# Favorite misheard song lyrics

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/141 "2019-03-29T00:36:02Z")

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I heard Tears of a Clown, covered by the English Beat and I thought they sang  
“Just like Diogenes / I want to keep my self esteem”  
Turns out I have been playing telephone in my head for fifty years, because the actual lines are  
“Just like Pagliacci did / I try to keep my surface hid”  
In my defense, they are singing awfully fast.

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**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/142 "2019-04-03T21:14:37Z")

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As a kid, I thought the Blue Oyster Cult song was “Don’t Fear The Reefer”. Because all Rocks songs were about drugs, right? Once I saw the album cover I realized my mistake.

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**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:** [April 4, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/143 "2019-04-04T14:26:02Z")

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I don’t care what anyone says. Chicago is singing “After all the hell we’ve been though.”

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**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/144 "2019-04-09T02:59:54Z")

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> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke. I always thought the line was “You can tell right away it sounds okay when the people start to move.”
> 
> Googling it I find out the real lyric doesn’t even make sense: But you can tell right away at letter A when the people start to move.

I just learned it’s not “You can tell right away it’s Doctor A”, which I had figured was a play off basketball’s Julius “Dr. J” Erving and the fact Duke Ellington was famous for “Take The **A** Train”.

Also, I had assumed the chorus featured the line “You can feel it in our love” as opposed to the correct “You can feel it all over.”

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**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-misheard-song-lyrics/682066/145 "2019-04-09T04:09:57Z")

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Really glad I searched this thread. It’s always embarrassing when you come in and post the same thing you posted over five years ago:

From “Groovin’” by the Rascals:

“Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie!”

Who the hell is Leslie, and why does he/she belong in the mix? Is it the girl’s kid?

(It’s you and me endlessly, btw )

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