# Best "Malaproped" Song Lyric **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853 "2000-10-22T03:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/21 "2000-10-24T00:43:23Z")
\*Boy the weakling millipede, Songs that made the hit parade, Guys like Esri had it made, Those were the days! And you know where you WUZZZZENNNN!!! Goils wear goils and men wore men. Mister we could use a manhole Hoppy Hooper again. Didn’t need Noel fair stay. Ev’rybody pulled his way. G.I. Joe, our cell rang ray. Those were the daaaaaaaaaays!\* ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/22 "2000-10-24T00:50:19Z")
This is probably only funny if your mind is as screwed up as mine, But I always heard the Simon and Garfunkel line “Take my arms, that I might reach you” as “Take my arms, then I’m ‘Angry Jew’” Which I knew couldn’t be right, but I always got this mental image of a guy in a combination Superman costume-Hassidic clothing that said ‘AJ’, who was really pissed off because someone had stolen his arms. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/23 "2000-10-24T02:44:10Z")
I shared this once before, but I always heard Madonna’s “Last night I dreamt of San Pedro” from _La Isla Bonita_ as “Last night I dreamt of some Dego”. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/24 "2000-10-24T03:07:26Z")
I still don’t get the lyrics to that song by Phil Collins… _She seems to have a physical infliction…_ Anybody know? Also, in “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” I thought Ricky was singing, _“She’ll pool, shampoo you down”_ which I thought was some kinky shower sex reference. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/25 "2000-10-24T03:55:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > \*\*I still don’t get the lyrics to that song by Phil Collins… > > _She seems to have a physical infliction…_ > > Anybody know?\*\* Invisible Touch (and I think it was by Genesis)? He sings: \*She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah… She reaches in, and \*[sub]something something something…[/sub]_holding your heart!_ That’s all I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/26 "2000-10-24T05:21:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AudreyK \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > > \*\*I still don’t get the lyrics to that song by Phil Collins… > > > > _She seems to have a physical infliction…_ > > > > Anybody know?\*\* > > Invisible Touch (and I think it was by Genesis)? > > He sings: > \*She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah… > She reaches in, and \*[sub]something something something…[/sub]_holding your heart!_ > > That’s all I can think of. \*\* “She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart,” ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/27 "2000-10-24T05:46:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*I also thought “electric boobs.” \*\* Yep. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*As a kid, I always thought CCR’s song “Bad Moon Risin’” said “there’s a bathroom on the right.” (Instead of the totally obvious “there’s a bad moon on the rise.”) \*\* Yep. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*As a kid, I always thought CCR’s song “Bad Moon Risin’” said “there’s a bathroom on the right.” (Instead of the totally obvious “there’s a bad moon on the rise.”) \*\* Yep. There’s also the one French line in the Beatles’ “Michelle” which I had no clue what it meant. Didn’t even realize it wasn’t supposed to be English. This is one reason I never liked to sing. (That, and my voice sucks) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/28 "2000-10-24T06:32:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JBirdman12 \* > \*\* > “She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart,” \*\* Ah. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**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 24, 2000, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/29 "2000-10-24T06:57:14Z")
My take on Blinded By The Light" (Manfred Mann version, not the original Springsteen) is, yes, the lyric sheet says “deuce,” but the vocalist does inded say “douche.” Sir ---
**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 24, 2000, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/30 "2000-10-24T12:22:34Z")
“Send in the Clowns”: Don’t you love farts; my fart I fear." The real lyric is: Don’t you love farce; my fault I fear. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/31 "2000-10-24T14:23:14Z")
This wasn’t me, it was my brother: “Let Milo open the door … to your heart.” ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/32 "2000-10-24T14:44:33Z")
Somewhere on Electric Ladyland (I don’t remember exactly where, it has been some time since I’ve listened to it) there is a bit of warped voices by Jimmy. I swear to God, at one point he says ‘Cuisenart’. Don’t ask me where or why, but that’s what it sounds like to me. I’ll pass a two-headed duck backwards if anyone has any idea of what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/33 "2000-10-24T15:26:10Z")
Let’s see. My dad swore for years that Dire Strait’s “Walk of Life” was “Walk on By”. You should see the little strut he’d do to go along with the lyric. My sister used to sing “Don’t It Make my Brown Eyes Blue” as “Don’t it make my manna…ooh.” My other sister heard “If you don’t know me by now” as “If you don’t know me by night”. I, of course, never mangle a lyric. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/34 "2000-10-24T15:41:15Z")
Oh, speaking of malaprops, you should check out the [Budwanker](http://www.adcritic.com/content/spoof-budwanker-losers.html) spoof over at Adcritic. Hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/35 "2000-10-24T15:42:14Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by DRY \* \*\* > [@](#): > > There’s also the one French line in the Beatles’ “Michelle” which I had no clue what it meant. Didn’t even realize it wasn’t supposed to be English. > \*\* “Sont les mot qui vont tres bien ensemble. Tres bien ensemble” My high school French tells me it’s “These are words that go together well” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/36 "2000-10-24T17:54:25Z")
Sir Rhosis said: “My take on ‘Blinded By The Light’ (Manfred Mann version, not the original Springsteen) is, yes, the lyric sheet says ‘deuce,’ but the vocalist does inded say ‘douche.’” I second that! They just played the Manfred Mann version of “Blinded By the Light” on the radio (very vaguely creepy!), and the phrase in question is repeated over and over again. The singer CLEARLY says “douche”. The word ends in the SCH sound of “douche”, not the hiss-like S sound that it would if the singer were singing “deuce”. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/37 "2000-10-24T19:11:53Z")
The one I always get flak for is from “Brown-Eyed Girl”. It’s the sort of line that I knew was wrong, but sang it wrong anyways since I had no idea what was correct (like “I’m a pool-hall ace”[sup]\*[/sup]) : … Tuesdays and so slow Gunnin’ down the old man with a transistor radio The original is “Goin’ down (to) the old mine” but I always hoped they might be some super-secret spies with special radio/gun combos. Maybe Enrico was the head of the operation … I once saw a book of these, my favorites from it were “Every time you go – away, you take a piece of meat with you”, and “I wanna rock’n’roll all night, and part of every day”. panama jack [sup]\*[/sup]an often-heard mondegreen for “how my poor heart aches”, from The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/38 "2000-10-24T21:17:14Z")
Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door” begins with: “The people keep repeating,” as a kid, I swore he was merely singing: “Peep peep peep peep - peep peep peepy” I still thinks it sounds as much like that as “The people keep repeating.” Next time you hear it you’ll see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/39 "2000-10-24T21:28:38Z")
There was a song in the early '80s, I can’t remember the group, but they had English accents (important to the story here). The lyric went: You spin me right round Baby right round Like a record baby Right round round round Sister Na and I always used to sing: You spin my rat round Baby rat round Like a record baby My dead rat drowned. I knew this guy in uni who, to The Proclaimers “I’m Gonna Be” would always sing “and I wonder…wonder who” to the “da da da da” part. The funny thing is, he’d always sing it really loud as if to correct the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853/40 "2000-10-24T21:46:45Z")
Artist: K’s Choice Song: “Not an Addict” Real Lyric: “I’m not an addict” My Mondegreen: “I’m automatic” Artist: The Housemartins Song: “Get Up Off Our Knees” Real Lyric: “Get up off our knees” My Mondegreen: “Get up off of me” Artist: The Buzzcocks Song: “Autonomy” Real Lyric: “I want true autonomy” My Mondegreen: “I want you on top of me” Can you tell I didn’t read the album covers? Artist: Weezer Song: (not sure) Real Lyric: “The workers are going home” My Mondegreen: “The workers are going on.” For this one, I actually asked my BF (big Weezer fan) where the workers were going on TO - duh!) BTW, Suo Na - that was Dead or Alive who sang “You Spin me Round” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-malaproped-song-lyric/37853.md?page=3)