# D'oh! Misheard lyrics in an oft-heard song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758 "2007-06-20T19:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/1 "2007-06-20T19:53:30Z")
Case in point: “Hold On Loosely”. This 38 Special classic came out in 1981. Given that I was an avid listener to Top 40 radio and Kasey Kasem’s American Top 40 (to both the Saturday 8-12 show and the Sunday 1-4 show, during which I taped on my cassette player the favorite songs from Saturday, because I knew when they would be played… **Seasons in the Sun** was one and probably **Escape (The Pina Colada Song)** as well), I have probably heard this song ::scribble, carry the two, a BAZILLION times, if not a GAZILLION. It wasn’t until last night that I realized he’s not saying Hold on loosely Don’t let go If you cling to darkness You’re gonna lose control :smack: Checking the lyrics, “when your feelings are such/To overprotect her, to love her too much” doesn’t sound quite familiar either. :o I got past “I’m not talkin’ 'bout the linen” and I’ll get past this, but D’OH! I think my Mom has the all-time funniest ‘Kiss this guy’–You know the song “You Got Lucky” by Tom Petty? Admittedly, he does drawlingly stretch out the “good” in “Good love is hard to find”, but “Silly willy love is hard to find”? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/2 "2007-06-21T00:37:53Z")
I always thought the Jim Croce song, he was singing “I’ve Got It Made”. Until fairly recently, even. ---
**Author:** ![DevNull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c89c15/32.png) [@DevNull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DevNull)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/3 "2007-06-21T00:50:51Z")
[QUOTE=Common Tater] I always thought the Jim Croce song, he was singing “I’ve Got It Made”. Until fairly recently, even. [/QUOTE] Croce’s “Operator” was always “Arboretum” to me until fairly recently since I never bothered to listen to the lyrics that would have made it clear as a bell. Not talkin’ bout the linen… lolz. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/4 "2007-06-21T00:56:59Z")
[QUOTE=DevNull] Not talkin’ bout the linen… lolz. [/QUOTE] What I came to say. I’ll add: you can call it thunder (“Go Your Own Way”) ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/5 "2007-06-21T02:53:47Z")
[QUOTE=DevNull] Croce’s “Operator” was always “Arboretum” to me until fairly recently since I never bothered to listen to the lyrics that would have made it clear as a bell. [/QUOTE] When I was a kid, I thought it said “A burrito.” [QUOTE=DevNull] Not talkin’ bout the linen… lolz. [/QUOTE] For many years I thought it was “I’m not talking 'bout believing”. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/6 "2007-06-21T03:02:41Z")
\*Are you reeling in the ye-eeeeeast? Stowing away the ti-iiime? Are you gathering up the chee-eeeese? Have you had enough of mi-iiine? \* Man, the 70s were _trippy_. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/7 "2007-06-21T03:16:23Z")
I always thought the Georgia Satellites were singing “I’ve got a hard hat made out of railroad steel.” And then later in the song “It don’t take chop suey to make me sing!” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/8 "2007-06-21T04:30:53Z")
In the song “Skid Row (Downtown)” from “Little Shop of Horrors” I just in the last week realized that the guy didn’t sing “Downtown, where they cast on stock” but actually sings “Downtown, where the cabs don’t stop.” In an old Petula Clark song, she isn’t singing “Well you’ve heard of the Klan, that’s where it began” but “Well you’ve got a good plan, that’s where it began.” Which makes somewhat more sense than what I thought I heard but still isn’t the most coherent rhyming couplet ever. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/9 "2007-06-21T05:46:51Z")
**Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy** _I smell sex and candy here Who’s that lounging in my chair Who’s that casting devious stares In my direction_ **What I heard:** _I smell sex and candy here Who’s that lounging in my chair Who’s that casting devious stares At my erection_ ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/10 "2007-06-21T05:52:15Z")
These are called [Mondegreens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreens) and the concept has been around for over 50 years. Plenty of them in that link. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/11 "2007-06-21T06:19:23Z")
“There’s a _bathroom_ on the right” ---
**Author:** ![1point618](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/c57346/32.png) [@1point618](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1point618)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/12 "2007-06-21T08:25:14Z")
This has me laughing almost too much to post. [QUOTE=bigbabysweets2000] **Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy** _I smell sex and candy here Who’s that lounging in my chair Who’s that casting devious stares In my direction_ **What I heard:** _I smell sex and candy here Who’s that lounging in my chair Who’s that casting devious stares At my erection_ [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/13 "2007-06-21T09:33:27Z")
And of course, remember to excuse Jimi Hendrix while he kisses that guy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![1point618](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/c57346/32.png) [@1point618](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1point618)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/14 "2007-06-21T09:34:00Z")
Oh, I just thought of my own. Here it is: So, while I’m too young to remember when it came out, I’ve always enjoyed Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” whenever I caught it on the radio, though I could never understand all the lyrics. Eventually I found Cake’s excellent cover of that song, which I love for its inventiveness while keeping the original feelings from the song. In Cake’s version, it is much easier to make out all the lyrics, so I was able to finally get them all. Imagine my surprise when I realized that Gaynor sings “I should have changed that fucking lock”! I guess radio censors have been making the same mistake I did for so long (that she sang “stupid”, not “fucking”), and thus let it slip through for radio play. That was sure a surprising one. This will probably seem much less funny in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![PerditaX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@PerditaX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PerditaX)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/15 "2007-06-21T12:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] What I came to say. I’ll add: you can call it thunder (“Go Your Own Way”) [/QUOTE] You mean it’s _not_ ? :eek: I’m totally serious here - what are the real words? ---
**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:** [June 21, 2007, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/16 "2007-06-21T12:25:27Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] \*Are you reeling in the ye-eeeeeast? Stowing away the ti-iiime? Are you gathering up the chee-eeeese? Have you had enough of mi-iiine? \* Man, the 70s were _trippy_. [/QUOTE] Are you living in the east? Stowing away the time? Are you gathering up the years? Do you have a diamond mine? ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/17 "2007-06-21T12:27:03Z")
I have to assume you’re thinking of: You can call it a-_nuuuuu_thuh lonely day ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/18 "2007-06-21T13:10:55Z")
[QUOTE=Lunar Saltlick] I have to assume you’re thinking of: You can call it a-_nuuuuu_thuh lonely day [/QUOTE] **PerditaX** , this is it. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/19 "2007-06-21T13:44:11Z")
[Yellow Ledbetter](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLd22ha_-VU) My favorite (albeit deliberately) misheard lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758/20 "2007-06-21T13:58:22Z")
The first time I heard Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman” I thought she was singing “Climb Every Woman”. Made me giggle. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-misheard-lyrics-in-an-oft-heard-song/408758.md?page=2)