# Lyrics that almost everyone gets wrong... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150 "2009-03-03T16:08:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DoubleJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DoubleJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoubleJ)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/41 "2009-03-04T19:57:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > “…and if there’s ever-changing world in which we’re livin’…” -Paul McCartney Do ya mean, “and if this ever-changing world…” by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/42 "2009-03-04T20:04:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That may be the case, but in the Manfred Mann version, the singer (I forget who it is), really does stretch that “deuce” into “douche.” I can’t figure out any accent or stylistic tick that would cause someone to elide “revved up like a deuce another roller in the night” into “revved up like a douche another roller in the night.” It sounds to me like some sort of joke or something, but there’s definitely a “sh” there that doesn’t belong. Ack. That should be “runner” not “roller” up there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/43 "2009-03-04T20:06:13Z")
> [@DoubleJ](#): > > Do ya mean, “and if this ever-changing world…” by any chance? Maybe. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/44 "2009-03-04T23:14:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > “…and if there’s ever-changing world in which we’re livin’…” -Paul McCartney > > Most people hear this as “ever-changing world in which we live in.” I’m sure they’re wrong. McCartney’s written some dumb lyrics over the early but nothing with that kind of basic grammar bungling. Well, I could have sworn John Cougar was saying “No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from” but lyrics sites have it as: “No, I cannot forget where it is that I come from” Are they correcting him just to be nice? ---
**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:** [March 5, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/45 "2009-03-05T00:20:54Z")
From “Natural Woman”: \*“When my shawl was in the lost and found, you came along to claim it.” \*I always wondered why Aretha didn’t feel like a natural woman, til she got her shawl back. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/46 "2009-03-05T06:31:24Z")
Shelley" Fabares’s song “Johnny Angel” the word is concentrate, not contemplate. Every person I have known, who’s known that song, has said “contemplate.” I only found out I was wrong because I saw an episode of “Later with Bob Costas” and he said the same thing and Shelley" Fabares, corrected him. With the Internet now, most people can get the correct lyrics right away rather than guess. It took me 20 years to figure out Cher was saying (in her song “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”) “three months later, I’m a gal in trouble.” It sounds like “dream moz-a-leer, I’m a gal in trouble” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/47 "2009-03-05T11:01:36Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > “ **I’m not talking 'bout the linen** ” and “There’s a warm wind blowing the stars around” seem pretty common. Enunciate, England Dan and John Ford Coley!! Still an improvement on the “I know this is wrong, but damned if I can hear anything else” version I heard for that song: _I’m not talkin’ 'bout the living_… ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/48 "2009-03-05T11:05:07Z")
The opening lyrics to the Beatles’ “Come Together” are “Shoot me, shoot me, shoot me, shoot me”, though this is difficult to hear unless you are listening carefully. I’ve seen authorized sheet music with these lyrics either omitted or incorrectly transcribed as “Shoop, shoop, shoop, shoop”. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/49 "2009-03-05T11:08:04Z")
Let’s not forget Aretha Franklin’s cover of “Respect”, where her ad-lib “Take care, TCB” is often misquoted as “Take out, TCP” or something similar. Cecil Adams himself covered this topic in his article, [“What exactly is Aretha singing in ‘Respect’”?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1806/what-exactly-is-aretha-singing-in-respect) ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/50 "2009-03-05T11:20:31Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Let’s not forget Aretha Franklin’s cover of “Respect”, where her ad-lib “Take care, TCB” is often misquoted as “Take out, TCP” or something similar. Cecil Adams himself covered this topic in his article, [“What exactly is Aretha singing in ‘Respect’”?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1806/what-exactly-is-aretha-singing-in-respect) One of my friend’s kids sang this as ‘Taking care, it’s easy-pee’. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/51 "2009-03-05T11:46:51Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Are you saying the actual lyrics are O’ Lord? Because I’m pretty sure it’s Hold on. Check out this live version on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=manxPVTLth8&feature=PlayList&p=661CC1AEE50C4DE4&playnext=1&index=1), it’s clearly “Oh Lord”. ---
**Author:** ![DoubleJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DoubleJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoubleJ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/52 "2009-03-05T13:53:56Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Well, I could have sworn John Cougar was saying > > “No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from” but lyrics sites have it as: > > “No, I cannot forget where it is that I come from” > > Are they correcting him just to be nice? I think they’re being nice or maybe copying from the provided lyrics, which don’t always match what’s sung. There’s definitely a word between “forget” and “where” that I’ve always heard as “from”. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/53 "2009-03-05T15:24:09Z")
> [@DoubleJ](#): > > I think they’re being nice or maybe copying from the provided lyrics, which don’t always match what’s sung. There’s definitely a word between “forget” and “where” that I’ve always heard as “from”. Maybe “just?” - I cannot forget just where it is that I come from… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/54 "2009-03-05T16:16:19Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It took me 20 years to figure out Cher was saying (in her song “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”) “three months later, I’m a gal in trouble.” It sounds like “dream moz-a-leer, I’m a gal in trouble” 🙂 When it first came out I assumed for ages that she was singing ‘Thieves, thieves, tramps and thieves’ and wondered why she didn’t mention gypsies at all as that was in the title! A friend eventually put me right.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/55 "2009-03-05T18:01:58Z")
For me, it was the lyrics to the third verse of “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan: “Gonna have forever to fly Wind velocity nil Born high forever to fly If you want your cup I will fill” I don’t know if it was a case of everyone getting it wrong so much as it was no one understanding what he said. I certainly never understood. It wasn’t until 1987 (well before I had access to the internets) – 21 years after the song came out that I was on vacation in England and went into a music store. There was a Donovan songbook with the words to the song printed. I never understood the first line of the bridge in “Behind Blue Eyes” by the Who, either: “When my fist clenches, crack it open.” It always sounded like, “When life is tension, Krakatoa.” (I know, that makes absolutely no sense) I finally learned the real words, again twenty years after the song, thanks to the internets! And, as I’ve posted here in earlier threads, I’m one of the people who thought the line “You and me endlessly” in “Groovin’” by the Rascals was, “You and me and Leslie.” I never could figure out who the hell Leslie was and why she was needed to make life ecstasy! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/56 "2009-03-05T19:16:03Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Still an improvement on the “I know this is wrong, but damned if I can hear anything else” version I heard for that song: > > _I’m not talkin’ 'bout the living_… I hear “I’m not talking ‘bout movin’ in” which goes with ‘and I don’t want to change your life’. But what is the lyric if it’s not “and there’s a warm wind blowing the stars around”? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/57 "2009-03-05T19:23:39Z")
Suppposedly the lyric is “there’s a warm wind blowing, the stars are out”. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/58 "2009-03-05T19:38:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That may be the case, but in the Manfred Mann version, the singer (I forget who it is), really does stretch that “deuce” into “douche.” I can’t figure out any accent or stylistic tick that would cause someone to elide “revved up like a deuce another roller in the night” into “revved up like a douche another roller in the night.” It sounds to me like some sort of joke or something, but there’s definitely a “sh” there that doesn’t belong. I saw a Bruce concert on VH1 a few weeks ago (maybe it was _Storytellers_?) where he discusses this. He said Manfred Mann specifically changed it to “douche” for effect, and their version went to No.1. He seemed amused by it. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/59 "2009-03-05T19:39:15Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > The second verse of “Yesterday”. Everyone in the world, including probably Paul McCartney, THINKS this verse goes as follows: > > “Suddenly I’m not half the man I used to be. There’s a shadow hanging over me; oh, yesterday came suddenly.” > > I, OTOH, maintain that the lyric actually IS “… oh yes, today came suddenly.” > > It makes more sense (because that verse is talking about now, not before) and is cleverer. IMHO. I think “yesterday came suddenly” is better. You’re right, he is talking about today, and he’s saying today came suddenly. “Yesterday came suddenly” means the same thing as “today came suddenly” (it has to be today for there to be a yesterday, right?), but it fits the rest of the song much better. IMO it’s a fantastic example of McCartney’s lyrical genius. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150/60 "2009-03-05T19:45:38Z")
Unfortunately, liner notes aren’t always correct. For instance, _Free Will_ by Rush, the line as sung is If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. But it’s different in the liner notes to Permanent Waves. I don’t have them in front of me, but it’s something like If you choose not to decide, you cannot have made a choice. Yeah, the sung version is better. I don’t know how the difference arose, but my guess is that an early draft was used to print the liner notes ahead of time, and then in the studio they worked the line over and got the better version. I’ve seen a couple other examples I can’t remember offhand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong/488150.md?page=2)