# "Mondegreens" where the singer really IS singing that **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979 "2020-08-01T12:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/21 "2020-08-04T21:35:21Z")
The title of the Beach Boys song is “Barbara Ann”, but they are totally actually singing “bop-a-ran”. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/22 "2020-08-05T03:26:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You do realize that the Beatles did not write the lyrics to “Golden Slumbers.” They changed just a couple of words from a poem by Thomas Dekker from 1603. > > The original poem has “awake.” Yes, I saw that as well. I’m still convinced that Paul wrote, and sings, “await.” Dekker’s poem was also addressed to “pretty wantons,” so it’s not the only improvement Paul made over the original. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/23 "2020-08-05T17:16:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Huh. I was expecting that you were going to say the lyric isn’t “kid.” I’ve never heard it any other way. Listening to it again, it still sounds like “kid” to me. I’m not getting anything resembling your words. Try as I might, I can’t hear a “ch” at the beinning, nor an “s” at the end. The vowel might be slightly ambiguous, so I could bend my mind to hear “cat” or “ked,” but that’s about it. I’ve definitely always heard a ‘ch’ sound. For me the word sounds like “chad” or “ched”, and I’ve always wondered what it meant. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/24 "2020-08-05T17:24:43Z")
Huh. Interesting. I really can’t get my brain/ear to hear it that way. Maybe another one of these “yancy”/“laurel” audio ambiguities. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/25 "2020-08-05T17:25:11Z")
Mick Jagger stared into the camera and sang “…let’s spend some time together…” on TV while rolling his eyes on Ed Sullivan–apparently to appease the censors. Later, Jim Morrison faced a similar situation, but chose to sing exactly what he was told not to…"…we couldn’t get much higher", and I think he got banned from the show for it. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/26 "2020-08-05T18:25:30Z")
I always hear ‘child’. Probably wrong. Jackson liked adding ‘ch’ phonemes into his songs- ‘chamone’ for instance. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/27 "2020-08-05T19:39:24Z")
Yeah, but that one, to me, clearly sounds like “shamone” or possibly “chamone.” I don’t hear a “ch” phoneme at all in any of the "kid"s in Billy Jean, so far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/28 "2020-08-05T20:44:52Z")
I never sing Benny & the Jets right, I swear Elton says she has electiric boobs… ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/29 "2020-08-05T22:36:59Z")
I just recently read that Lady Gaga is actually saying “fuck her face” and not “Poker face” in the Pa-pa-pa poker face part. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/30 "2020-08-05T23:06:27Z")
In The Beatles “Girl” the little rhythm underneath lyrics in the bridge is “tit tit tit tit tit tit” on purpose, a giggling Lennon/McCartney have confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/31 "2020-08-06T00:32:03Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The title of the Beach Boys song is “Barbara Ann”, but they are totally actually singing “bop-a-ran”. When I was young, the joke was: “who’s your favorite barber? Barber Ann!” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/32 "2020-08-06T12:22:17Z")
Despite what lyrics sites tell me, I am convinced that the first line Bob Marley sings in _Redemption Song_ is “Old pirate’s just a rabbi.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/33 "2020-08-06T13:28:23Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > > [@WildaBeast](#): > > > > The title of the Beach Boys song is “Barbara Ann”, but they are totally actually singing “bop-a-ran”. > > When I was young, the joke was: "who’s your favorite barber? Barber Ann! I went to high school with a guy named Bob Moran. We all sang the song using his name. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/34 "2020-09-09T12:53:38Z")
I never hear “electric boots” in _Benny and the Jets_… I always sing “she’s got electric boobs…” 😄 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/35 "2020-09-09T14:41:19Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > _Billie Jean_. “_The \_\_\_\_ is not my son_.” I’m not sure _what_ Michael is saying-- at various points in the song it sounds like “_chance_” or “_chase_” or “_chairs_”-- but it’s _not_ “kid”. It’s not. There’s no way. I hear this exactly as you do and not all like **pulykamell** does. The “Ch” sound is overwhelming, and I make out not even a hint of a “k”. Maybe another “_yanni / laurel_” thing? ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/36 "2020-09-09T14:56:12Z")
In general I never fully pay attention to MJ lyrics so I always heard “Jed is not my son” and I assumed that somewhere earlier in the song that the kid’s name must have been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/37 "2020-09-09T22:40:25Z")
I always hear “child” - it might be that my brain hears the CH and fills in something that makes sense, but it definitely doesn’t sound like kid" to me. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/38 "2020-09-10T03:59:26Z")
A lot sites have the line from Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love as: “I’ll stay with you till my seas are dried up”. I’ve always heard seeds and Jack often emphasizes “seeds” while singing. In Kpop, there’s a debate about whether Jennie from _BlackPink_ is singing bitch in English or bichi (shining) in Korean in her solo debut song _Solo_. Officially, the line is “Bichi naneun solo”, “I’m shining solo” which makes sense in Korean, but the way she says bichi sounds a lot like bitch in English. [https://youtu.be/b73BI9eUkjM?t=53](https://youtu.be/b73BI9eUkjM?t=53) She cleared it up, or did she in a live performance: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXy8YPMTUZ4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXy8YPMTUZ4) Her smile after is priceless! BTW, she was born in Korea, but spent five years in Australia at a young age, so she speaks perfect English with a slight Australian accent. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979/39 "2020-09-10T06:47:05Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > BTW, she was born in Korea, but spent five years in Australia at a young age, so she speaks perfect English with a slight Australian accent. New Zealand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-the-singer-really-is-singing-that/916979.md?page=1)