Misheard Song Lyrics

Eyebrows were raised when I first listened to "Fragments" by VNV Nation and thought I heard the lyric "the crimes of farting sober"... It's actually "the cries of parting souls" (mondegreened lyric appears around 4 minutes in). The vocals are distorted, run through some gratuitous echo, and deliberately drowned out by a harsh electronic beat, so it makes sense that they're not entirely intelligible.

In "Back In The U.S.S.R." I always heard

All the way the paper bag was on my knee, man, I had a dreadful flight

as

All the way the paperback was on my knee, man, I had a dreadful flight.

That made perfect sense to me: of course he'd buy a cheap Airport Novel for his flight, and I could imagine very well how annoying it would be just to have the book lying around on your lap the entire flight.

I heard it that way for a long time. I even remember deciding that it was Paul McCartney throwing in a subtle reference to "Paperback Writer", since The White Album already had it's share of callbacks.

Another one: On "Back To The Light" by Brian May, I always hear 'on and on, I'm searching for a clearer view' as 'on and on, I'm searching for a peer review'. I imagined this might be a nod to his scientific career.

The Cars "Good Times Roll"

The lyrics are "let them brush your rock and roll hair."

I used to hear "let them cross your rock and roll hair."

Eddie Vedder's Nose Yodeling is an ever-reliable source of Mondegreens. To this day, when "Jeremy" comes on the radio I hear "The dead lay/In pools of Bromo..."

In the song Friends of Mine, the lyrics are "And then you both smile / I feel so good inside" but I hear it as "And then you both smile / At the same time and sigh" which I think makes it more wistful than happy. Of course, the fact that I interpret it as someone realizing their friend is being unfaithful to their significant other is probably part of the reason for that.

edited 19th Jun '14 7:22:16 AM by ColonelCathcart

Frank Zappa's "Disco Boy" has a line that goes "Leave his hair alone but you can kiss his comb", but when I initially heard it, I thought it said "Leave his hair alone but you can kiss his cone". I thought this was meant to be some sort of euphemism. Whoops.

edited 20th Jun '14 7:05:57 AM by Maxiboy136

Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Down on the Corner" the lyric is "You don't need a penny, just to hang around" but I always thought it was "You don't need a pinhead, just to hang around."

I figured it was like the head of a pin and you use the pin to hang around.

At first I thought MAGIC!'s "Rude" actually said in the chorus "Why ya gotta be so cruel?".

x 3: "You can kiss his cone" actually does sound like something Zappa would write.

I heard "old-fashioned man" as "old fancy man".

I just heard "Testify" by Rage Against the Machine for the first time in a while and was disappointed when I just now found out the line is actually, "That cunning mantra of killing," not, "The Cookie Monster of killing."

From "Unchained" by Van Halen: "Blue eyes murdering a sci-fi dress", instead of "Blue-eyed murder in a size five dress". I was picturing this blue-eyed woman in a sexy, yet highly zeerusty outfit, and I guess by "murdering" it they would have meant she looked really good in it or something.

And I was just recently reminded of how I used to think "Signs" by Five Man Electrical Band (or by Tesla, whose version I heard first) had an f-bomb in it: "Fuckin' up the scenery" instead of "Blockin' up the scenery".

Tesla did use to sing "Fucking up the scenery" but just not on the album versions.

Cold War Kids - Miracle Mile

Actual: "I was supposed to do great things, I knew the road was long..." Misheard: "I was supposed to do great things, I knew the rulers though..."

Not sure what that meant in my head. —- Cold War Kids - We Used To Vacation

"Missed my son's graduation, punched the Nichols boy for taking his seat." (M'kay, some character establishment.) as "Missed my son's graduation, punched the nipples boy for taking his seat." ('What.')

I've known that's wrong for a while but can never unhear it.

After being absorbed in the Fullmetal Alchemist part of my brain and then listening to Bastille's Pompeii:

Actual lyric: How am I gonna be an optimist about it?

Heard: How am I gonna be an alchemist about it?

I swear in Jack White's "Alone In My Home", the repeated line "I'm becoming a ghost" sounds more like "I'm becoming a goat".

An amusing one from Mark Prindle's facebook status:

Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" as "Kentucky Mountain Love". Incest jokes ensued.

edited 20th Aug '14 6:54:35 PM by MikeK

@422 — Holy shit, I heard that too!

@451 — (to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It) If you're farting and you're sober, go to jail!

John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane": "Oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of lemonade's gone".

Everclear's Santa Monica - I heard: We could live inside the ocean, leaves are far behind.

The actual lyrics: "We can live beside the ocean, leave the fire behind."

edited 5th Sep '14 6:52:02 AM by Halberdier17

I remember reading a sophomoric but amusing one on a mondegreen website for that same line: "We could live beside the ocean, 'neath your fat behind".

edited 7th Sep '14 7:45:59 PM by MikeK

Heheheh.

Donald Fagen's New Frontier.

Actual lyric: She's got the right dynamics for the new frontier

What I heard: She's got the right banana for the new frontier