# Misheard Song Lyrics (aka eggcorns or Mondegreens) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977 "2018-06-29T06:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/81 "2018-07-18T01:13:00Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Not nearly as interesting as “Dirty Deeds and they’re done with Sheep” Not misheard (I don’t think), but made up lyrics to AC/DC was “it’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll” I always sing that if I hear that song. I never know/can hear the lyrics, the only one I can mention is the song “black fingernails, red wine” by band Eskimo Joe. For years I heard the chorus as “I don’t understand the point of fingers”. I’d never bothered to look it up, it was only recently that somebody told me it is “all of us stand and point our finger” ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/82 "2018-07-18T13:17:06Z")
Heart’s These Dreams These dreams go on when I close my eyes Every second of the night I live another life These dreams that sleep when it’s cold outside Every moment I’m awake the further I’m away I always thought it was: These dreams go on when I close my eyes Every moment I’m awake, I live another lie. These dreams that sleep when it’s cold outside Every moment I’m awake the further I’m away ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/83 "2018-07-18T14:16:36Z")
Whenever we hear Nelly’s “Ride” … \*If you want to go and take a ride with me We 3-wheeling in the fo’ with the gold D’s Oh why do I live this way? \* We shout out “Hey, Fuck you, Buddy!” (Hey, must be the money!) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/84 "2018-07-18T15:14:29Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Heard a sound check for Sting once. He slaughtered the lyrics as they checked levels. > > “Every yard you rake”, “Every cake you bake”, “Every hand you shake”… > > So, technically not misheard, but deliberately sung wrong. I know a guy who sings: Wild thing You make my heart sing You make my cherries Bing When I first heard AC/DC sing Dirty deeds Done dirt cheap I missed the first part, and I heard the second part as “Thunderchief”. I thought it was cool that someone wrote a song about the F-105. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/85 "2018-07-18T22:05:11Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I always thought the line in the Steely Dan song “Done up in blueprint blue” was a mishearing o my part. Nope, but the line makes no sense. I was also surprised to hear the correct line after I had listened to the song numerous times over two decades. I always heard “You’re an open blueprint” – i.e., “What you see is what you get – no artifice here!” Of course, it’s always been more about the music than the lyrics as far as Steely Dan is concerned. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/86 "2018-07-18T23:06:24Z")
> [@LLCoolL](#): > > You’re trying to tell me he **didn’t** sing that?! > > _Googles the lyrics…_ > > Well, I’ll be damned. Thirty-five years I’ve misheard that. Thirty. Five. Years. > > In all fairness to me and the rest of Western Civilization … c’mon on! At **best** he is singing: “I’m a poor heart aches…” I’ve listened to it repeatedly with the “correct” lyrics staring me in the face, and I cannot hear “My poor heart aches.” Sheesh. > > Nope. The lyrics sheet is wrong. I am right. Writing Sting at this very moment to get his confirmation. I think it needs to be HOW my poor heart aches - otherwise there’s that missing syllable. Or maybe “Ah” instead of “How”. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/87 "2018-08-08T23:00:27Z")
Was just reminded of another one: I always thought the Marshall Tucker Band song “Heard it in a Love Song” was “Purty Little Love Song”. It still sounds like that to me now. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/88 "2018-08-09T00:14:42Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Was just reminded of another one: I always thought the Marshall Tucker Band song “Heard it in a Love Song” was “Purty Little Love Song”. It still sounds like that to me now. We’ll I’ll be damned. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/89 "2018-08-09T01:13:11Z")
“… can’t be wrong.” Apparently, you can. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/90 "2018-08-09T02:41:41Z")
So you guys heard it that way too? ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/91 "2018-08-09T04:59:57Z")
As a Midwestern Catholic preteen, I was always puzzled by they Maverick theme song. You know, the line that goes “From Natchez to New Orleans, living on Jackson queens …” I knew it was something very strange, but was smart enough not to ask. Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/92 "2018-08-09T11:55:43Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > [This song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-NWJ9OykJs) by Gomez; why is he singing about cat food? Sounds to me like “Oh cat food, cat food. Oh Let’s drink cat food.” Jump to about :30. The progressive rock group **King Crimson** actually had a song in 1970 call “ **Cat Food** ”. I’m pretty sure it’s on youtube. Really wacky tune. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/93 "2018-08-09T14:58:07Z")
from the Temptations’ _Papa was a rolling stone:_ The real lyric: Hey Momma, I heard Papa called himself a jack-of-all-trades, Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave. I thought it was: …jack-of-all-trades (mumble mumble) sent Papa to the alleyway. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/94 "2018-08-09T15:51:02Z")
> [@solost](#): > > My wife’s had a few funny lyric mishearings over the years. One is in the chorus of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”. She says for years she thought the line was “I can see you / your bra still drying in the sun” (actual line: “…your brown skin shining in the sun”). I make sure to sing her version when we’re in the car and the song comes on the radio. I know that this is from awhile ago, now, but I have always heard that line as “Your breath keeps shining in the sun.” I’m not sure how breath can shine, but whatever. Even worse is, I _know_ that I’ve learned the correct lyric at least once before. I can remember seeing “brown skin” and thinking, "Huh, how about that?’ And then I promptly forgot about it and went back to singing “breath keeps shining,” until this thread made me learn the correct words all over again. Most likely, about a year from now, someone will mention “brown skin shining in the sun,” and my reaction will be, “What? No way! That’s not right, is it?” ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/95 "2018-08-09T17:27:40Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I always thought the line in the Steely Dan song “Done up in blueprint blue” was a mishearing o my part. Nope, but the line makes no sense. > > On the other hand, I thought the song’s title was Babe. No, it’s Peg, but it sounds like Babe to me. He may have been exaggerating the “e” sound to be sure to avoid “Pig”. 🙂 “Blueprint blue” is a recognizable variety of blue, but I’m not sure why it was chosen. Blueprint because he has “plans” for this girl, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/96 "2018-08-10T03:48:19Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Heard a sound check for Sting once. He slaughtered the lyrics as they checked levels. > > “Every yard you rake”, “Every cake you bake”, “Every hand you shake”… > > So, technically not misheard, but deliberately sung wrong. I have no proof of this, but I’m absolutely certain Poussette Dart must have substituted the obvious last line when rehearsing “Fall on Me.” The lyrics sung for public consumption are: _If you’re gonna fall… Fall on me And if you’re goin’ down… Hold on to me._ Yeah right. “Hold on to me.” That’s EXACTLY what everyone thinks of as the next line when they sing “And if you’re goin’ down…” ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/97 "2019-10-11T22:00:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I thought everybody knew about it, but for those of you who actually have a life, and are not aware of this link: > > There is a classic site that began in the earliest days of the web (1995 or so), called > [www.kissthisguy.com](http://www.kissthisguy.com) > > Named, of course, for Jimi Hendrix’s famous line “excuse me, while I kiss the sky”. HAHAHAHAHA! From site: Van Halen: Padded-bra! (Panama) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/98 "2019-10-12T18:40:57Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t know why but I find that adorable. > > I never had trouble hearing the correct lyric for \* Every Breath You Take\*, but _now that’s what I hear_😛 > > Is it still a mondegreen if what you hear is not a real word? My usual contribution to these threads is about the Clash’s _Rock the Casbah_ Near the very end of the song: > > “He thinks it’s not Kosher > Fundamentally he can’t take it” > > But I could / can never hear anything but “from the mental retardated”. At least one other Doper agrees with me. > > Along the same lines, The Commodore’s Brick house girl is built like an “Ekamasson” When I hear the song _Hotel California_ the line “the warm smell of colitas rising up through the air” became “the warm smell of koleep dust” Don’t ask me what the heck “koleep dust” is though.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/99 "2021-05-04T22:09:11Z")
When I was small, I heard the song “Oats, Peas, Beans.” The first line goes “Oats, peas, beans and barley grow”. I heard something like “Busby beans and Barney groves.” When the song says that the farmer “turns around to view the land,” I heard “…and turns around in Bugle Land”. When I first heard the song “Do You Love Me?” I thought I heard “I can masturbate! I can masturbate! I can do the Twist! I can do the Twist!”. Actually, the original is “I can mash-potato (I can mash-potato)”. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977/100 "2021-05-23T20:54:09Z")
In Paul McCartney’s (Wings?) “Mulberry Moon Delight”, I thought Linda was going “super Doo-ray!”, and I always kept wondering what the hell is a super doo-ray? But it’s “super fury!” she’s saying. Odd lyrics, that number. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misheard-song-lyrics-aka-eggcorns-or-mondegreens/816977.md?page=6)