies stealing a Trans Am?
posted by Paul on 8-5-2006 at 9:30 am
Phil, I KNOW! I thought the same thing in high school, and was surprised it was on the radio!
posted by Gail on 8-5-2006 at 9:37 am
Speaking of “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”
my sister used to sing “Gypsies, Strings and Beads”
She also thought “Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap” was “Dirty Jeans, Dungarees” but then, I thought it was “Dirty Deeds, done with sheep” – so I guess, that shows you who has the cleaner mind!
posted by Pam on 8-5-2006 at 10:14 am
I was driving te car, with my wife in the passanger seat, and the song “Panama” came on the radio. My wife started singing “Had Enough”. No idea where the connection came from, but listening to the words, they both make about as much sense.
posted by Brian on 8-5-2006 at 1:01 pm
When I was in highschool, I went to a party of cool people and I sang along, loudly, to AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long.”
However, since I was a geek, who did NOT belong at that party, probably no one was surprised that I sang the chorus as “Should we all die young.”
Hi, David.
posted by dee on 8-5-2006 at 1:58 pm
I saw this yesterday and immediately linked to it from my site… my mondegreen was from “Play that Funky Music White Boy.” I was about 9, and wondering why it was okay that I could go around singing a song with such a dirty word in the middle of it.
My older brother finally figured out what I was REALLY singing, and corrected me.
posted by Nrkii on 8-5-2006 at 4:59 pm
Jose, can you see?
posted by Neil on 8-5-2006 at 8:24 pm
ok, deuce is a slang term for a fiftiesish motorcycle guy. it’s actually in the mental floss book, the condesed knowledge one.
and i always thought that in ziggy stardust David bowie was singing
“making love with his eagle:
actually it’s with his eagle.
also a friend of mine thought the song
“Jesus is just alright with me”
went
“Jesus is just a rat with wings.”
wich i prefer.
posted by David on 8-5-2006 at 8:36 pm
fall out boy suga were goin down a line says when you got complex just cock it and pull it ok i all ways thought it was sock it and pulse it, whoops!
ok in the electric slide they randomly say its electric whell i didnt catch on i thought it was its eccentric!
in grease in stead of your the one that i want i thought it was your the walla walla.
posted by elise yancey on 8-5-2006 at 10:33 pm
Well thanks to Mary for setting me straight on the Manfred Mann/ Bruce Springsteen thing with Blinded by the Light. Seems as though the Boss really is THE Boss.
Secondly, I still think that the term “deuce” refers to the 32 Ford hot rod. Which got its name because it only had two seats. Please explain the reference to a 50’s era motorcycle guy. Why is he a deuce?
posted by Terry on 8-6-2006 at 2:16 am
Culture Club – karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon sounded like:
“Com-a, com-a, com-a, com-a, com-a to me Leon”
and Miss Jackson’s questioning, ” What have you done for me, Nadine?”
posted by Susan on 8-6-2006 at 6:16 am
Neil– what could “Jose” see?
… the “donzerly light.”
(What’s a donzerly light??)
Dated a guy who thought the chorus of Kyrie (Mr. Mister) was something about lasers. (Kyrie Eleison) This was before the internet, and he’d never been to Catholic mass, so it took me a good long while to convince him that it wasn’t about lasers.
I went through a period where I thought the Gin Blossom’s song was “Hey Chelsea” instead of “Hey, Jealousy.”
posted by Rachel on 8-6-2006 at 6:29 am
Song: “Do the Hustle”
Heard: “Tuna Hot Dog”
posted by Bethi on 8-6-2006 at 9:14 am
I heard a female DJ say she always got hungry when she heard Rod Stewart’s line from “Every Picture Tells a Story”: “Every picture tells a story donut”!
posted by whutabowtbob on 8-6-2006 at 10:34 am
I’m sure that a ‘Deuce” is probably a hot rod or motorcycle. I didn’t research it myself (I have some resemblence of a life still) and just thought that I had heard that before.
Click on the website for hours of entertainment.
posted by Tigerlily on 8-6-2006 at 11:44 am
Actual lyric: “big ol’ jet airliner”
Lyric heard: “we’re gonna jam at the lighthouse”
posted by cllottie on 8-6-2006 at 12:38 pm
A few years ago, some friends and I were listening to the Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic”. One of the lyrics reads, “Another dimension”.
One of my friends thought he said “I got a new bedsheet”…
???
posted by Jenny on 8-6-2006 at 9:28 pm
I love these!
My Dad who claim his hearing has never been right since Army rifle practice has a million of these, but this is my favorite…
He used to sing “Ashes” instead of “Passion” to the Rod Stewart song titled “Passion” and repeats the word about 30 times.
posted by Marcy on 8-6-2006 at 10:40 pm
And in fairness, I should add my own…
In The Police song “King of Pain” the lyric is:
“That’s my soul up there”
I heard:
“This world’s so unfair”
Not crazy, but WAY OFF
posted by Marcy on 8-6-2006 at 10:43 pm
I have a friend who always thought the Clash song “Rock the Casbah” was saying “dump the catbox”.
Another who would sing “I’ll never leave your pizza burning” to the Rolling Stones “Beast of Burden”.
posted by lazorbeam on 8-7-2006 at 5:58 am
I have 2 that I have misheard that come to mind…
1) K.C. & the Sunshine Band “Keep it Comin Love”, which I thought was “Keep it Carmela”
@) Prince “Seven”. Real lyrics: “…with their intellect / and their savoir faire…” I thought it was “…with their little lights / and the sidewalk there…”
posted by Beth on 8-7-2006 at 10:58 am
I’m amazed that it took 33 posts to get to my most amusing gaffe…
I thought ‘big ‘ol jet airliner” was both “bingo jed had a light on” and “ big ‘ol jelly rhino”.
I was a really confused child…
There was one recently where it was saying “read the reporter” and I thought it was saying “oooh, Harry Potter”.
I am an equally confused adult…
posted by Susan #2 on 8-7-2006 at 11:41 am
In the AFI song “The Missing Frame” I could swear it sounded like he was “I love you Canada.” But it was really “I’ll let you tear it up.”
posted by Julia on 8-7-2006 at 3:56 pm
There was a dance hit a few years ago, “I need a miracle.” I heard, “I need a man, girl!” Obviously some kind of Freudian slip.
posted by Damon on 8-8-2006 at 12:04 am
There is a song used recently in a ladies razor commercial. Don’t know artist but do know I didn’t know correct lyrics till now.
Venus
………she’s got it…..yeah baby she’s got it……..I’m your venus
…….I’m your fire ……your desire.
I never could decipher and my best guess was ….I’m your fire …and joy..yes I are.
now the yes i are didn’t seem like good English but what the heck….this was rock n roll. LOL Have a good one!
posted by Cathy Mathews on 8-8-2006 at 4:02 am
this is a p.s.
reference your comment 15
I always said
Warm smell of police dust
again…go figure …this is rock baby!
posted by Cathy Mathews on 8-8-2006 at 4:10 am
My young son always sang “…and a partridge in a bad dream”
posted by Rhonda on 8-8-2006 at 8:47 am
The song mentioned in #42 is “Venus” by Bananarama and it totally mortified my poor father when it came on over the radio with his then young daughter in the car. His version:
“I’m your penis, I’m your fire, your desire.”
posted by Allie on 8-12-2006 at 11:19 am
Heard The Beatle’s “Revoluton” as a child and was sure these Brits were singing “Would you like a cup of tea? All right!”
posted by Helen on 8-14-2006 at 3:32 pm
My husband always thought it was
“you can’t leave the bedroom” instead of “you can leave your hat on” by Joe Cocker
posted by Maureen on 8-15-2006 at 1:59 pm
K.C. & the Sunshine Band “Keep it Comin Love”, which I thought was “Keep it Common Law” Hey, marriage is not for everyone, that made sense to me
Also, from Love Potion No. 9, I always thought it was “the gypsy with the gold tatoo” until I heard a local rock band sing “gold capped tooth”
posted by Lee on 8-16-2006 at 10:43 am
My ex-brother-in-law thought “Paperback Writer” was “Take a Bath, Ryington”.
posted by Denise on 8-16-2006 at 10:47 am
My daughter used to think that CCR’s Bad Moon on the Rise was “there’s a bathroom on the right.”
posted by Wendy on 8-16-2006 at 2:02 pm
In 1999, Smashbox’s song “All Star” was released. My then 5-year old son loved the song and sang along every time it was played on the radio. Here are the correct lyrics:
“Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed”
My son thought the lyrics were:
“Somebody once told me the world was macaroni”
Nothing’s better than macaroni to a 5-year old!
posted by Kara on 8-17-2006 at 4:53 pm
my brother at 6 years old thought “my my my my sharona” was “ba ba ba barney rubble”. how embarressing.
posted by west on 8-21-2006 at 10:09 am
My wife used to love Ricky Martin, and in particular his song “La Vida Loca.” For some reason she thought one of the lyrics in the song was, “Her lips are deviled eggs, and her skin’s the color mocha.”
Mmmm… deviled eggs….
posted by Todd on 8-22-2006 at 12:17 pm
Google “Teds pants”. Fall Out Boy is hilarious, but this video will cause you to never sing the words to “Dance, Dance” right again.
I think the classics lines in this one include…
Teds pants (Dance, Dance)
Darn, it is so good that i can’t remember the real words anymore…
posted by Beth on 5-21-2007 at 5:02 pm
From an article read a long time ago: The Beach Boys, “Help Me Rhonda” –
“Well since you’ve been around,
There’s been owls puking in my bed.”
Made me laugh out loud when I read it!
posted by Sara on 5-21-2007 at 8:12 pm
From the House of Pain song “Jump Around”:
Original lyric: “I’ve got more rhymes than the Bible’s got psalms”.
Misheard lyric:
“I’ve got more rhymes than a bottle’s got songs”.
Both of them make a bit of sense (perhaps the latter makes more sense, given the limited number of psalms vs. the limitless number of drunken songs), yet the “bottle” line always seemed like a lazy re-working to me.
posted by Andrew on 5-22-2007 at 1:30 am
The Beck song Loser.
Part of the chorus goes:
“Soy un perdedor”
I remember arguing with one of my friends in high school; she thought he was saying:
“So, open the door”
Not that Beck lyrics make a whole lot of sense anyway but she wouldn’t believe me that he was saying something in spanish.
Ahh, the days before google.
posted by nina on 5-22-2007 at 10:46 am
From the traditional
We’ll drink a drink a drink
To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink.
The saviour of the human race.
For she invented medicinal compound,
Most efficacious in every case.
I used to hear
We drink a drink a drink
To live in the Pink, the Pink, the Pink.
Celebrate the human race.
For she invented medicinal compound,
Most efficacious in every way.
posted by Scriveyn on 5-23-2007 at 5:58 am
My two favourites, though not of my own or my family’s interpretation, and I am surprised they haven’t been mentioned here before, are
Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the wind:
The ants are my friends,
they’re blowin’ in the wind
…
and by the Eurythmics
It’s alright, babies come in bags …
posted by Scriveyn on 5-23-2007 at 6:27 am
The granddaddy of mondegreen inspirations that I’ve found is Peter Gabriel’s “Games Without Frontiers.” Periodically, during the song, Kate Bush sings the phrase “Jeux sans frontieres,” which is French for “Games Without Frontiers.” However — I’ve run into people who’ve thought she’s singing:
* She’s so popular
* She’s so fruitier
* She’s so outta there
* She’s so f*cking lame
…amid others.
Someone else mentioned “Big Ol’ Jed Left the Light On” for “Big Ol’ Jet Airliner,” and I did that too when I was a kid. Another one from when I was a kid was for the Rolling Stones song “Shattered”, which has a repeated nonsense line, “Shadooby, shattered, shattered…” I was a big fan of “Mork From Ork” at the time, and I thought they were singing “Shadooby, Shazbot, Shazbot.” …This belief was reinforced by my father, whom I once thought to check to see if I was right; he was so amused he lied and told me yes, I was right.
One last story: I sometimes play in an all-night trivia contest, and each time we play my team tries to come up with a new and wacky name. One year we were all stumped for a name idea, and then someone came into the room singing what they thought was a line from Blur’s “Song 2″. The actual lyric is “I got my head checked/by a jumbo jet.” But that’s not what this person was singing…their mondegreen, “I Got My Head Shaved By A Zamboni,” was unanimously voted in as our team name.
posted by Kim W. on 5-23-2007 at 2:39 pm
I always thought the song “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys was about a guy who is in love with a female cop, because he sings “I’m picking up good vibrations…she’s given me 8 citations.” Also,when I was a kid I thought Don Quixote was the story of a donkey named “Hoty.”
posted by Darlene Ensor on 6-4-2007 at 1:11 pm
“heeeyyyy duuuuude. don’t make a hat.”
-the beatles
posted by mb on 6-4-2007 at 1:49 pm
The Bee Gees song “You Should Be Dancing” repeats the phrase
“What you doing on your back, aah”
But my mom always heard:
“What are you doing in your neighbor’s mitten?”
I was a dancer, and so I heard this song used at competitions all the time, and we always called it “The Neighbor’s Mitten Song.”
posted by Kd on 6-6-2007 at 2:35 pm
My friends in Junior High used to tell me that the lead singer of Live had it bad for me.
Lyrics read:
“our love is like water
pinned down and abused
for being strange”
Lyrics Heard:
“Our love is for Walter
bend down and abused
for peeing strange”
posted by Walter on 6-6-2007 at 3:41 pm
to the post i just tried to post, the Live song is “All Over You”
posted by Walter on 6-6-2007 at 3:47 pm
Michael Jackson “But Chad is not my son!”
posted by Shannoo on 6-7-2007 at 8:10 am
I have 3:
My mother listening to “Tipsy”
Real words:
“Everybody in the club getting tipsy.”
Heard:
“Everybody in the club getting tits.”
(wow)
Listening to Nelly’s “Rid wit me”
Real words: “hey, must be the money!”
Heard: “Hey must be the boogey!!”
My friend singing Beatles “Hey Jude”
“Hey Jude, don’t look so sad. Take a sad song, and make it glad!”
posted by Sara on 6-9-2007 at 8:01 pm
My Aunt had always thought that the lyrics to the song “Sex Bomb” by Tom Jones went “Love’s struck a hole in your tights” whereas the actual lyrics are “Love struck holding you tight” which we pointed out to her after a very embarrassing karaoke misshapp one holiday
posted by Jess on 6-11-2007 at 4:23 pm
“Michelle” – The Beatles
I heard “someday monkey play pian ensemb”
(”pian” OBVIOUSLY short for “piano”…not knowing it was really French, I thought “ensemb” was also short for “ensemble”)
real lyrics
“Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble”
“son le
posted by Kristi on 9-28-2007 at 12:48 pm
There’s a whole movement of Flash animation called “animutation” that sort of started with mondegreens and misheard lyrics of non-English songs.
posted by El Capitan on 12-17-2007 at 7:46 am
I had a friend in high school who thought 10,000 Maniacs were singing “How do I feel? I’m the Orkin Man” in their song “Because the Night” (the real line is “How do I feel under your command?”)
posted by Nora on 12-17-2007 at 9:00 am
Ummm… In my family for a very long time Kyrie Eleison by Mr. Mister was “Carry a Phazer.” My dad… Big Trek fan… When I was growing up there was a time I wondered if it was some kind of Star Trek/Mad Max movie song…. And we were Catholic… Then I actually got a copy of the CD/sheet music… Ooops…. Oh well…
posted by ACuteAngle on 12-17-2007 at 9:24 am
I thought
Secret agent man
was really a
Secret Asian man
posted by Denise on 12-17-2007 at 9:26 am
My niece is 7 and she came home from school to tell her mom that she’d learned a new song. This is what was heard:
“Oh, cannonball! No, that’s not right, Oh, Cannibal! That’s it!”
She had learned O Canada that day.
posted by Emily on 12-17-2007 at 9:49 am
I also sang loudly to “Secret Asian Man.”
Any of you guys remember Huey Lewis?
Refrain: “The Heart of Rock-N-Roll is Still Beatin’”
What I heard: “The Harder Rock-N-Roll is Forbidden.”
I still catch myself singing it this way. I’ve given up trying to sing the “right” lyrics.
posted by Flipper on 12-17-2007 at 1:41 pm
There is an old rap song by mystikal called “shake ya A**”. All I heard was: Take a Bath,
Wash yourself,
Take a bath
posted by Dan on 12-17-2007 at 2:44 pm
an old coworker of mine always sang “Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap” as “Dirty deeds, Thunder Chief” .
This created an office arguement, which brought up the “done to sheep” lyric and lots of miscellanious nonsense
posted by tara on 12-17-2007 at 11:07 pm
I used to think “The heart of rock and roll was in Cleveland” and I could never figure out why.
In honor of yesterday’s news about Dan Fogleberg, I have to share this one…. In Leader of the Band I used to hear “He left his home and went his lone and saw it tear away….” The real lyrics? “He left his home and went his own and solitary way….”
posted by ACute Angle on 12-18-2007 at 8:08 am
Well, “deuce” that Bruce Springsteen and Manfred Mann refer to is actually a type of carburetor (whether or not they intended it that way). In older cars (read: cars before fuel injection) carburetors were what fed fuel into the engine.
When you rev an engine (put your foot on the gas), the caruburetor feeds the engine gas.
The Deuce Coupe by the Beach boys refers to the fact that the engine had a two barrel carburetor(deuce = 2) for the car the Beach Boys referred to. Note that other lyrics in the Beach Boys song refer to the engine and other characteristics that made the car fast. A two barrel carburetor, deuce, made the car fast.
So, the Beach Boys sing about a ‘32 Ford as a Little Deuce Coupe. But, a deuce, whether or not they intended it, is actuall the two barrel carburetor.
You revved the engine by putting your foot on the gas, causing the carburetor to feed the engine gas. Revved like a deuce.
Just throught I’d clear it up, a year and a half after it was brought up!
Oh, and the song “Little GTO” has the lyrics “3 deuces and a 4 speed”, referring to the carburetor in that car having 3, two barrel carburetors.
posted by nick on 12-18-2007 at 11:46 am
When I started my freshman year of high school, the stoner sitting behind me asked what music I liked. He mentioned Blue Oyster Cult and Pink Floyd, which I hadn’t heard of. I thought, wow, all the new bands have colors in their name. He said BOC’s best song is “Don’t fear the reefer”. It was 6 or 7 years before I learned that it is “Reaper”
posted by Rick on 12-20-2007 at 8:58 pm
My friend Andy was very offended by the song, “Jump Jive and Wail”, he thought the lyrics were “Drunk Drivin’ well”
posted by billy on 12-21-2007 at 5:16 pm
I always enjoyed the song by Berlin that says -
‘I was on a Paris train
I emerged in London rain
and you were waiting there
swimming through apologies’
But I like to say “swimming thru a pile of cheese”
I also like the song by the Motels that says –
‘Only the lonely
Only the lonely can play’
but I prefer my version – “Only the lonely get laid”…
doesn’t really make sense, but its more fun to sing in public and get strange looks…
posted by donner on 12-22-2007 at 8:02 pm
I though is was “revved up like a deuce…”
posted by JZA on 12-23-2007 at 7:10 pm
As a child I always thought Cat Stevens was singing about a G-string, not a Peace Train.
posted by Melissa on 12-24-2007 at 8:20 am
I used to think that Radiohead’s Creep went “I’m a wiener” instead of I’m a wierdo.
My little brother used to sing the Sugar Ray lyrics “I just wanna fly” as “I just swallowed a fly”
posted by stephanie on 12-24-2007 at 11:56 am
As a child, I thought that Row, Row, Row Your Boat went “life is not a stream” rather than “life is but a dream”. I thought that until I was 14 and babysat for a pair of 3-year-olds who sang it correctly.
My younger brother always thought that Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” went “Sing us a song, yellow ghetto man”, rather than
“sing us a song, you’re the piano man”.
posted by Jamie on 12-31-2007 at 1:21 pm
Steve Miller:
Big old jet out of Idaho
(big old jet airliner)
David Bowie:
I’m a lean hungry man
cause I can’t afford a chicken
(ah don’t lean on me man
cause you can’t afford the ticket)
posted by Elvis on 1-1-2008 at 10:40 am
Macy Gray’s “I Try”
Actual lyrics:
“My world crumbles when you are not near.”
Heard lyrics:
“I wear goggles when you are not here.”
posted by Kirsten on 1-3-2008 at 12:41 pm
Blinded by the light / Wrapped up like a douche / with a boner in the night…
(Blinded by the Light)
or
Riding the Pee Stain…
(Peace Train)
posted by Diana on 1-5-2008 at 3:11 am
I had 2 when I was younger I could not figure out for the life of me. The first was Eddie Money’s Two Tickets to Paradise, where I thought it was “Two Tickets and a Pair of Dice”.
And the other was one that I can’t totally remember, and still don’t know the correct words, but all I remember is something about a one-winged dove, which is supposed to be wounded love or something. sorry. the song was early to mid 80s, very popular, maybe Air Supply
posted by Tanz on 1-15-2008 at 12:22 am
When I was a kid I thought “Paperback Writer” was actually “Paint the black Chrysler”. There are a million other ones, but that is always the first that comes to mind.
posted by Eric on 1-22-2008 at 6:23 am
Just a quick note on the “Deuce” references: The term “Deuce” is a reference to the ‘32 Ford coupe, derived from the year (It’s a trey-deuce, or ‘32), and not from the Carb- if they were referring to a carb, they would generally not mention a double barrel (as the vast majority of stock Carbs are doubles) at all, and when referring to larger carbs, it would typically be referred to as a(n) x-barrel, as in a “Holley Four barrel double-pumper). The reason te reference is everywhere is simply form the number of Dueces still on the roads during the height of the hot-rod craze, and the ease with which that particualr car was able to be modified. If you have any doubts, just do a quick search on wikipedia for “Duece Coupe”, or better yet, ask a gearhead of your aquaitance who’s into rat-rods and pre-war iron…
posted by Randy on 2-4-2008 at 3:45 pm
Why oh why was Cat encouraging us to….
Ride on the “Pee Stain”
posted by Korina on 3-7-2008 at 8:03 pm
INXS – Devil Inside
Heard: Every single woman has a devil inside
Actual: Every single one of us the devil inside
posted by Todd S on 3-14-2008 at 2:57 pm
K.C. and the Sunshine Band. I thought “Keep it comin’ love” was “keep it common law”. . .guess that comes from having a lawyer in the family.
posted by Neesa on 5-24-2008 at 12:53 am
“Keep it comin’ love” by K.C.& the Sunshine Band… I swore it was “keep it COMMON LAW”. . .guess that comes from having a lawyer in the family.
posted by Neesa on 5-24-2008 at 12:57 am
Tanz, I think you’re thinking of “Edge of Seventeen” (Just Like a White-Winged Dove)” by Stevie Nicks, and a friend of mine made the same mistake about the lyrics.
posted by Sorcha on 6-2-2008 at 7:21 pm
As a teen I assumed the Eagles lyric was “warm smell of coitus,” which made perfect sense in my geeky mind. I also sang Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie” as “carry a laser,” along with the piped-in music in the department store I worked in, until my coworkers corrected me (after which we sang it that way purposely, because there’s not a lot of amusement available in a job like that).
My favorite, though, from a guy I used to date, had Led Zepplin’s “and as we wind on down the road” from “Stairway to Heaven” as “and there’s a wino down the road.”
posted by Becky on 6-13-2008 at 4:23 pm
These two are from the same girl back in the 70’s in high school:
Hues Corporation: “I’d like to know where you got the nose job.”
Paul Simon: “Mama don’t take my clothes and throw ‘em, Mama don’t take my clothes and throw ‘em, Mama don’t take my clothes and throw ‘em awaaay.”
posted by Robb on 7-9-2008 at 12:36 am
Bruce also wrote “Because the Night” for Patti Smith.
I always thought “revved up like a deuce” referred to a two ton truck – apparently all the references are to bar patrons he used to play for.
Favourites
From Abba – Fernando
“For lee and and for Tee, Fernando.”
Is actually; “For Liberty, Fernando.”
From Jimi Hendrix’s version of All along the Watch tower – “But I was getting laid!”
Is actually; “The hour is getting late.”
From Deep Purple – Smoke on the water “Smoke on the water, fire engine guy.”
Is actually; “Fire in the sky”
posted by sjaplo on 7-15-2008 at 6:29 pm
A long time ago “bathroom on the right” inspired me:
Looks like you’ve got your legs together
Looks like you’ve really got to pee
Looks like you might be really hurtin’
Looks like it might be an emergency
Well don’t go around uptight
If you’ve got to go tonight
There’s a bathroom on the right.
I won’t boor you with verse two
posted by sj on 7-24-2008 at 3:44 pm
My aunt Becky was in high school at the time “Push It” came out. She said a girl came to class and asked her friends “Have you heard that new song ‘Bull Shit’?”
posted by Sara on 8-29-2008 at 12:24 pm
My sister singing along to Gwen Stefani’s Holla Back Girl: “I ain’t no Harlem black girl.” Awkward, but hilarious.
posted by Laura on 9-8-2008 at 10:12 pm
Embarassingly enough, I thought KISS was super lame for singing “I wanna rock and roll all nite, and PART OF every day”!
posted by Jennifer on 11-26-2008 at 12:58 am
Lyrics: “Please forgive me, I can’t stop loving you.” Bryan Adams
How I sang it for years as child: “K’s for kidney, I can’t stop loving you.”
My mom almost died from laughter when I sang along to it on the radio one day.
posted by Brittany on 11-27-2008 at 12:22 pm
Two mondegreen’s that I remember from my younger years are:
“Imaginary Lovers”
I heard
“Imagine Hairy Lovers”
and my favorite
“You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
With four hundred children going crap in the field
posted by Robert Glick on 11-27-2008 at 6:55 pm
This one I still hear wrong
“our lips are sealed”
I hear as
“Honest Cecile”
posted by Robert on 11-27-2008 at 7:19 pm
i remember my little sister singing
“its my body–I’ll cry if i want to!”
posted by ps on 12-16-2008 at 5:06 am
some country song, real lyrics “I like it, I love it, I can’t rise above it, I don’t know what is is about that little gal’s lovin’ but I like it…”
my childish interpretation “I don’t know what it is about that little gas oven…”
posted by Becky on 12-24-2008 at 11:27 am
My mom thought the song was called I’m going to Colorado to decorate our home and not a wino which is right
posted by chris on 12-24-2008 at 6:44 pm
Invisible Touch by Genesis…
My friend thought the lyrics were:
“She seems to have a busy little talk show.”
The correct lyrics:
“She seems to have an invisible touch.”
Still my favorite misheard lyric.
posted by Poor College Student on 12-25-2008 at 12:09 am
When I first heard “Hey Ya” by OutKast I could’ve sworn they said “shake it like a corduroy pigeon.”
I know, it makes no sense at all. No idea where my brain got that one from.
posted by kim on 12-25-2008 at 5:18 pm
I always thought they said:
Small cousin Walter…
then i found out it was Smoke on the water
posted by tam on 1-7-2009 at 2:55 pm
The first one i think of right off the bat is one that was in an episode of Dharma and Greg, and they were having a party at their house. The song was “I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night” and continued “…and party every day. BUT Greg, in his infinite dorkiness was singing at the top of his lungs “…AND PART OF EVERY DAY.” Dharma cracked up, because it also summed up his practicality – he’d never rock ‘n’ roll all night and then also party every day!
love it -
posted by Lorian on 1-14-2009 at 1:49 am
The Pipettes had a popular song in the UK called Pull Shapes, which – thanks in part to the lead singer’s Welsh accent – features not one but TWO mondegreens.
Correct: There’s a whole floor before us, just for you and me…
Heard: There’s a hot floppy forest, just for you and me…
Also, the UK version is kinda low-fi, so when they all sing “Pull Shapes!”, it sounds like “Bullsh*t!”
The remixed US version is clearer, so there’s no mistaking the Sss sound in “shapes.”
posted by Blu on 2-23-2009 at 11:44 am
“Karma Chameleon” is “Come-uh Comedian” or “become a comedian” by the Culture Club. haha susan!
posted by Dawn123 on 3-31-2009 at 9:26 pm
Correct: Chill’s in the air
Heard: Children, behave!
and/or
Children, the Egg!
(Tiffany version of I Think We’re Alone Now)
What about a false mondegreen–I always thought I was mishearing, in “I will survive”: “And so you’re back, from outer space” couldn’t be right, it had to be “And now you’re back, ran out of space”. But it really IS “from outer space”…
posted by D on 5-18-2009 at 6:29 pm
I had a friend who has a friend (I swear this is true, I’ve met the guy) who you to think the lyrics to “Taking care of business” was “baking a pair of biscuits.” True story.
posted by Alyssa on 5-25-2009 at 7:10 pm
the song tubthumping by Chumbawamba my cousin and i always thought it was
i get knocked down like and elephant
when its actually i get knocked down but i get up again
posted by katie on 6-17-2009 at 1:00 am
My uncle introduced me to this one a while ago, and to this day I still hear it.
At the beginning of The Rolling Stone’s “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, when the choir is singing the aforementioned title, you can also imagine they are singing “You Can’t Always Get a Chihuahua”…
posted by Mateo on 10-23-2009 at 5:38 am