# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/101 "2014-07-10T05:48:48Z")
Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”: There’s a killer on the road His brain is squirmin’ like a toad Take a long holiday Let your children play If ya give this man a ride Sweet memory will die Killer on the road, yeah I always worried about sweet Emily at home, trusting us not to bring home a killer. I STILL hear Emily, not memory every time. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/102 "2014-07-11T13:25:21Z")
Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville A Mexican cutie, _how it’s got hair_ I haven’t a clue. (How it got here) Jerry Reed - _He’s Found a dime_ _He’s Found a dime_, loaded up and truckin… (Eastbound and Down) In my defense I thought “he’s found a dime” must be trucker jargon. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/103 "2014-07-11T13:57:24Z")
> [@MsKaren](#): > > Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”: > > There’s a killer on the road > His brain is squirmin’ like a toad > Take a long holiday > Let your children play > If ya give this man a ride > Sweet memory will die > Killer on the road, yeah > > I always worried about sweet Emily at home, trusting us not to bring home a killer. I STILL hear Emily, not memory every time. Heh, I hear “sweet family will die”. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/104 "2014-07-11T14:17:35Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Heh, I hear “sweet family will die”. It _is_ “family.” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/105 "2014-07-11T14:24:16Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > It _is_ “family.” Okay, now I’m confused. I always thought it was “family”, the post above says “memory”. Can I go back to thinking it was “family” now? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/106 "2014-07-11T14:58:32Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Okay, now I’m confused. I always thought it was “family”, the post above says “memory”. > > Can I go back to thinking it was “family” now? 😃 It is “family,” according to: 1. The handwritten lyrics reproduced in the Doors’ _Box Set_, 2. The published sheet music in the 1972 _Doors Complete_ songbook, 3. My and **Malthus** ’s ears. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/107 "2014-07-11T15:00:30Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > It is “family,” according to: > > 1. The handwritten lyrics reproduced in the Doors’ _Box Set_, > 2. The published sheet music in the 1972 _Doors Complete_ songbook, > 3. My and **Malthus** ’s ears. Well, you have me convinced. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/108 "2014-07-11T15:04:34Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Well, you have me convinced. 🆒 Can you tell I’ve had to argue this before? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/109 "2014-07-11T16:08:28Z")
I’ve previously noted that Seal’s brooding-but-uplifting song about Bruce Wayne – the one about a _kiss from a rose on the grave_ – is, for some reason, “on the gray”. ---
**Author:** ![right\_said\_fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@right\_said\_fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/right_said_fred)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/110 "2014-07-12T03:53:40Z")
A friend of a co-worker could not understand the 1995 Oasis hit “Champagne, Soup and Rover” ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/111 "2014-07-12T22:45:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > One of the best-known examples of this is the Raspberries’ “Go All The Way”. The song is NOT called “Don’t Go Away”. 😛 In my extreme youth, I always heard this as “Go-oh away” (first word stretched to 2 syllables), and of course the song made absolutely no sense. Why is she telling him to please go away when the rest of the lyrics indicate that they really like each other? ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/112 "2014-07-12T22:47:58Z")
From AC/DC: _Thirty thieves and the thunder genie! Thirty thieves and the thunder genie!_ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/113 "2014-07-13T00:39:55Z")
I hate it when I substitute my own lyrics and the real ones are a lot worse. The latest is _One Hundred Sleepless Nights_ by _Pierce The Veil_ ## The lyrics I heard: ## You say you’re having a baby and before I could cry, you’re leaving me just when I thought you were mine … **Family life** amass one hundred sleepless nights The actual lyric is “Failing Lights”. NO! With the lyric of “Family Life”, the singer briefly had visions of building a great family with the woman despite the fact that the baby will keep him up at night, yet she suddenly says that she’s going away which drives him crazy. With “Failing Lights”, it’s just a garden variety so-psycho-you’re-leaving-me-that-I-can’t-sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/114 "2014-07-13T00:55:32Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > From AC/DC: > > _Thirty thieves and the thunder genie! > Thirty thieves and the thunder genie!_ Dirty deeds and the dunder chief. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/115 "2014-07-13T19:00:28Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Dirty deeds and the dunder chief. When I first head it, I thought they sang “thunderchief”. I thought it was cool that someone wrote a song about an F-105. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/116 "2014-07-13T19:16:10Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > 😛 > > “Open up to me, I could do your girlfriends” Uther’s misheard lyric was from “Enjoy the Silence”, but I can’t think of this one’s origin. As for me, I never got the obvious meaning of “Brick” by Ben Folds, probably because I misheard the line “As weeks went by” as “As we swing by”, calling to mind a lazy Sunday afternoon or something. It fits the langorous nature of the way Ben sings that line. It threw my mind off the rest of the narrative that was developing, and building tension. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/117 "2014-07-15T11:38:21Z")
The Who (Who are You) New Or-leans New New New New! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/118 "2014-07-15T15:58:02Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It’s neither. It’s Wile E. Coyote. It hasn’t been mentioned in any Roadrunner cartoons, but there are several cartoons in which he tries to outwit Bugs Bunny and speaks. He usually introduces himself as “Wile E. Coyote, Genius!” There’s also a sign by his door. > > Bugs: Are you in, Genius? Are you in, capable? In, solent? In, describable? In, bearable? Well, we all know how THAT turned out! “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is mud!” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/119 "2018-03-01T06:21:28Z")
Just popped into my head, so I had to do a Leaky (no! Johansen! no! Leaky! no! Johansen!) job on this thread and bring out the ole archeologist’s brush and (ok ok my high falutin way of saying I’m de-zombifying this) - In Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded” - when Lou goes “do ya do, more, than, dance” for the longest (and not to mention stupidest) time I thought he was goin “do ya do, mo-dern, dance”, and I was thinking - uh, what’s with this…ballet shit? ---
**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:** [March 1, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/120 "2018-03-01T14:12:16Z")
Gloria (Gloria), I think they got your number (Gloria) I think they got the area code (Gloria) that you’ve been living under [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066.md?page=7)