Misheard Lyrics (Mondegreens): There's A Bathroom On the Right

[Sandman87]

On 8/2/2018 at 2:50 AM, KWalkerInc said:

The other day I heard "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry, and it reminded me of a misheard lyric from my childhood.  The chorus goes "Oh Sherrie, our love / Holds on, holds on."  But for some reason, I would hear the second line as "Clothes off, clothes off." 

I always used to hear the first line of that song as "cinnamon gum" instead of "should have been gone."

 

ETA: Every morning a local radio station here does a quick one-question quiz about pop music. Today the question was "can you tell what the singer is saying here?" The song was "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf.

What I heard - Last night I heard a lemon slam

What he actually said - Last night I held Aladdin's lamp

Edited September 3, 2018 by Sandman87

[Sandman87]

Something about "Magic Carpet Ride" has been nagging at me ever since I posted about it - I don't know what the heck the singer is saying in the first line. To me it sounds like:

I like euglena

I doubt that it's a song about marine biology...

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Sandman87 said:

Something about "Magic Carpet Ride" has been nagging at me ever since I posted about it - I don't know what the heck the singer is saying in the first line. To me it sounds like:

I like euglena

I doubt that it's a song about marine biology...

I like to dream

[KWalkerInc]

Earlier, the song "Ready or Not" by Manbreak came on my iPod, and it reminded me that I always used to think it ended with "Are you...are you ready?"  After about 20 years, I finally heard it one day clear as a bell, it's actually "Are you motherfucking ready?!"  That was a pretty bad mistake, especially when I think I used to play the song when my parents were within earshot.

 

In "Hard to Love Ya" by Queen Latifah, I have no trouble understanding her or Busta Rhymes, but in the chorus (I think sung by Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men), there is a line repeated many times that I can't understand.  Every time it sounds like "I love the door!" but that makes very little sense.  I tried looking it up, but all of the lyrics sites say that no one has submitted lyrics for that song.

 

I think I have now figured out the lyric after a few hours.  I think the chorus goes "It's hard for me to love ya.  I can't let go.  I love the dough."  This makes more sense because in Busta Rhymes' verse, he talks about being torn between the relationship and wanting to make money.

Edited September 27, 2018 by KWalkerInc
Figured out lyric.

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 6:43 PM, AntiBeeSpray said:

Plowman dig my herb <-- guess I had marijuana on my mind when thinking of this one (meaning that they were doing it while singing this song) XD

I always thought it was herb too.

[AntiBeeSpray]

 

Saw this one originally on another forum I'm on and now every time I hear it, I get that song by Sting and the Police stuck in my head! XD

 

 

And another random one:

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by AntiBeeSpray

[BuyMoreAndSave]

The first line of "Black Label" by Lamb of God (40 seconds in) sounds like "WHY ARE THEY CALLED POTATO?" Supposedly the actual line is "the human confrontation."

Also at the beginning of "March of the Pigs" it sounds like the word "ebola" is being repeated in a whisper. I'm pretty sure that's actually an instrument and not vocals though...although I saw NIN live tonight and some people were shouting something during this part.

[AntiBeeSpray]

My mom came up with  one while listening to Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5:

instead of this: I've got the moves like Jagger

she sang this: If I could move Mick Jagger

 

XD

[topanga]

Doobie Brothers’ Minute By Minute: I love this song. A Yacht Rock gem. But I can only sing along with the chorus—I have no friggin clue what Michal McDonald is saying in the verses. 

[BuyMoreAndSave]

Another one from the screaming-vocalist archives: Scoff by Nirvana.

What he's actually saying: "Heal a million, kill a million"...what I hear: "Heal Neil Young, kill Neil Young."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M0gvrdkrbQ

Also "Apologize" by OneRepublic. The line goes "it's too late to 'pologize" but my husband thought it said "it's too late to form a child" and the song was about trying for pregnancy at an older age.

Edited November 2, 2018 by BuyMoreAndSave

[KWalkerInc]

In "It's a Shame (My Sister)," Monie Love spells out, "But that's not your P-R-O-B-L-E-M."  But I would always hear it as "But that's not your B-O-B-L-E-F."  I was completely puzzled by this and would try to decipher it, trying to figure out what I was missing (thinking it was some type of acronym or something).

[Popples]

Since it's that time of year, this is a perfect one I just found out the other day.

Wham!'s "Last Christmas"

What I heard:
"A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soulless eyes"

Real Lyrics:
"A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice"

[WendyCR72]

11 hours ago, Popples said:

Since it's that time of year, this is a perfect one I just found out the other day.

Wham!'s "Last Christmas"

What I heard:
"A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soulless eyes"

Real Lyrics:
"A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice"

And here I've always heard:

Hiding from you

And your solar vibe

Of course, that never made sense to me, but I just shrugged it off. At last, it's nice to know the real lyric.  😎

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 11/2/2018 at 12:28 AM, BuyMoreAndSave said:

Another one from the screaming-vocalist archives: Scoff by Nirvana.

What he's actually saying: "Heal a million, kill a million"...what I hear: "Heal Neil Young, kill Neil Young."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M0gvrdkrbQ

Also "Apologize" by OneRepublic. The line goes "it's too late to 'pologize" but my husband thought it said "it's too late to form a child" and the song was about trying for pregnancy at an older age.

I hear that too!

[WendyCR72]

I have a feeling some unknown, unnamed SiriusXM programmers aren't up on the music they air. LOL!

I was listening to the Rockin' Xmas station. Well, Bon Jovi had a song from waaaaay back in 1985, from their 7800 Degrees Fahrenheit album called "Silent Night". The only thing is, that was a power ballad about a disintegrating relationship and has zip to do with the well-known Christmas tune of the same name!

Which, hey, fine! I even like the song. But the station is supposedly only Christmas songs, so this was a definite goof. Oh, well.  :-)

[KWalkerInc]

I was listening to the Very Special Christmas 2 CD, and during "Christmas Time Again" by Extreme, they sing "We seem to push it all aside."  But every year (at least for a few seconds), I hear it as "Put the bullshit all aside."  That would be a very interesting message for such an earnestly sung Christmas song.

[blueray]

I just recently learned that in Weezer Hash pipe, they don't actually say "I got my ass wiped". Which is always what I thought it said.  They actually say Hash Pipe, which makes sense since it's the title.

[KWalkerInc]

I just realized that in "Respect Yourself" by The Staple Singers, the lyric is "Take the sheet off your face, boy; it's a brand new day" and not "Take your seat off your face, boy."  I blame Bruce Willis for not enunciating clearly, as I sadly heard his version (in middle school) before the original.

Also, I was listening to "Goin' In" by Jennifer Lopez, and it sounded like she said, "Tonight we draw orangutans."  Looking over the lyrics, I guess it must have been "Tonight we gon' ring the tank," which makes only slightly more sense to me.

[Bill1978]

Hearing Pitbull's sampling of Toto's Africa in Aquaman reminded me of my misheard lyrics from that song. All my life I thought the lyrics were:

Nothing a million men on Mars could do

Only learnt last April that it's actually

There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do

I could never understand why the lyrics were referring to Mars in a song about Africa.

[Shannon L.]

I always thought it was "Nothing a million men on board could ever do", which seemed rather odd to me.

[AntiBeeSpray]

This is an older one:

A mishearing from Def Leppard's song, Animal.

What I thought I heard --   White light, on a stormy ground

What the lyric actually was -- A wild ride, over stony ground

[KWalkerInc]

From "Pony" by Ginuwine

Actual lyrics:  "If you're horny, let's do it."

What I heard (for 20 years):  "Jump on it, next to it!"

I don't know why it never dawned on me that this probably wasn't right.  Like he'd be going, "She's next to it.  Oh well, close enough!"

[GaT]

9 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

From "Pony" by Ginuwine

Actual lyrics:  "If you're horny, let's do it."

What I heard (for 20 years):  "Jump on it, next to it!"

I don't know why it never dawned on me that this probably wasn't right.  Like he'd be going, "She's next to it.  Oh well, close enough!"

Holy crap, that song was released 23 years ago?????????!!!!!!!!!! How is that possible?

[Archery]

Was watching The Martian with subtitles on.  Learned for the first time that in Waterloo, Abba is not singing:
Waterloo -- how does it feel now you've won the war?

but rather, 

Waterloo, -- I am defeated, you won the war.  

Blame it on the Swedish accents, I guess.  

[AntiBeeSpray]

Got another older one:

From Chicago's song 'Look Away'

What I thought:  If we meet on the streets of Neigh
What it really was:  If we meet on the street someday

Edited March 2, 2019 by AntiBeeSpray

[WendyCR72]

UGH, insomnia. Anyway, just as there is a site for different songs with the same title, apparently there is also a site for misheard lyrics!

[KWalkerInc]

A song called "Love's Dance" by Earth, Wind & Fire came up on my iPod, and there is a part where they keep repeating, "I sure do!  I sure do!"  I initially heard this as "Short fuse!  Short fuse!" even though that didn't make any sense.  I may have been affected by the fact that I recently found a sticker from the vet's office that was supposed to go on my cat's carrier where it says, "Short fuse!!" in the notes as a warning to everyone who works there (with good reason, as he doesn't behave so well at his appointments ever since he was fixed).

On 1/17/2019 at 4:42 PM, KWalkerInc said:

I was listening to "Goin' In" by Jennifer Lopez, and it sounded like she said, "Tonight we draw orangutans." 

It turns out I was partially right about this one (in spite of what Google claimed), as she sang, "Tonight we go orangutan" and then someone yells "Bananas!" (which is the only reason I could figure it out).

[AntiBeeSpray]

11 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

UGH, insomnia. Anyway, just as there is a site for different songs with the same title, apparently there is also a site for misheard lyrics!

I love that site! 🙂

[BookWoman56]

On 9/14/2018 at 9:13 PM, Sandman87 said:

Something about "Magic Carpet Ride" has been nagging at me ever since I posted about it - I don't know what the heck the singer is saying in the first line. To me it sounds like:

I like euglena

I doubt that it's a song about marine biology...

I had to look up the lyrics at some point because the line about Aladdin's lamp always was unclear to me, nor could I decipher completely the 2-3 lines after it. However, just for fun, if you ever want to see what someone looks like when playing a guitar while stoned out of his mind, check out the guitarist (blond one) starting at about 1:20 during Steppenwolf's performance of Magic Carpet Ride on The Smothers Brothers show. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by BookWoman56

[AntiBeeSpray]

My mom did a nice pair of mishearings today while listening to the song 'Eminence Front' by the Who.

Instead of:

Behind an eminence front 
Eminence front, it's a put on 
It's an eminence front 

She heard:

I've been living in a truck

and

I've been living in a trunk

😂

[Popples]

This is bothering me, but what song is the title of this thread named for? I looked at the first couple of pages, but I didn't see anything.

[BetterButter]

21 minutes ago, Popples said:

what song is the title of this thread named for?

Bad Moon Rising

[Popples]

4 minutes ago, BetterButter said:

Bad Moon Rising

Thank you!

[Shannon L.]

I've heard Eric Clapton's Cocaine countless times since it's release and it was just a few days ago, I discovered that he was singing:

She don't lie,

She don't lie,

She don't lie,

I always thought it was "She don't like".  In my defense, I hate the song, so I tend to tune it out or change the station whenever it's on.

[WendyCR72]

On 4/14/2019 at 3:46 PM, Shannon L. said:

I've heard Eric Clapton's Cocaine countless times since it's release and it was just a few days ago, I discovered that he was singing:

She don't lie,

She don't lie,

She don't lie,

I always thought it was "She don't like".  In my defense, I hate the song, so I tend to tune it out or change the station whenever it's on.

Okay, my lyrical world is off kilter. I always thought Clapton was singing "She don't like...", too. (And I also hate that song, though there are many Clapton songs I do like. By the by, his MTV Unplugged album from 1992 is great, which I do have.)

[AntiBeeSpray]

Been getting this one wrong for years!

From Invisble Touch -- Genesis:

What I think it is --

She seems to have an invisible attraction yeah
She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart
She seems to have an invisible attraction yeah
It takes control and slowly tears you apart.

The actual lyrics --

She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart
She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
It takes control and slowly tears you apart.

Big thanks to Phil Collins and his enunciation. 🤣

[Oosala]

On 3/25/2015 at 3:28 PM, Rick Kitchen said:

Teens React to the lyrics from the Beatles' "I am The Walrus"

This reminded me of one of mine.

The real words:  Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.

My words:  Man you should have seen them kick, you know your Allan phoned.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Oosala

[BookWoman56]

On 4/14/2019 at 2:46 PM, Shannon L. said:

I've heard Eric Clapton's Cocaine countless times since it's release and it was just a few days ago, I discovered that he was singing:

She don't lie,

She don't lie,

She don't lie,

I always thought it was "She don't like".  In my defense, I hate the song, so I tend to tune it out or change the station whenever it's on.

I had always heard those particular lyrics correctly, and assumed Clapton was referring to the reputation cocaine has for getting people to blurt out their unfiltered (and sometimes brutally honest) thoughts. I spent roughly 1985-1990 in the Miami area, and was at way too many parties where I was the only person there not using coke. I believe the song is from a little earlier in the 80s, though. From my own observations, I would say that while it’s not “truth serum,” cocaine does frequently result in people sharing information about themselves very rapidly, that they would otherwise not reveal. It’s less that people are unable to lie, and more that they can’t stop themselves from blurting out truths. 

[KWalkerInc]

In "Love Is a Contact Sport" by Whitney Houston, she sings, "You gotta act untamed if you wanna play the game."  However, as a kid, I was sure she said, "You got to ascertain if you wanna play the game."

[catlover79]

When I was little, I thought Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" was pronounced secret "AGEN" man, since the "t" seemed to be silent!! 😂

[AntiBeeSpray]

Been mishearing 'Carefree Highway' by Gordon Lightfoot for years.

I hear the main line as 'Every highway'... instead of 'Carefree Highway'. 😂

[topanga]

On 6/20/2019 at 12:42 AM, KWalkerInc said:

In "Love Is a Contact Sport" by Whitney Houston, she sings, "You gotta act untamed if you wanna play the game."  However, as a kid, I was sure she said, "You got to ascertain if you wanna play the game."

LOL. That would be pretty sophisticated for a Whitney Houston song. 

On an episode of the NBC show "A Million Little Things," James Roday's character is listing to I'm Still Standing by Elton John.  He thinks John is saying, "Your blood is like anti-freeze, it's just like ice." His girlfriend points out the correct lyrics: "Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice." She even points out to James that his lyrics make no sense. But he doubles down on his version.

I'm Still Standing is one of my favorite Elton John songs, and I play it regularly. And now I can't stop hearing, "Your blood is like anti-freeze, it's just like ice."

[janie jones]

18 hours ago, catlover79 said:

When I was little, I thought Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" was pronounced secret "AGEN" man, since the "t" seemed to be silent!! 😂

That's why a lot of people sing it as "Secret Asian Man."

[1TrackMind]

K-pop. Just...K-pop. Between their accents, and plenty of Korean lyrics sounding kind of like English, there is SO MANY mistaken lyrics. One of my favourites is Hard Carry by Got7, with 'Hard Carry' sounding like 'Had her period!'

[catlover79]

When she was five, my sister mistook the title and refrain of Chris De Burgh's "Lady in Red" as "Lady in Bread". It still cracks me up to this day!! 😂

[catlover79]

This isn't a pop song, but in one of the liturgies we sang in church, there was a line that went "cast me not away from Thine presence". I thought it was PRESENTS, as in gifts. There's a little kid's mindset right there!! 😂

[KWalkerInc]

Rak-Su, a group that won The X-Factor a couple of years ago, has an EP of studio versions of songs they did on the show.  In one song, "I'm Feeling You," there is a line that apparently goes, "Who's that girl from the shisha spot?"  I could never decipher what the guy is saying, and wouldn't have known what "shisha" was anyway, if that's actually what he is saying.  I would always hear it as "Who's that girl from the she shed squad?"  And I don't think the State Farm commercials with Cheryl and her She Shed had even come out when I first heard the song!

[Shannon L.]

I can't be the only one who thought it as "Knights in White Satin".  Anyone? 

[dewelar]

On 9/3/2019 at 7:41 PM, Shannon L. said:

I can't be the only one who thought it as "Knights in White Satin".  Anyone? 

*raises hand*

The first few times I heard it, that was definitely what I thought it was. I figured it might have something to do with Lawrence of Arabia -- hey, I was in grade school, and I didn't know what those clothes were made of!

[xls]

Instead of Pearl Necklace I heard "get the girl Netflix"🤣