Misheard Lyrics for non-Eagles songs

[sodascouts]

Have you ever misheard the lyrics of a non-Eagles song? If so, what did you think was said vs the reality? Fire away!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Where do I start?

My all-time favorite is actually one my ex-husband misheard. I knew what he kept singing, I just thought he was trying to be funny. But 'There's a Bad Moon On the Rise' (by CCR) he really thought was 'There's a Bathroom On The Right'.

[Outlawman13]

LOL that's actually what I say all the time. LOL I know I have said it wrong all of these years, but it's too funny.

[Turf]

I knew somebody who once thought the line "Shoe the children with no shoes on their feet" (Fly like an Eagle - Steve Miller) was "Shoot the children with no shoes on their feet."

Apparently, she thought Steve was a bit unsympathetic!

[TimothyBFan]

Someone in our family (not mentioning his name) has been known to change a lot of them.

One day we were in the car and Rhiannon came on. We were all singing along and HE sang, "Briana". Katie about came unglued!!! :lol:

Pop Singer by Mellencamp was "never wanted to be no Bob Seger" instead of "never wanted to be no pop singer". Said he never could figure out what Mellencamp had against Bob Seger. :lol:

Paper In Fire also by Mellencamp- the line "like paper in fire" was "like black widow spider".

[sodascouts]

Lol these are cracking me up!

I've heard some say they thought the lyrics to Stevie Nicks' Edge of Seventeen were "just like the one-winged dove" (as opposed to "white-winged dove"). That puts a lot less positive spin on the metaphor!

[Freypower]

I knew somebody who once thought the line "Shoe the children with no shoes on their feet" (Fly like an Eagle - Steve Miller) was "Shoot the children with no shoes on their feet."

Apparently, she thought Steve was a bit unsympathetic!

I always thought it was ''shelter'' the children.

In Baby Please Don't Go by Them, I turned out to be right about 'you had the shackles on' but I thought 'before I be your dog' was 'bought me a dog'.

[sad-cafe]

my younger brother used to sing "come on in, baby take your clothes off" come on in Baby get a load off


I believe it was Come on in, Baby take your coat off, come on in baby take a load off.


Oak Ridge Boys

[zeldabjr]

Lol these are cracking me up!

I've heard some say they thought the lyrics to Stevie Nicks' Edge of Seventeen were "just like the one-winged dove" (as opposed to "white-winged dove"). That puts a lot less positive spin on the metaphor!

I must confess I am guilty here!

[zeldabjr]

I just saw Huey Lewis and the News on Jimmy Kimmel...and they sang "I Want A New Drug"...I started laughing because back in the day when this was out...I thougt he was saying "I Want A New Truck"...LOL

[WalshFan88]

Pop Singer by Mellencamp was "never wanted to be no Bob Seger" instead of "never wanted to be no pop singer". Said he never could figure out what Mellencamp had against Bob Seger. :lol:

:rofl:

[WalshFan88]

I just now remembered one from a loooong time ago.. I thought "Cherry Bomb" in Mellencamp's song was "Chilli Dog". No joke. lol

[EagleLady]

I totally misread the You need Cooling in Whole Lotta Love for You need KoolAid.... Well Robert if you're offering :hilarious:

[TimothyBFan]

I just now remembered one from a loooong time ago.. I thought "Cherry Bomb" in Mellencamp's song was "Chilli Dog". No joke. lol

Apparently John Mellencamp doesn't sing clearly enough---he seems to be one of the most misunderstood in this thread. :lol:

[sodascouts]

It's not chili dog? Seriously?

Learn something new every day! I've thought it was that since I first heard the song!

[Prettymaid]

It's not chili dog? Seriously?

Learn something new every day! I've thought it was that since I first heard the song!

Soda, I don't see a wink...are you being serious?

[sodascouts]

Yes! I thought a cherry bomb was an explosive - why would they be sucking on that? We are talking about "Jack and Diane" right? "Suckin' on a chili dog outside the Tastee Freeze" made sense to me. I though they were just enjoying some fast food together.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Yes! I thought a cherry bomb was an explosive - why would they be sucking on that? We are talking about "Jack and Diane" right? "Suckin' on a chili dog outside the Tastee Freeze" made sense to me. I though they were just enjoying some fast food together.

You were right, Soda, in Jack and Diane, it is 'sucking on a chili dog'. He also had a song called Cherry Bomb:

That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin', laughin' with our friends
Holdin' hands meant somethin', baby
Outside the club"Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really thumpin'
Say yeah yeah yeah
Say yeah yeah yeah

[sodascouts]

Oh. Duh! :blush:

[VAisForEagleLovers]

An honest mistake to make! Cherry Bomb wasn't as popular as Jack and Diane, and even I, who owns Cherry Bomb on a CD, remembered it was the name of the song.

[TimothyBFan]

You guys are cracking me up!!! Poor John Mellencamp, so misunderstood!! :lol:

[EagleLady]

Also the most well known Misheard lyric, Hold me closer Tony Danza instead of Hold me Closer Tiny Dancer :lol:

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Also the most well known Misheard lyric, Hold me closer Tony Danza instead of Hold me Closer Tiny Dancer :lol:

:lol::lol:

[WalshFan88]

You were right, Soda, in Jack and Diane, it is 'sucking on a chili dog'. He also had a song called Cherry Bomb:

That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin', laughin' with our friends
Holdin' hands meant somethin', baby
Outside the club"Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really thumpin'
Say yeah yeah yeah
Say yeah yeah yeah

Yeah that's the one I'm referring to.

I thought that line was "out by the curb, "Chili Dog". Like maybe he was eating at a curbside hotdog stand?! :lol:

[Glennhoney]

Where do I start?

My all-time favorite is actually one my ex-husband misheard. I knew what he kept singing, I just thought he was trying to be funny. But 'There's a Bad Moon On the Rise' (by CCR) he really thought was 'There's a Bathroom On The Right'.



hahahaha..thanks for the laugh..:lol:

[Freypower]

Also the most well known Misheard lyric, Hold me closer Tony Danza instead of Hold me Closer Tiny Dancer :lol:

It isn't well known to me at all, sorry. I know the song but not the misquote.

There is a line that does bother me, from Stairway To Heaven: 'how everything still turns to gold'. I KNOW it's supposed to be 'gold' but I have never heard it as anything other than 'stone' in the studio version.

[cbecrad]

LOL these are funny. I've got one for ya.

For years I thought in the Genesis song Invisible Touch the lyric was "She seems to have a physical top shake." :blush:

[Turf]

I'm not entirely comfortable posting this one, but it's kinda funny, so I will.

Some number of years back I was listening to a radio station and they were having people call in with misheard lyrics. This one lady called up and said that her boyfriend or husband (I can't remember which) mistook the following line from Van Halen's Panama:

"Reach down, in between my legs, and ease the seat back."

for:

"Reach down, in between my legs, and ease the seed bag."

Now, I can't hear the song without thinking of that lady when they get to that line...:|

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I'm not entirely comfortable posting this one, but it's kinda funny, so I will.

Some number of years back I was listening to a radio station and they were having people call in with misheard lyrics. This one lady called up and said that her boyfriend or husband (I can't remember which) mistook the following line from Van Halen's Panama:

"Reach down, in between my legs, and ease the seat back."

for:

"Reach down, in between my legs, and ease the seed bag."

Now, I can't hear the song without thinking of that lady when they get to that line...:|

Oh my! Seriously?? :hilarious::hilarious:
Guess what I'll be thinking of every time now?!

[zeldabjr]

OMG Turf...I just laughed so hard when I read that...I woke up my cat and he ran off....:hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:

[EagleLady]

It isn't well known to me at all, sorry. I know the song but not the misquote.

There is a line that does bother me, from Stairway To Heaven: 'how everything still turns to gold'. I KNOW it's supposed to be 'gold' but I have never heard it as anything other than 'stone' in the studio version.


Well Well Known to Most everybody then. :unimpressed:

[TimothyBFan]

I'm not entirely comfortable posting this one, but it's kinda funny, so I will.

Some number of years back I was listening to a radio station and they were having people call in with misheard lyrics. This one lady called up and said that her boyfriend or husband (I can't remember which) mistook the following line from Van Halen's Panama:

"Reach down, in between my legs, and ease the seat back."

for:

"Reach down, in between my legs, and ease the seed bag."

Now, I can't hear the song without thinking of that lady when they get to that line...:|

:hilarious: Now that's just funny!!! We listened to this album this weekend. I'll never hear it quite the same again.

[Prettymaid]

Having trouble understanding the lyrics to Joe Cocker's With a Little Help from My Friends? This video will help.
(It's been posted on the board before, but it's always worth another look!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJWxPE8G2c

[Freypower]

Having trouble understanding the lyrics to Joe Cocker's With a Little Help from My Friends? This video will help.
(It's been posted on the board before, but it's always worth another look!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJWxPE8G2c

Just check out the Beatles original! Ringo is pretty easy to understand. I always thought Cocker's version was too over the top, although I like it.

I have one. The Rolling Stones' Sway, which I heard eariler today, I thought was 'it's just that mean ol' life has got me in its sway'. It is 'it's just that demon life'....

[Glennsallnighter]

These are all so imaginative. When I was in college we used listen to a slot on a radio show called 'looney lunchtime lyrics' which was just that - mishearing the lyrics of songs,

Some people may remember Katrina and the Waves song 'Sunny Street'. Instead of 'we're all livin on a Sunny Street' it sounded more like 'we're all livin on a Soda Stream'. Actually I won a Genesis album for sending that one in.

Another was from Bon Jovi's 'Livin on a Prayer'. The line 'Tommy used to work on the Dock' came out to us as 'Tommy used to work on the Dart'. Very logical since this is the acronym for our 'Dublin Area Rapid Transport' train system!

[Prettymaid]

Just check out the Beatles original! Ringo is pretty easy to understand. I always thought Cocker's version was too over the top, although I like it.

Well, I was joking that the video would actually help you understand the words. If you play it you can see that it's a nonsensical interpretation of the lyrics. It was supposed to be funny, FP.

[Freypower]

Well, I was joking that the video would actually help you understand the words. If you play it you can see that it's a nonsensical interpretation of the lyrics. It was supposed to be funny, FP.

I thought about that later and realised that it was meant to be a joke. I hadn't watched the clip! OOPS! Sorry.

[Prettymaid]

I thought about that later and realised that it was meant to be a joke. I hadn't watched the clip! OOPS! Sorry.

;-). :thumbsup: Watch it! It's so stupid it's funny!

[glenneaglesfan]

OMG Turf...I just laughed so hard when I read that...I woke up my cat and he ran off....:hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:

I've just read this and also burst out laughing!

I've long thought that Neil Diamond was singing about a trendy vicar called the Reverend Blue Jeans!

[TimothyBFan]

;-). :thumbsup: Watch it! It's so stupid it's funny!

:hilarious: I'm still laughing and I had seen it already awhile back. Love it!!! Like the beginning where it says "captioned for the clear headed". :hilarious:

[Troubadour]

That video is hilarious! I want to quote a bit of it, but I don't even know which bit to quote! :lol:

[TimothyBFan]

I had one come to mind last night while we were listening to the radio on the patio.

The song Twilight Zone by Golden Earring. When it first came out in the early 80s, I thought the lyric was "when the bullet hits the phone" instead of "when the bullet hits the bone".

[Prettymaid]

Lol! I knew there was a reason I don't like to talk on the phone. Gotta watch out for those bullets!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I had one come to mind last night while we were listening to the radio on the patio.

The song Twilight Zone by Golden Earring. When it first came out in the early 80s, I thought the lyric was "when the bullet hits the phone" instead of "when the bullet hits the bone".

This entire song had me confused! The lyric 'This is a madhouse, feels like being cloned' I could never make out. So when I sang along, it was always, 'This is my house, I feel like being stoned.'

[TimothyBFan]

:hilarious: I like your version.

[Turf]

Check out this article and its comments for more of the same...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/tech/web/spotify-misquoted-lyrics/index.html

[Prettymaid]

Good ones!

[sodascouts]

I have trouble believing some of those are for real. I guess you never know, though!

[Troubadour]

It has taken me ages to get the lyric "there's a rose in the fisted glove" from Stephen Stills' Love The One You're With. For some reason, I always used to sing "there's a road and a twisted love". lol. Makes no sense at all...

[WalshFan88]

Haha that's funny. I thought it was "a road on a distant globe", lol at first.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

A funny video of misheard lyrics. I could only find it on Facebook, sorry...

https://www.facebook.com/221008661422591/videos/317811405075649/?fref=nf

[L101]

A funny video of misheard lyrics. I could only find it on Facebook, sorry...

https://www.facebook.com/221008661422591/videos/317811405075649/?fref=nf

I generally don't really like stand up comedians but I love Peter Kay and loved this!! Thanks VA - and you've sent me off on a loop watching his other clips now :grin:

[Witchy Woman]

My all time favorite misheard lyric is from Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light". I, as well as 99.9 % of the world, hear "Wrapped up like a douche" rather than "Revved up like a deuce". I still think the guy's singing the douche thing !!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

My all time favorite misheard lyric is from Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light". I, as well as 99.9 % of the world, hear "Wrapped up like a douche" rather than "Revved up like a deuce". I still think the guy's singing the douche thing !!

I do too!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I generally don't really like stand up comedians but I love Peter Kay and loved this!! Thanks VA - and you've sent me off on a loop watching his other clips now :grin:

He does a great job of lip synching and selling it

[AlreadyGone95]

I have one that I've been singing since I knew the song, Lynyrd Skynyrd's What's your Name.

What I thought:"What's your name, little girl... Shouldn't you be ashamed". Actual lyrics: "What's your name, little girl... Shootin' you straight".

Also Skynyrd's That Smell. I have 2 for it.
What I thought: "Ohh That Smell, the smell that surrounds you".
Actual lyrics: "The smell of death surrounds you"

What I thought: "Can't speak a word when you're full of booze"
Actual lyrics: "Can't speak a word when you're full of 'ludes". (ludes= quaaludes)

For that last one, both booze and ludes fit the theme of the song.

[secret squirrel]

It has taken me ages to get the lyric "there's a rose in the fisted glove" from Stephen Stills' Love The One You're With. For some reason, I always used to sing "there's a road and a twisted love". lol. Makes no sense at all...

Ok I always thought that this was 'There's a road in the midday sun' which I still think makes more sense than 'There's a rose in the fisted glove' and also ties in with the 'If you can't be with the one you love'. Location location location.

SS
xx
http://thetomschillingpoems.blogspot.co.uk/ (http://thetomschillingpoems.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/napola-2.html)

[secret squirrel]

And I have another one. Englan Dan and John Ford Coley, 'I'd Really Love to See You Tonight'. I always hear:

'I'm not talking 'bout the linen/And I don't wanna share your life'

for:

''I'm not talking 'bout moving in/And I don't wanna share your life'

SS
xx
http://thetomschillingpoems.blogspot.co.uk/ (http://thetomschillingpoems.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/napola-2.html)

[AlreadyGone95]

And I have another one. Englan Dan and John Ford Coley, 'I'd Really Love to See You Tonight'. I always hear:

'I'm not talking 'bout the linen/And I don't wanna share your life'

for:

''I'm not talking 'bout moving in/And I don't wanna share your life'

SS
xx
http://thetomschillingpoems.blogspot.co.uk/ (http://thetomschillingpoems.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/napola-2.html)

I always thought it was " I'm not talking 'bout my lady".

[DJ]

My all time favorite misheard lyric is from Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light". I, as well as 99.9 % of the world, hear "Wrapped up like a douche" rather than "Revved up like a deuce". I still think the guy's singing the douche thing !!

OMG I thought It was Wrapped Up Like A Douche. Ha..Too funny how wrong that I was. I always wondered what the heck that line meant. Now it makes sense.

[NOLA]

One of my all-time favorite songs, "Let Her Cry," by Hootie and the Blowfish:

What I heard:

"She said there's the one I love the most, this life's not far behind."

What it really is:

"She says Dad's the one I love the most, but Stipe's not far behind."

(The band was good friends with REM at the time, so it was their nod to Michael Stipe.)

Boy, was I way off the mark! :hilarious:

[secret squirrel]

I've got another one.

Al Stewart - Year of the Cat

which incidentally has possibly the best first lines of a song ever:

On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came

I had all these right but later on I was happily singing:

To the rhythm of the new Fonteyn

Ok - I know it doesn't make much sense but I thought it was some allusion I didn't quite get. The words are actually much more prosaic.

In the rhythm of the new-born day

SS
xx
http://sshh-sshh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/glenn-frey-cowboy-casanova.html

[NightMistBlue]

I had all these right but later on I was happily singing:

To the rhythm of the new Fonteyn

Ok - I know it doesn't make much sense but I thought it was some allusion I didn't quite get. The words are actually much more prosaic.

In the rhythm of the new-born day

SS
xx
http://sshh-sshh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/glenn-frey-cowboy-casanova.html

I like our version better (I've also always thought it was "the new Fonteyn," though I didn't think about how to spell it). His enunciation sounds nothing like "of the new-born day."

[FWIW]

I love when old threads are revived! As a newer member, there is still so much material that I haven't read. It's great when it's easy to catch up.

Some nonsensical lyrics that a friend heard in "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd.

She was certain they were singing "No ducks of hazard in the crossroads." instead of "No dark sarcasm in the classroom." I still remember those misheard lyrics over 35 years later.

[Freypower]

I like our version better (I've also always thought it was "the new Fonteyn," though I didn't think about how to spell it). His enunciation sounds nothing like "of the new-born day."

Here is another person who thinks it's 'the new Fonteyn' - prima ballerina assoluta Dame Margot Fonteyn, who was one of my childhood heroines. I've never heard it as anything else. The rhythm of a dancer.

[LuvTim]

Here is another person who thinks it's 'the new Fonteyn' - prima ballerina assoluta Dame Margot Fonteyn, who was one of my childhood heroines. I've never heard it as anything else. The rhythm of a dancer.

SS, I just have to jump in on this one, because I, too, have always heard it as "the new Fonteyn," and, just like FP, I felt like it made perfect sense, as this ethereal figure of whom he's singing would understandably move with the grace of a dancer. I always just presumed this to be a reference to Margot Fonteyn, so much so that I've never even looked at the lyrics. Huh.
With all due respect to the writer, I'm with NMB, I like our way better.:-)

[NightMistBlue]

I'm not as cultured as ya'll, I didn't know there was a prima ballerina by that name. It just sounded like he was saying "Fontaine" but I never stopped to wonder what it meant or how it was spelled :) Appalling lack of curiosity.

For years, I thought the first line of the Bee Gees' "Run To Me" was "if ever you got brain in your heart," - I still think that's what it sounds like. I took it to mean: be wise in your emotional decisions, that kind of thing. But it's actually "if ever you got rain in your heart." It's such a pretty metaphor, I borrowed it for one of my own songs.

[NOLA]

Another fave song, "Tangled Up in Blue," by the great Bobby D.:

What I thought I heard:

"Splitting up on the docks at night"
"Where I was lucky enough to be employed"

What the lyrics really are:

"Split it up on a dark sad night"
"Where I happened to be employed"

But, given the fact that Dylan often mumbles his lyrics while singing in his signature nasal tone, it's no big surprise I misheard them.

[Jonny Come Lately]

NOLA, I used to think it was 'docks' in Tangled Up In Blue too, until quite recently in fact! The thing is that our incorrect version does make lyrical sense - indeed the line after the employment lyric is 'working for a while on a fishing boat outside Delacroix', so it wouldn't be the only water reference in the song, while in the very next song, Simple Twist of Fate, we have the guy who 'hunts her down by the waterfront docks'.

One lyric that I used to get wrong from the album which I have no excuse for (because it makes no sense) is that in Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts I really did think for a while that he sang 'Rosemary combed her hair and took a cabbage into town'! Blood on the Tracks is one of my all-time favourite albums, absolutely top-notch songwriting across the board whether on the more emotionally direct songs like Idiot Wind and If You See Her Say Hello or the more enigmatic ones like Shelter From The Storm.

With Bob Dylan, I think it's the combination of nasal voice (which I personally like - it's a perfect fit for many of his songs, particularly the dry/bitter/sarcastic ones) and the fact that he uses images and words that relatively few other artists would think to use means it's easy to mishear his lyrics. I think you can sometimes hear him sing something that isn't right but whereas it would normally sound 'wrong', you do wonder if these lyrics are correct especially once you take his vocals into account.

[Freypower]

Another fave song, "Tangled Up in Blue," by the great Bobby D.:

What I thought I heard:

"Splitting up on the docks at night"
"Where I was lucky enough to be employed"

What the lyrics really are:

"Split it up on a dark sad night"
"Where I happened to be employed"

But, given the fact that Dylan often mumbles his lyrics while singing in his signature nasal tone, it's no big surprise I misheard them.

I never head anything but 'split up on the docks at night' and 'was lucky just to be employed' or 'what luck it was to be employed'. The first line can be contested, but no matter what the printed lyrics say, he does not sing the word 'happened' at all.

[NOLA]

Agree, FP. "Happened" is not happening, IMO. After a few more listens last night, I'm still hearing the word "lucky."

JCL, I agree that Blood on the Tracks was Dylan's shining moment in the '70s. I thank my older brother for introducing me to the album when I was a kid, and it's still one of my favorites to this day.