I heard ‘Been Caught Stealing’ today by Jane’s Addiction. Hadn’t heard it in a long time.
I remember the first time was standing around a keg at a party, a looong time ago, and thinking it sounded like a pretty cool party song.
But my friend Jake and I got the lyrics wrong the first time we heard it. The correct lyrics are
‘I’ve been caught stealing;
once when I was 5…
I enjoy stealing.
It’s just as simple as that.
Well, it’s just a simple fact.
When I want something,
I don’t want to pay for it.’
We always thought the last two lines were
‘When I want some beer
and I don’t want to pay for rent.’
Later on at the party a girl justifiably ridiculed us for getting the lyrics wrong, screaming them at the top of our lungs, and for being such dorks. Which we were, of course. And still are.
But after hearing the song again today after Lo these many years, I’ve decided that our lyrics are actually better. They fit in well with the nihilistic, anti-establishment nature of the song and it’s philosophy of Sticking it to The Man.
Do you have any songs where you got the lyrics wrong, found out you were wrong later, but still think yours are better?
The Bowie song, Hang On To Yourself, he says: “the beat, it comes out better on a stolen guitar.” All these years I thought he said, “the bitter comes out better on a stolen guitar” My way sounds cooler.
I think “they call me crazy but they used to call me Superman” sounds more intriguing than “if I go crazy will you still call me Superman”, in Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. On the other hand, after I reviewed the rest of the lyrics, the latter seems to fit better.
For ages, I heard the first line of the chorus of “Love the One You’re With” as “And there’s a road and a distant love.” Apparently, it’s really “And there’s a rose in a fisted glove,” but I think my version makes more sense.
This has happened to me a few times, but there’s only one I can remember. Not long before Rick Rolling started I worked at a place that played “Never Gonna Give You Up” on the radio. For some reason I didn’t hear the 'never’s so I heard the chorus as “gonna give you up/ gonna let you down”, etc. The song was much better that way and I thought his singing was mournful sounding enough to make it really effective.
Actually another one just came to me. In Pearl Jam’s song “Jeremy” he sings “clearly I remember picking on the boy, seemed a harmless little fuck”. I always thought it sounded like “harmless little fun”, and to me the way it actually is sounds like he’s saying fuck just for the sake of saying fuck.
Even though the song is called Shelter From The Storm, I initially heard “Come in, she said, I’ll give you shelter from the storm” as “Come in, she said, I’ll give you a shot of rum this dawn”.
I heard “Sugar Bear” as well, but decided that obviously that couldn’t be it because it didn’t make a bit of sense. I somehow settled on “Should’ve they”, and started hearing that.
The Police song,* De Doo Doo Dah* - is much better when the line is “When their logic ties you up and wrecks you.”
Mind you, it’s only been a few weeks since I found out (here on the Dope) the the actual line is - “ties you up and rapes you.” I’m still not happy with that mental image. It’s made the whole song a bit unappealing for the moment, so I’m still defiantly singing my own version.
Mind you, Sting is good at that kind of thing.* Every Breath You Take* is also the sugar coated nastiness and I like it …
My father once told me that “Sugar Bear” was the nickname of the friend that actually saved Elton John’s life during the suicide attempt that inspired the song. Don’t know how true that is, I just remember expressing amazement at the lyrics and my dad telling me the story, this was years ago.
