Mis-heard song lyrics

[GlennT]

Given that rock music singers are not always going for precision in diction, there have been a number of vague-sounding lyrics over the years that present a challenge to those who are interested in what the musicians have to say...all two of us that is. I'm not talking about heavy metal or other types where the idea is to channel demons from Hell, but actual songs.

So, especially when as a child you took it all in with naive innocence, there were times when a songs lyrics were mis-heard but just accepted as being something that must have apparently made sense to the musicians, and your mind tried to apply meaning to the mis-interpretation.

This thread is an opportunity to post your favorite or funniest mis-heard song lyrics. To start things off, I will present the following"

When I was a kid, "It don't Come Easy" by Ringo Starr came out, and the title line, as sung, entered my brain as " ...no, don't call me 'Zeh'!"

I imagined that Ringo had objected to being called "Zeh" by whomever, and was telling them off in this song, or that maybe "Zeh" was some kind of British pejorative.

[Mack]

Nothing comes to mind except the line from the Christmas Carol: "round yon virgin mother and child...", which I always heard as a youngster: "...round John Virgin...."
(probably a plump, happy,but frustrated old fellow...)

[StevenW]

Well it's tragic that it has to come to this but, When I was 7 or 8 years old I was running around singing "The first (cunt) is the deepest" by Cat Stevens, later marginalized by Rod Stewart... It was the Rod Stewart version that I was familiar with and the one that had me confused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZYAaQoks8

I still can't tell the difference..

[cheesepaws]

Originally Posted by Mack

Nothing comes to mind except the line from the Christmas Carol: "round yon virgin mother and child...", which I always heard as a youngster: "...round John Virgin...."

This last christmas we had a laugh at our daughter singing:

Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and singers breakfast-style

[GlennT]

I shared both of these Christmas lyrics with my wife, and she remembered as a child hearing "..then one foggy Christmas eve..." as,
"...then one froggy Christmas eve..."

I asked her if she remembered how her mind made sense of that. She said that often the adult world is not logical, but children are willing to accept it with joyful enthusiasm.

[Ries]

Back in the day, I was a big fan of Pere Ubu- and I was sure the lyrics to their song "Final Solution" were "I dont need a girl". Turned out they were "I dont need a cure, I need a Final Solution".
I even saw them play it live, and still thought that was what he was saying.
Of course, David Thomas is not exactly famous for enunciating...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VelS-YCtHV4

[tobias]

To this day I believe that Duran Duran s "girls on film" lyric is really "girls on glue". Much to he chagrin of my D... D... loving friends.
Oh well I have always been a rocker any how. Laughin heartily girls on glue!!

[GlennT]

As a kid I loved Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild". That didn't stop me from getting three of the lines wrong! Worse still, it wasn't until the more recent youtube phenomena that I discovered 2 of the 3 errors. And, just checking the printed lyrics, I found yet more hearing errors! Unbelieveable! First, the three I knew about from re-listening:

Not to waste time, got the first line wrong:

"Get your motor running..."

became either "Hitchin' for a ridin'" or "Hitchin' for a runnin'"

But fortunately I figured that one out, er, 15 years ago.

Then there was:

"Fire all your guns at once and, explode into space"

the last part of which I heard as " get loaded with space"

and for balance sake, I flubbed the last line:

"We can climb so high, I never want to die!"

into (and this is hard to believe!) "With the grass so high, I never want to die"
( but after all, he earlier says "like a true nature's child", so why shouldn't the nice tall grass be important to him? Plus, it could also refer to smoking weed, so it seemed to fit)

The other errors, only realized today, are:

"Yeah darlin' go make it happen"

heard as "yeah gotta go make it happen"

"I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder"

I thought was, " I like somethin' nice n'...
Every little thunder"

Which of course makes lots of sense, right? But, at least its not possible to miss the feeling of the song!

[tonofelephant]

Glenn, it is obvious that you,me & a select bunch of others are & have been in serious need of hearing aids long before sculpture helped their hearing along.

Sad part is I was in disbelief that I heard the exact same mangled lyrics as you. Oh well, both the correct lyrics & the "creative" lyrics work the same for me.

Am going to hate what I find out about Felix Pappalardi & Mountain, King Crimson, Deep Purple & other groups how I mangled their lyrics.

Maybe we just need an elucidation device (similar to a universal translator but cleans up speech problems). Beats hauling around an ear trumpet.


Carl

[GlennT]

What? Speak up!

[David Kim]

Years ago I saw a stand-up comedian in Florida. I forgot his name. Anyway, part of his routine he went into misheard song lyrics. A couple of the funny ones I remember:

"Bingo Jed had a light on" = "Big ol' jet airliner" -Steve Miller Band

"I'll never be your pizza burnin'" = "I'll never be your beast of burden" -Rolling Stones

[mantrid]

Originally Posted by StevenW

Well it's tragic that it has to come to this but, When I was 7 or 8 years old I was running around singing "The first (cunt) is the deepest" by Cat Stevens, later marginalized by Rod Stewart... It was the Rod Stewart version that I was familiar with and the one that had me confused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZYAaQoks8

I still can't tell the difference..

Dont know about the deepest more likely the tightest
Sorry if this is too strong for the forum, feel free to delete

[Dries]

This one is more recent and its the song by Pink”Blow me one Last Kiss”
Whitena calls instead of “White knuckles”