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

[Crs97]

My father never listened to popular music. One day he came home ranting about the message of a new song. We asked which one, and he replied, "Fame!" He thought she said, "I want to die high" instead of "I want to fly high."

[DeLurker]

The ears are the first to go...that is hysterical.

[Crs97]

Fast forward a few years when he heard the title of Huey Lewis' new song "I Want a New Drug." Poor man!

[AntiBeeSpray]

Fast forward a few years when he heard the title of Huey Lewis' new song "I Want a New Drug." Poor man!

 

What did he hear?

[Crs97]

He heard the title correctly, but didn't listen to the song to find out it was supposed to be a love song.  He just thought it was a song about drugs.  Guess he thought Huey wanted to die high.

[AntiBeeSpray]

He heard the title correctly, but didn't listen to the song to find out it was supposed to be a love song.  He just thought it was a song about drugs.  Guess he thought Huey wanted to die high.

 

Oh I see.

[Bastet]

Fast forward a few years when he heard the title of Huey Lewis' new song "I Want a New Drug." Poor man!

 

Ha!  I hadn't thought of it in all this time, but now that you mention it I have a distinct memory of my mom flipping her shit over that song, too, until she sat back and listened to something beyond that line.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Bastet

[ketchuplover]

It sound(s)(ed) like Mick is singing "I in jai"  when he was really singing "Angie"

[Sandman87]

When I was very young this one had me convinced that the singer (Barbra Streisand) was the evil witch from "Hansel and Gretel":

People who eat people

Are the luckiest people in the world

[bilgistic]

Maroon 5 have a song that's getting airplay on my "'90s to Now!" station, and Adam Levine sings, "Baby, I'm preying on you tonight, hunt you down, eat you alive. Just like animals, animals, like animals' BALLS." I have no idea what that last word actually is. I hate the song.

[Princess Sparkle]

I don't know if it's better or worse, but it's just "animals ...mals".  

 

That song is so freaking stupid.

[bilgistic]

Oh, okay. Well, that makes sense, Adam Levine. I think it's safe to say he's one that gets by on his looks. His too-small t-shirts with the rolled-up sleeves are as stupid as his songs.

[Archery]

It took closed captioning of a Cyndi Lauper concert on PBS for me to find out that "What in the world can they get done," was really "When the working day is done," in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.  I had been singing it wrong for more than twenty years.  Loudly. 

[beadgirl]

Holy crap, I've been wrong too!

[bilgistic]

I thought it was: "What in the world can make it right?"

I just watched the video and it reminded me that I actually used to love the video and song waaaay back when. The song's been bastardized for use in any "girls be crazy with their slumber parties and trying on clothes!" movie/TV montage since then, and that's made me hate it.

[BabyVegas]

The song Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo has one that always gets me. There's a part where 2 Chainz does his rap verse. And he yells his name at the beginning of his rap. And I know he's just saying his name, but every time I hear it I think he's yelling "Cho Chang." And then I start imagining Cho Chang rapping the verse and then I'm just useless because I start laughing so hard.

[Shannon L.]

I just learned yesterday that in Uptown Funk, the lyrics are "Uptown funk you up".  I always thought it was "Uptown funky walk".

[bilgistic]

I, too, thought it was "funky walk". I turn  it off as soon as it comes on because it's on all the friggin time, so I'm kind of surprised I actually know that much.

[Archery]

Over in the "Getting Music Past the Censors" thread, there were these lyrics from Cuddly Toy, by the Monkees, which I've been singing ever since my sister and I sent away for the double album -- paid for with a money order -- which was advertised during the weekday afternoon reruns of the show (that is to say, for more than forty years):

 

You're not the only cuddly toy
that was ever enjoyed
by any boy
You're not the only choo choo train
that was left out in the rain
the day after Santa came.

 

And every one of those years, I've been singing,

You're not the only choo choo train
that was left out in the rain
the day of this hurricane.

 

Somehow, it made sense to me. I also thought the song was about being lonely, as opposed to being, erm, used and tossed aside. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

This is one I've gotten wrong for a long time lol.

 

From "All Through the Night" by Cyndi Lauper:

 

What I thought they were: 

 

We have no past we won't reach back

Keep with me forward all through the night
And once we start the need to cleanse
And it goes running all through the night
Until it ends there is no end

 

What they really were:

 

We have no past we won't reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night
And once we start the meter clicks
And it goes running all through the night
Until it ends there is no end

 

Which makes a LOT more sense. Since it deals with time. Cleansing... on the other hand... doesn't make a lot of sense in regards to the song.

[Archery]

I thought for longest time it was "and once we start, we need to click." Apparently, I have a hearing problem when it comes to Cyndi Lauper.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I thought for longest time it was "and once we start, we need to click." Apparently, I have a hearing problem when it comes to Cyndi Lauper.

 

I do too, I guess XD. Guess she might need to enunciate better.

[cpcathy]

It took closed captioning of a Cyndi Lauper concert on PBS for me to find out that "What in the world can they get done," was really "When the working day is done," in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.  I had been singing it wrong for more than twenty years.  Loudly. 

 

 

Wow. I have NEVER heard that lyric correctly. I always just think in my head, "when in the world can they eshun" even though that's not English.

 

On another classic note, I know what the real lyric is, but I always hear "When Dogs Cry" on Prince's "When Doves Cry."

[AntiBeeSpray]

Reeling in the Years -- Steely Dan

 

What I thought it was:

 

Are you reelin' in the e's (yeast)
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the cheese (t's)
Have you had enough of mine

 

What it really was:

 

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

[potatoradio]

Just learned another one of mine from reading another thread.

 

Survivor's "High on You" real lyric:

 

There she stood

That'll teach her

 

What I've been singing for the last *cough* several years:

There she stood

Little teacher

 

Just thought Steve Perry was trying to follow in Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" footsteps...

[Ringthane]

Over in the "Getting Music Past the Censors" thread, there were these lyrics from Cuddly Toy, by the Monkees, which I've been singing ever since my sister and I sent away for the double album -- paid for with a money order -- which was advertised during the weekday afternoon reruns of the show (that is to say, for more than forty years):

 

You're not the only cuddly toy

that was ever enjoyed

by any boy

You're not the only choo choo train

that was left out in the rain

the day after Santa came.

 

And every one of those years, I've been singing,

You're not the only choo choo train

that was left out in the rain

the day of this hurricane.

 

Somehow, it made sense to me. I also thought the song was about being lonely, as opposed to being, erm, used and tossed aside. 

 

"The day after Santa came"?  Huh.  I thought it was "the day after summer came" since I first heard it over twenty years ago.  How about that.

[potatoradio]

 

Not that it makes a difference with the misheard lyrics, but the singer in Survivor was the late Jimi Jamison. He did resemble Steve Perry (of Journey) a bit, back in the day.

 

 

Doh!! Thanks!

[AntiBeeSpray]

One from Tears of Pearls by Savage Garden

 

What I thought it was: And we stare each other down

Like victims in the groin <-- this just doesn't sound right at all XD

 

What it really was: And we stare each other down

Like victims in the grind

 

Been thinking it was the former for years.

 

 

One I just got by Phil Collins from his song Something happened on the way to heaven.

 

What I thought it was: Yanni, please, believe in me  <-- O_o

 

What it really was: You're all I need, please, believe in me

 

I finally just got it tonight!

[Jeebus Cripes]

This is one I've gotten wrong for a long time lol.

 

From "All Through the Night" by Cyndi Lauper:

 

What I thought they were: 

 

We have no past we won't reach back

Keep with me forward all through the night

And once we start the need to cleanse

And it goes running all through the night

Until it ends there is no end

 

What they really were:

 

We have no past we won't reach back

Keep with me forward all through the night

And once we start the meter clicks

And it goes running all through the night

Until it ends there is no end

 

Which makes a LOT more sense. Since it deals with time. Cleansing... on the other hand... doesn't make a lot of sense in regards to the song.

 

Same! Wow.... it does make a lot more sense.

[P2C2E]

AC/DC

"Dirty Dees and the Dunder Sheep." I thought it was some weird Australian thing.

"Dirty deeds done dirt cheap" might make a lot more sense but part of me misses those Dunder Sheep.

For years I thought it was "Dirty Steve and the Thunder Chiefs".

[Sandman87]

That reminds me of the parody Bob Rivers did which might have started out as a mondegreen: "Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep."

[Archery]

 

The theme song from One Day At A Time:

So womp on the beef  is what I heard for So up on your feet.

Huh. I always thought they were saying, "So, walk on with me."  I . . . can't explain it, either.

[Sandman87]

Huh. I always thought they were saying, "So, walk on with me."  I . . . can't explain it, either.

Until this moment that's what I thought it was too.

[Maharincess]

I was watching a movie (Chevy Chase, Foul Play) with my daughter when she was a young teenager, at the end they played Barry Manilow's Day break. My daughter got a strange look on her face and asked why somebody would write a song about something like that. When I asked what she meant, she said the guy was singing about date rape. She thought he was saying date rape and not Day break.

She also always thought the Elton John song Philadelphia Freedom went "you love me the freedom".

She was a strange child.

I was a strange child too. My family watched The Courtship of Eddie's Father a lot. I'm 50 years old and still get teased by my brothers for singing "People let me tell you about my bedspread". I could never figure out why the guy loved his bedspread so much that he wanted to tell everyone about it.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Maharincess

[spaceytraci1208]

The theme song from One Day At A Time:

So womp on the beef is what I heard for So up on your feet.

I thought it was "So walk on the beat" (especially since the next lyric is "somewhere there's music playing")...I dig "So womp on the beef" too LOL

[AntiBeeSpray]

I finally got this one lyric right from The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals

 

Wrong lyric: My mother was a tailor

She stole my new blue jeans 

My mother was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans

 

Right lyric: My mother was a tailor

Sewed my new blue jeans

My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans

 

Note that the old misheard lyrics make absolutely NO sense XD. Been thinking they were them too up until last night.

[Sandman87]

I just now, just now, found out that I've been mishearing one of the lines from "Brass in Pocket" for years and years:

 

My version: Gonna make you, make you, make you more tense

The real version: Gonna make you, make you, make you notice

 

 

Not a mondegreen, but more of a misunderstood lyric: I learned recently that the line in "Space Oddity" that goes "And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear" means that they want to know what football team Major Tom supports. I always thought it was a statement about commercialism when it was really a parody of English football obsession.

[Shannon L.]

I just now, just now, found out that I've been mishearing one of the lines from "Brass in Pocket" for years and years:

This made me think of a particular line in that song that I couldn't figure out, so, for the first time ever I looked up the lyrics and apparently, I've misheard most of it for all these years.  Oddly enough, the one lyric I couldn't figure out, was the one I was actually hearing correctly.  ::facepalms::

 

Roam by the B52s:

 

Real lyrics:  Around the world the trip begins with a kiss

I heard:  Around the world the trip begins with you.

[Sandman87]

Heh. Back in the day I caught one of my fellow college radio DJs singing along with "Roam":

Woah, Nipsey Russel

Go around the world

 

I think I like that version better.

[Popples]

I just now, just now, found out that I've been mishearing one of the lines from "Brass in Pocket" for years and years:

 

My version: Gonna make you, make you, make you more tense

The real version: Gonna make you, make you, make you notice

 

Real version: Gonna use my sidestep

I heard: Gonna use my sassy

[spaceytraci1208]

Real version: Gonna use my sidestep

I heard: Gonna use my sassy

"Sassy" makes a lot more sense than what I heard..."Saucy"

[Sandman87]

Come to think of it, pretty much any Pretenders song is a candidate for mondegreens. Enunciation wasn't exactly Chrissie Hynde's greatest strength.

[Shannon L.]

 

Real version: Gonna use my sidestep

I heard: Gonna use my sassy

Yep, that was one of the many that I misheard.

[Archery]

I heard "sassy" too.  I like our version better. 

[Babalu]

Huh. Just now learning it's not "sassy." I don't think I can change what's been ingrained, so I guess it stays "sassy" for me,

[AntiBeeSpray]

Just figured out some lyrics to Stone Temple's Pilots song, "Creep"

 

I thought they were...

 

I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel so doughnut faced
It fades to gray

 

 

When they actually were...

 

I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray

[Sandman87]

Just figured out some lyrics to Stone Temple's Pilots song, "Creep"

 

 

Either set of lyrics makes just as much sense.

[grisgris]

Oh my gosh! I just stumbled on this site and have been laughing so hard I'm crying.  So if you're getting new "likes" for posts that are a couple of years old, that's why.

 

Here are some of mine:

 

Counting Crows:

 

"She talks to angels. The color of my name."

 

I think it's:

 

"She talks to angels. They call her by her name."

 

Rolling Stones "Heartbreaker:"

 

"Napoleon in New York City" (Thought it was some type of misguided political statement.)

 

"The police in New York City."

 

Def Leppard's "Hysteria" I thought Joe Elliott was singing "Wisteria."

 

Add me to the "Blinded by the Light" crowd with "rolled up like a douche you know the roller in the night."

 

And that one by Steve Miller, "and I speak of the pompitice of love."

 

Here's one I've read about regarding Aerosmith's "Big Ten Inch Record"

 

Steven Tyler seemed ticked that people thought he was singing "suck on my big 10-inch record," when it's really "'cept for my ... " (yeah, right...)

[WendyCR72]

"She talks to angels. They call her by her name."

 

I'm 99.99999% sure this is the correct lyric. Brent Smith of Shinedown and his side project Smith & Myers covered this song, and that was the line he used.

[Sandman87]

Steven Tyler seemed ticked that people thought he was singing "suck on my big 10-inch record," when it's really "'cept for my ... " (yeah, right...)

That's what the original lyrics for the song say. I always thought Aerosmith's version said "suck" though.