# Favorite misheard song lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066 "2014-02-24T03:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/21 "2014-02-25T14:36:46Z")
An ex-girlfriend swore it was, “Dirty Jeans–dungarees.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/22 "2014-02-25T15:27:47Z")
I never did understand why seeing someone’s face would make you a boll-weevil. “I saw her face, now I’m a boll-weevil.” Very weird song. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/23 "2014-02-25T15:47:21Z")
Home, **where my fox’s escaping** Home, where my music’s playing Home, where my love lies waiting silently for me. -Paul Simon, _Homeward Bound_ I listened to this song for years (from childhood into college) hearing that incorrect lyric, and thought that it didn’t make any sense and ruined an otherwise perfect song. Turns out _ **I** _ was ruining an otherwise perfect song! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/24 "2014-02-25T15:56:51Z")
I named a character in a play I wrote once based on mis-hearing. Inexplicably, I heard the line “I’m watchin’ Sis go pitterpat” from _A Chorus Line_’s “I Can Do That” as “I’m watchin’ Cisco pitterpat.” In my head, it was some famous dancer I’d never heard of, and the singer was watching him on TV. None of the other references to the singer’s sister in the song clued me in to the actual lyric until muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch later. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/25 "2014-02-25T17:45:30Z")
Just a couple of days ago, my wife and I had a debate over whether the line in Stevie Wonder’s _Very Superstitious_ was “Thirteen-month-old baby” or “Thirteen months of maybe.” I googled the lyrics, and found a lot of people on each side. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/26 "2014-02-25T18:03:29Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Just a couple of days ago, my wife and I had a debate over whether the line in Stevie Wonder’s _Very Superstitious_ was “Thirteen-month-old baby” or “Thirteen months of maybe.” I googled the lyrics, and found a lot of people on each side. 13 months of maybe? What does that even mean? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/27 "2014-02-25T18:04:48Z")
The Beatles: “The girl with colitis goes by.” Billy Joel: “I am an elephant man.” Sondheim: “Don’t you love farts? My fault I fear.” The Shirelles: “Marmoset, there’ll be days like this; there’ll be days like this, my marmoset.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/28 "2014-02-25T18:26:14Z")
_Top Cat! The most effectual Top Cat! Whose intellectual close friends get to call him TC, **Pro-vi-ding it’s with dig-ni-ty!** _ At the age of six, I thought it was “Or by name it’s Worthington T” and wondered what the hell that meant. 😕 I didn’t learn the correct lyrics until I saw them printed in a book of TV themes when I was 25 or so! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/29 "2014-02-25T18:31:08Z")
Two from the '70s: _“I’m not talking **‘bout movin’ in** , And I don’t wanna change your life”_ and _“Spirits rise, And their **dance is unrehearsed** ”_ For the life of me, I could **not** figure out what the hell was being said in either case until I finally saw it in print! ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/30 "2014-02-25T18:34:27Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > 13 months of maybe? What does that even mean? The lyric is about breaking a mirror, and worrying about the bad luck that’s supposed to follow. Of course, breaking a mirror is supposed to mean seven years of bad luck, not thirteen months. But on the other hand, there’s no significance to a thirteen-month-old baby breaking a mirror, either. Neither version makes any more sense than the other. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/31 "2014-02-25T18:34:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Two from the '70s: > > _“I’m not talking **‘bout movin’ in** , > And I don’t wanna change your life”_ > > and > > _“Spirits rise, > And their **dance is unrehearsed** ”_ > > For the life of me, I could **not** figure out what the hell was being said in either case until I finally saw it in print! Yeah, I still think the first one is right. What is it supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/32 "2014-02-25T18:36:55Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > The lyric is about breaking a mirror, and worrying about the bad luck that’s supposed to follow. Of course, breaking a mirror is supposed to mean seven years of bad luck, not thirteen months. But on the other hand, there’s no significance to a thirteen-month-old baby breaking a mirror, either. Neither version makes any more sense than the other. Well, 13 month old baby makes sense–the age is an unlucky time for the baby. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/33 "2014-02-25T18:39:20Z")
_Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Wealth and fame he’s ignored, Action is his reward._ For years, it sounded to me like “Welcome, Ben, he’s a yord.” Ben, I figured, referred to Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, but what in Stan Lee’s name is a _yord_? Is it anything like a [yute](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNZ1O2KTOOg)? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/34 "2014-02-25T18:40:05Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > Yeah, I still think the first one is right. What is it supposed to be? Both are right. They were just unintelligible (to me, at least). ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/35 "2014-02-25T18:42:56Z")
One of my friends once ridiculed another for not realizing the line goes “Hey! Caesar! Leave us kids alone!” > [@JacksMom](#): > > I used to think Secret Agent Man was Secret _Asian_ Man. I think that must be fairly common, as my husband thought the same thing. Of course, he wasn’t an adult when it was pointed out he was wrong. Another friend was talking about that yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/36 "2014-02-25T23:08:45Z")
Erm, Isn’t that “Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!”? I always thought that sugar bear line from EJ was kind of strange… ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/37 "2014-02-26T02:05:04Z")
There’s a stupid electronic dance song out there called “Eat, Sleep, Pray for Pete”. Sometimes spelled “Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat” ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/38 "2014-02-26T02:10:05Z")
In the song “I’m Yours” I always hear “No but I won’t get sauteed no more”. Maybe Mr. Mraz was tired of being pan-fried with an assortment of vegetables and soy sauce. I don’t actually know what the real words are, as I’ve only ever heard it in public places (grocery store, etc.) and never bothered to find out. Might check that now . . . Also, random anecdote about mishearing lyrics: When Bob Dylan first introduced the Beatles to pot, he thought they’d already tried it; when asked why he has assumed this, he said they’d written a whole song about it. Turns out he was hearing “and when I touch you, I get high, I get high, I get high”. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/39 "2014-02-26T02:25:09Z")
Of all songs, \*\*Jingle Bells \*\*😛 I always heard: _Dashing through the snow In a one horse open sleigh_ as _Dashing through the snow In a one **horse soap and sleigh** _ and just figured that the ‘soap’ referred to some sort of horse tack related to pulling a sleigh :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/40 "2014-02-26T18:22:51Z")
Another Elton John song: _Hold me closer, tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Baby darlin’ she’s so blendin’ Ya had a busy day today_ I don’t how many years I heard it that way before someone told me it was: “Lay me down in sheets of linen.” In my defense, Elton hits some REALLY odd inflections in some of his songs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066.md?page=3)