"What I THOUGHT they were singing....

[tjcurtin1]

Also inspired by SunValley's 'Dare' post: how about some good examples of misunderstood lyrics? I know that someone did a book a few years back entitled, "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy" on this subject - but do you have any lyrics that you always filled in with your own words, only to discover later they were something totally different? ('Scuse me if we already had a thread on this topic...)

To get things started:

A band-mate in high school thought he heard Elvis singing, "I'm callin' a trout / I can't walk out..." ('Suspicious Minds')

 

[Tone2TheBone]

"Hamburgers and leather....starts frying in the middle 'the night"....

(Heavy Metal - Sammy Hagar)

 

[Commodore 64]

Dirty Deeds and the Thunderchief. (AC/DC)

 

[deeaa]

Not being an English native speaker I get wrong lyrics a LOT, but also from Finnish music. Lemme think...

The worst ones I think must have been Three Doors Down: If I could be like that, I heard them sing Fu*k me like that for a long time and wondered how dirty the lyrics...and way back there was something like UB40 singing 'Sense of Love' and I thought for a long time they said 'Spatula' in the chorus...plenty of examples like that

 

[Tig]

R.E.M., Losing My Religion:
"Let's pee in the corner,
Let's pee in the spotlight."

 

[markb]

From a series of commercials based on the mondegreen. Enjoy

 

[oldguy]

Lead singer in a band we had always sang..............
"Well, I think you saw the preacher...........makes me feel right at home"
when we did "Call Me The Breeze" by Skynyrd. (Well, actually by J.J. Cale, and we tried to play it close to Skynyrd's version.)

 

[marnold]

There are several songs that, without looking at the lyrics, are inscrutable. My favorite example is the third line of the first verse of The Fixx's "One Thing Leads to Another." The line is "Communicate, pull out your party piece." Even WITH the lyrics that makes no sense. Then you've got guys like Jon Anderson of Yes who writes lyrics based on how the words sound, not what they mean. So if you are trying to guess the lyrics by meaning, you'll be out of luck.

 

[Spudman]

The line is "Communicate, pull out your party piece."

Sexual innuendo. Talk to her then show her the man staff.

After all - one thing leads to another.

 

[marnold]

Sexual innuendo. Talk to her then show her the man staff.

After all - one thing leads to another.

Still, this could fit very nicely in the lame lyrics too. "Party piece"? SRSLY?

 

[oldguy]

It's no worse than some country lyrics.
People used to constantly ask for the following.
"Achy breaky heart."
"Just a'swingin'."
"Boot-scootin' boogie."
I am still to this day sickened by them.

 

[Tig]

It's no worse than some country lyrics.
People used to constantly ask for the following.
"Achy breaky heart."
"Just a'swingin'."
"Boot-scootin' boogie."
I am still to this day sickened by them.

What, you don't love "Boot-scootin' boogie" and "Achy breaky heart"?
You stock just went way up! :applause

So, let me digress a bit...

County lyrics can be a mixed bag. I love songs like Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away"

Well hello there
My, it's been a long, long time
And how am I doing?
Well, I guess that I'm doing fine
It's been been so long now, but it seems like it was only yesterday
Gee, ain't it funny, how time slips away.

And how's your new love?
Well, I hope that he's doin fine
I heard you told him, that you'd love him till the end of time
It's been so long now
But it seems like only yesterday
Gee, ain't it funny, how time just slips away.

Well I gotta go now
And I guess I'll see you around
But I don't know when though
Cause you never know when I'll be back in town
But remember, what I told you
That in time your gonna pay
And it's surprising, how time slips away.

Gee, ain't it funny, how times just slips away


I remember enjoying some of David Allen Coe's trashy, hilarious, yet true to life lyrics, most of which can't be posted here. Here's a prime example, "If That Ain't Country".

The old man was covered with tattoos and scars
He got some in prison and others in bars
The rest he got workin' on old junk cars in the daytime
They looked like tombstones in our yard
And I never seen him when he wasn't tired and mean
He sold used parts to make ends meet
Covered with grease from his head to his feet
Cussin' the sweat and the Texas heat and mosquiters
And the neighbors said we lived like hicks
But they brung their cars for pa to fix anyhow
He was veteran-proud tried and true
He'd fought till his heart was black and blue
Didn't know how he'd made it through the hard times
He bought our house on the GI Bill
But it wasn't worth all he had to kill to git it... (can't post some of the lyrics)

 

[marnold]

Ladies and gentlemen . . . Mr. Conway Twitty.

 

[Bloozcat]

All the words to Louie, Louie, except the chorus....

 

[Retro Hound]

There's some good ones.

My wife was walking through the crowded student union and thought she heard the Doobie Brothers singing "Jesus is just a rat to me." Needless to say, she wasn't familiar with the song "Jesus is just alright to me"

I have a friend who thought CCR were sing "There's a bathroom on the right" instead of There's a Bad Moon on the Rise."

I'll probably post more as I think of them.

 

[Bloozcat]

I have a friend who thought CCR were sing "There's a bathroom on the right" instead of There's a Bad Moon on the Rise."

Must be universally misunderstood. I have a friend here who used to think they were singing the same thing....

 

[birv2]

I just found out yesterday that the lyrics to Groovin' by the Rascals do not say:

"That would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie"

but rather:

"That would be ecstasy you and me endlessly"

 

[FrankenFretter]

I just found out yesterday that the lyrics to Groovin' by the Rascals do not say:

"That would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie"

but rather:

"That would be ecstasy you and me endlessly"

I think I like your version.

 

[wingsdad]

..."There's a bathroom on the right" instead of There's a Bad Moon on the Rise."
...

Given the song's title, it's stunning, but true how widely that line's been perceived. A cover bar-band I played in actually sang it that way as a last set number...primarily to tease and/or convince gullible drunks on the verge of barfing.

Of course, we'd also intentionally fracture lyrics to mess with or test bar patrons....like with the Beatles I Saw Her Staniding There:

"...and the way she looked was way beyond repair."

It took me a quite a while to get past the shock of Hendrix's rather frightening line from Purple Haze:
"S'cuse me, while I kiss this guy."

 

[Retro Hound]

I knew of a bar band that used to sing The Eagles "Desperado" as "Western Auto." I thought that was great because I worked at a Western Auto (r.i.p.)

 

[tjcurtin1]

And can anyone enlighten me as to the significance of that guy 'Jackaroo Dave-ah' that John Lennon is singing about in the chorus of Across the Universe?

 

[Commodore 64]

People can you feel it? FLOWERS EVERYWHERE. People can you feel it? FLOWERS EVERYWHERE.


I still like that better than "Love is Everywhere".

(Allman Brothers Band, Revival)

 

[Tig]

SRV's "Cold Shot" sounds something like
"Let's go shopping" instead of "And that's a cold shot, baby".

 

[sumitomo]

I always thought it was "Over the mountain to take a pee" and it's "I open my eyes to take a peep" Hurdy Gurdy Man Sumi