Mondegreens 'R' Us

[V-Adore]

Inspired by a post in the CAT TOWN thread...

Misheard lyrics: we all love them, we all hate them, we all have them. Sometimes they spoil the song; sometimes they actually make it viable. Sometimes you can't stop hearing them in the place of the real lyrics. What've been your most traumatic or nostalgic misheard-lyrics memories?

Mine, about half-nostalgic, half-traumatic:

When I was in fifth grade, I woke up every morning to an oldies station on my clock radio. One morning, I was woken up to "Age of Aquarius," a song I was suitably familiar with as a boomer-echo baby.. but I had a band test that day, under the hated Mr. Criswell, and so the song spontaneously mutated. "Mystic crystal revelation" became, clear as day, "Mr. Criswell's revelations."

I can still hear it sometimes.

[slink]

OK, so there are a couple but the only one I can think of off hand would be a Radiohead song...
There had to go look it up - Thinking About You.
Every time I hear the lines
"Been thinking about you
Your eyes are on my wall
Your teeth are over there"
for some reason, and looking at them and not listening to it now, I hear one line of it as "so rake a turkey".
If you have it at hand, check it out. I'd need to find the CD it's on which right now would take longer than I have left conscious!

[jough]

I believe that would be the "Pablo Honey" CD, although they're not in front of me at the moment.

[AlohaDawg]

Carry a laser down this road that I must follow....

Is probably my favorite one, along with that George Harrison song that goes

All I've got to do is a- to love you
All I've got to be is a- be happy
All it's gonna take is a- big load of bacon
Look away, Look away, Look away

Or something like that.

And in church when I was a little guy, we used to sing this hymn that went

Lead On, Oh Kinky Turtle....

[jay-ell]

And in church when I was a little guy, we used to sing this hymn that went

Lead On, Oh Kinky Turtle....

HOLY COW ALOHADAWG ARE YOU MY BIG BROTHER?  

I swear to you, this is my brother's story.  His name is Steve.  Is your real name AlohaSteve?  

Also when I was a kid Steve pointed out a misprint in the hymnal that isntructed us to sing "let the poople rejoice."  

My own personal miseheard-lyrics story involved Stevie Nicks.  You know the song..."Just like the white-winged dove sings a song (sounds like she's singin') -- whoo, baby, whoo, whoo..."

Well, I heard the lyrics as "one-winged dove."  Which, being the analytical historian that I am, I interpreted to imply peace without honor, vis-a-vis Vietnam.  It was only about a year ago that I realized that this was pretty much ludicrous and I'd been singing the wrong lyrics since I was five.  

Another oft-misheard lyric is Eiffel65's "Blue."  The actual lyrics are gibberish on the chorus, but I personally always heard them as "I"m blue, if I were green I would die" which I thought was awfully clever.  Other variations here.  

And then, of course, there's everyone's favorite: "Excuse me, while I kiss this guy."

[CortJstr]

For years when listening to Blitzkrieg Bop I thought they were saying "let's kick butt" at the parts where they were actually saying the title. And I just assumed I was hearing "shoot 'em in the back now" wrong but that turned out to be correct.

[Limmo]

Jane's Addiction, "Been Caught Stealing."  

Instead of hey alright, if I get by, it's mine....

I heard  hey alright, pumpkin pie, it's mine.

Visions of Perry Farrell sneaking up to people's windowsills and making off with their cooling pies.

I'm a goober.

[PinkStainlessTail]

I'm actually quite happy about one of mine: The beatles' "I'm So Tired". Instead of

And curse Sir Walter Raleigh...

I always heard

And curse the walls around you...

I have yet to find a place to use it, but I rather like the line.

[jough]

Jane's Addiction, "Been Caught Stealing."  

Instead of hey alright, if I get by, it's mine....

I heard  hey alright, pumpkin pie, it's mine.
I'm a goober.

I'm a goober, too, although I thought it was:

Hey alright, fuckin' pie, it's mine

He definitely says "pie" there, maybe subconsciously he was hungry for pie.

I mean, who isn't?

[jay-ell]

Until this moment, I thought the line was "It's all right, fuckin' bright, that's right."

[jough]

He does say something different the two times he comes to this line.

I won't even start with what I thought Paul Simon was singing in "Kodachrome" (before I knew the title of the song).

[slink]

He does say something different the two times he comes to this line.

I won't even start with what I thought Paul Simon was singing in "Kodachrome" (before I knew the title of the song).

I always got confused by that one.
And I could have sworn in Renee and Georgette Magritte... he sang something about penguins...
Indeed he did but I was young and had no fuck*ng idea why penguins would come into it then.

[AugustWest]

I'm actually quite happy about one of mine: The beatles' "I'm So Tired". Instead of

And curse Sir Walter Raleigh...

I always heard

And curse the walls around you...

I have yet to find a place to use it, but I rather like the line.

Wait, you mean they aren't saying "the walls around you"?  NO WAY!

[PinkStainlessTail]

Wait, you mean they aren't saying "the walls around you"?  NO WAY!

'S true: check some of these! Although this guy heard "the walls around you" too. We should all go live on a farm together!

[pmcd9]

Add me to the "curse the walls around you" crowd.

~Paul