# Another Misheard Song Lyrics Thread. OR... Dogs DON'T say "Goodnight". **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864 "2004-10-12T20:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/101 "2004-10-14T17:36:47Z")
In the Doors song _I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind_, there’s a part where Morrison sings, “Insanity’s heart adorns the sky” but I thought it was, “Insamnites’ harp, adorns the sky”, Insamites being some classical or mythological personage. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/102 "2004-10-14T19:25:35Z")
For quite some time, I assumed Steve Miller was asking a question, not issuing a command in “Fly Like an Eagle”: “How’s the people, living in the street?” :smack: damn homophones ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/103 "2004-10-14T19:37:10Z")
Politzania’s post reminds me of an article I read once that contained an odd non-musical mondegreen. One of former New York Mayor Ed Koch’s catchphrases was “How’m I doin’?” (How am I doing, of course). But the reporter apparently had no idea that this was what he was saying, and kept referring to it as “How my doing,” and how she thought it was a great saying… Without pointing out that spelled out that way, it makes absolutely no sense. I have to wonder what it was she thought the phrase meant. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/104 "2004-10-14T20:06:38Z")
[QUOTE=Draelin] **Snickers,** I always thought it was “funk’s yo brotha”, and then was informed by a friend that it was “funk _soul_ brotha”. I decided I couldn’t be bothered to care. Why, so it is. So I wasn’t so far off! Again, it’s Mr. Snicks with the wrong lyric. Hee hee. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/105 "2004-10-14T20:17:28Z")
I am normally really good at hearing words in songs (unlike my husband - he _swears_ that Tom Petty is gliding down over Valhalla instead of Mulholland), but line from Dave Matthews Band’s _Don’t Drink the Water_ tripped me up: “I can breed my old mare, I can sleep more soundly.” (wow! Dave’s a horse-lover too!) When it’s really “I can breathe my own air, …” (aw, crap) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/106 "2004-10-14T20:40:27Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > My best friend’s mom has a theory that there is a mysterious third verse to that song, but Janis was too wasted to remember the words, and therefore la-laed her way through it. It’s a nice theory, but the song was written by Kris Kristofferson and originally recorded by Roger “King of the Road” Miller. In the Miller recording it’s without the final la-da-da lyrics, and Bobby is a woman. Joplin seems to have added that and this part \*Now, when I called him my lover, called him my man I said I called him my lover and did the best I can, come on And that Bobby, lord, and that Bobby McGee, yeah Lordy, lordy, lordy… Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee\* Which is not so much a verse as a different take on the ending. **Ludovic** , it’s “Where you going with that mask I found?” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/107 "2004-10-14T20:42:12Z")
I was about 12 when I saw the German-language version of _Der Blau Engel_, with Marlene Dietrich sitting on a barrel and singing, “Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß . . .” And (since she was in a cabaret), I thought she was calling for “Peas, beans and coffee, too . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/108 "2004-10-14T20:47:35Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > It’s a nice theory, but the song was written by Kris Kristofferson and originally recorded by Roger “King of the Road” Miller. I actually knew that, but seem to have temporarily forgotten it. I still like the theory, though. 🙂 And I always thought it was “Where you going with the master plan?” ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/109 "2004-10-14T20:55:57Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > And I always thought it was “Where you going with the master plan?” That would make as much sense as the actual lyric, but I’m 90% certain that it’s correct as I posted it. The lyrics are written on the CD liner, so I can check whenever I get my discs unpacked (we just received our stuff from the moving company today). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/110 "2004-10-14T21:26:11Z")
Speaking of “I Believe” by R. E. M. – until I looked it up a couple months ago, I sang the opening as: “When I was young and full of grace My sprits hid a rattlesnake” The actual verse is: “When I was young and full of grace and spirited – a rattlesnake” And in the same song, an ANTI-mondegreen. I was sure I was mishearing the line “What do you do between the horns of the day” but I’ll be damned, that’s exactly what Stipe is singing. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Elvez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@Elvez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvez)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/111 "2004-10-14T22:59:10Z")
There’s a miserable little country song I hear playing on the radio in the warehouse at work, whith this guy talking about some hottie he saw down at the county fair. I heard the chorus as “I got a barbecue stain on my wife’s t-shirt,” and I always wondered what he was doing wearing his wife’s clothes. Chorus actually goes “white t-shirt”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/112 "2004-10-15T04:50:28Z")
I’ve posted this before - but in the Carly Simon song _You’re So Vain_, I always heard the line: **You flew your Lear Jet to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun…** as: **You flew your _rear end_ to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun…** I thought Carly was just trying to avoid saying “ass” or something… ---
**Author:** ![Elvez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@Elvez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvez)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/113 "2004-10-15T04:50:32Z")
Ah, yes, and back when I listened to Def Leopard ( :smack: ), my sister though they were saying “Awesome sugar plumb, yeah!”, instead of “Pour some sugar on me.” ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/114 "2004-10-15T05:42:36Z")
> [@Krys92gp](#): > > One that I’ve been known for is Stevie Nick’s “Edge of Seventeen”, in which I hear: > > _Just like the one-winged dove > Sings a song, sounds like she’s singin_ > > Appearantly it’s a _white_ winged dove… For a long time I actually thought she was singing: _Just like the wendigo sings a song, sounds like she’s singin_ So apparently I just accepted that Stevie Nicks knew something about the wendigo’s strange habit of singing… (And yes, at the time I was young and only knew of the Wendigo from Marvel comics, so I was doubly confused since I was pretty sure that the Wendigo was a big white werewolf-looking thing that liked to fight the Hulk and Wolverine. Singing was not what I would expect from it, and I was also pretty sure that it was a male…) ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/115 "2004-10-15T05:47:12Z")
And my very first mondegreen… I thought “Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo. Lordy Mama Light my Fuse” was “Rock and Roll Poochie Poo. Lordy Mama Like my Shoes.” I still sing it that way when I get a new pair of shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/116 "2004-10-15T12:35:12Z")
> [@curly chick](#): > > Ah, C&W, now you’re talking!! > Until this year, I though that the line in “You know that was the last thing on my mind” was > “A lesson too late for the learning, Native Sam, Native Sam” > > Who the hell did I think Native Sam was? To give credit where it is due, that’s an early, massive hit by folk singer Tom Paxton. I thought the line in the OP was “dark starry night.” Well, it makes more sense than dogs saying good night. I’ve heard people sing “Cheese & Rice, Superstar.” I think lyricist Tim _Rice_ must get a kick out of that. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/117 "2004-10-15T13:02:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I thought the line in the OP was “dark starry night.” Well, it makes more sense than dogs saying good night. And I thought it was “dark summer nights.” Still better than the dog thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/118 "2004-10-16T21:12:10Z")
You, me, some adverb 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/119 "2004-10-17T03:05:38Z")
The lyrics to Bruce Springsteen’s “Blinded By the Light” don’t make all that much sense to begin with, but if you listen to his original recording, there’s no doubt he’s singing “revved up like a deuce, another runner in the light.” If people misunderstand, it’s because the singer on Mafred Mann’s version mispronounced the words, and made it SOUND like “wrapped up like a douche.” I THINK Springsteen’s song is supposed to be about New Jersey teens racing their cars, chasing girls and looking for trouble on summer nights. The line “revved up like a deuce” is supposed to mean that young Jersey males are pumped up, excited, and looking for action, just like a prime sports car (as in the Beach Boys’ “little deuce coupe”). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864/120 "2004-10-17T03:20:22Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Marshall Tucker Band’s “Heard it in a love song”. I thought was… _“Purty little love song”_. I originally heard it as “Indian Love Song”. **Can** be wrong… :smack: My brother Mike was once listening to _Higher Love_ when my dad asked why Steve Winwood was singing “give me an iron lung”. Mike is a musician, and one of the bands he’s been in recorded a song which contained a line about a girl who “sends her dad a postcard”. My father heard the lyric as “Cincinnati postcards”, and still refers to the song by those words. A few months ago, I was about to correct a poster’s reference to _Kung Fu Fighting_. When I Googled the lyrics, however, I learned that the line was indeed “those **cats** were fast as lightning”, and that my ears had deceived me all these years into thinking the martial artists’ **kicks** were being praised. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-misheard-song-lyrics-thread-or-dogs-dont-say-goodnight/268864.md?page=7)