# "Mondegreens" where you are utterly convinced that you are right, and the rest of the world is crazy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672 "2012-11-21T02:12:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/61 "2012-11-22T08:28:15Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > The [“Dancing Jews”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcOEt34Z5BI&feature=related). What song is that? Is the line supposed to be “dancing shoes”? **PlainJain** , that video isn’t playing for me. > [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Paul McCartney got soooo much grief for “In this ever-changing world in which we live in”–years later, when called on it, he insisted it was “…in which we’re livin’.” That’s not how I hear it sung in the original recording, but I’ll give it to him just to have it corrected! We went over this in another thread (lots of them I’m sure). Paul is non-rhotic. I’ve listened closely to the radio performance and there are iterations that it sounds closer to “in which we’re livin’” and iterations it sounds closer to “in which we live in”. I’m fairly convinced. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/62 "2012-11-22T10:20:33Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I think you are right. Personally, I originally heard it as “Martin”, but I am fairly sure I have seen it given as “Modern” somewhere fairly official, and it makes a lot of sense in context. > > me. The “Blue Album,” aka 1967-1970, EMI’s official Greatest Hits compilation (chapter 2) from 1973. It’s “modern”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/63 "2012-11-22T13:56:33Z")
[quote=“PlainJain, post:50, topic:641672”] Thread title noted, there are several YouTube videos of it being performed live by JF and he clearly says flying spoon. [\QUOTE] Yeah, but I don’t listen to \>many music videos". I keep hearing that same original recording over and over, and it never sounds like “flying spoon” to me. It sounds like “glide-wheel spoon” ---
**Author:** ![Samantha\_Leigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Samantha\_Leigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Samantha_Leigh)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/64 "2012-11-22T16:05:16Z")
“My ship is a’ comin’ and I just can’t pretend” He is leaving and he cannot pretend he isn’t. So he is flying by night. And if you think I am wrong, you are crazy! :p. Anyone agree? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/65 "2012-11-22T18:59:10Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **PlainJain** , that video isn’t playing for me. > **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/?app=desktop)** > > Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Still works for me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/66 "2012-11-22T19:56:43Z")
> [@Samantha\_Leigh](#): > > “My ship is a’ comin’ and I just can’t pretend” > > He is leaving and he cannot pretend he isn’t. So he is flying by night. And if you think I am wrong, you are crazy! :p. > > Anyone agree? My OP in the other thread said that that isn’t even what he is singing. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/67 "2012-11-22T20:29:42Z")
In Nirvana’s “All Apologies”, there’s a line that clearly sounds like “I proceed from shame”. Yet on the CD’s lyric booklet, the line is “Aqua Seaform shame”. Not only does the official version not make any sense, but the other line matches up with the song’s and album’s theme of self loathing. If fact, I wonder if “Aqua Seaform” was just Cobain’s inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/68 "2012-11-23T04:30:11Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Without ever thinking about it, I always thought it was “It’s as easy as fishin’”, but I think [you’re right](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJprEyXMrIk#t=01m24s). The ‘if it were’ makes no sense and doesn’t fit in any way with the sounds I hear. Listen to this one from “Jazz Thing II.” It’s even more enunciated. https://www.youtube.com/embed/B3xTPXZz8tA?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&start=143 ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/69 "2012-11-23T08:17:43Z")
[quote=“CalMeacham, post:63, topic:641672”] > [@PlainJain](#): > > Thread title noted, there are several YouTube videos of it being performed live by JF and he clearly says flying spoon. > > [\QUOTE] > > Yeah, but I don’t listen to \>many music videos". I keep hearing that same original recording over and over, and it never sounds like “flying spoon” to me. It sounds like “glide-wheel spoon” I have always heard “flying spoon” and the song is not written for a lady. John Fogerty supposedly wrote it for his little boy. I heard a snippet of an interview where he explained it once. Found a cite: > [@](#): > > The song’s lyrics, filled with colorful, dream-like imagery, led some to believe that the song was about drugs. According to the drug theory, the “flying spoon” in the song was a cocaine spoon, and the crazy animal images were an acid trip. Fogerty, however, has stated in interviews that the song was actually written for his then three-year old son, Josh. Fogerty has also said that the reference to a parade passing by was inspired by the Dr. Seuss book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.[citation needed] One of Fogerty’s musical influences, Buck Owens, is also mentioned in the song. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/70 "2012-11-23T09:09:00Z")
“Me and Bobby Mcgee”- All the lyrics sites have…\*“I pulled my harpoon outta my dirty red bandana.” \* I admit that Janice slurs the words, but not THAT bad. Years ago, I saw Kris Kristopherson sing it as \*“I pulled my harp out of my dirty red bandana.” \* I trust his version not just because he wrote it, but HARPOON??? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/71 "2012-11-23T15:08:31Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > “Me and Bobby Mcgee”- All the lyrics sites have…\*“I pulled my harpoon outta my dirty red bandana.” \* Kristofferson very clearly sings [harpoon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-J7mLyD3yc) here. Kinda spoils the song for me, actually. I mean, like you said, HARPOON??? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/72 "2012-11-23T15:48:12Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > You’re close. I resurrected an old thread last year to provide the evidence. > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14475670#post14475670](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14475670#post14475670) Thank you! The chow line line never made any sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/73 "2012-11-23T19:52:13Z")
> [@Samantha\_Leigh](#): > > “My ship is a’ comin’ and I just can’t pretend” > > He is leaving and he cannot pretend he isn’t. So he is flying by night. And if you think I am wrong, you are crazy! :p. > > Anyone agree? Yes! I’ve always heard this as “my ship is a-coming’”. His ship is coming in, and he’s going to “fly by night, away from here”. He “just can’t pretend” that he’s satisfied with his current situation. It’s the only interpretation that really makes sense. I’m right, anyone who says otherwise is crazy, and that’s the end of it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/74 "2012-11-23T20:29:52Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > In Nirvana’s “All Apologies”, there’s a line that clearly sounds like “I proceed from shame”. Yet on the CD’s lyric booklet, the line is “Aqua Seaform shame”. Not only does the official version not make any sense, but the other line matches up with the song’s and album’s theme of self loathing. If fact, I wonder if “Aqua Seaform” was just Cobain’s inside joke. Cobain clearly singing “aqua seaform shame” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aWmkuH1k7uA/maxresdefault.jpg "Nirvana - All Apologies (MTV Unplugged)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmkuH1k7uA) ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/75 "2012-11-23T20:37:36Z")
Toto and the Rains in Africa. To me it was always “I miss the rains down in Africa”. It was pointed out here it is “I bless the rains down in Africa” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/76 "2012-11-23T21:12:45Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Kristofferson very clearly sings [harpoon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-J7mLyD3yc) here. Kinda spoils the song for me, actually. I mean, like you said, HARPOON??? “Harpoon” is apparently southern slang for “mouth harp” or “harmonica”. [Why is it called a harp?](http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q3.html) at bottom of page [http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Harpoon-Man-Greg-Harmonica-Taylor-CD-Jan-1996-Appaloosa-/3237637](http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Harpoon-Man-Greg-Harmonica-Taylor-CD-Jan-1996-Appaloosa-/3237637), CD by a harmonica player called “Harpoon Man” > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Cobain clearly singing “aqua seaform shame” > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmkuH1k7uA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmkuH1k7uA) Cobain was known for some weird lyrics more for sound than for actually coherent statement. They might mean something special to Curt that he struggled to express, or they might just be stringing together sounds that mesh the way he wants. [Smells Like Teen Spirit](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Smells-Like-Teen-Spirit-lyrics-Nirvana/BDC047923DF54F7E4825682D000B8692) “A mulato, an albino a mosquito, my libido… yeah” [Heart-Shaped Box](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Heart-Shaped-Box-lyrics-Nirvana/2FCDF6E5D7DA40EC4825682D000D7667) “I’ve been locked inside your Heart Shaped box for weeks I’ve been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black” and “Meat-eating orchids forgive no one just yet Cut myself on Angel Hair and babys breath Broken hymen of your highness I’m left black Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back” So I can totally buy he means “aqua seaform shame”. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/77 "2012-11-23T23:58:20Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Cobain clearly singing “aqua seaform shame” > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmkuH1k7uA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmkuH1k7uA) Seafoam. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/78 "2012-11-24T00:12:02Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > “Harpoon” is apparently southern slang for “mouth harp” or “harmonica”. . . . It might be now, but I doubt that that use of the word existed with before Kristofferson coined it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/79 "2012-11-24T00:53:42Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Toto and the Rains in Africa. > > To me it was always “I miss the rains down in Africa”. > > It was pointed out here it is “I bless the rains down in Africa” Until this moment, I thought it was “I guess…”. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672/80 "2012-11-24T00:56:28Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qqwLjkqj8Gw/hqdefault.jpg "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight, England Dan & John Ford Coley") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqwLjkqj8Gw) Even with the lyrics printed in front of me, I still hear “I’m not talkin’ 'bout Bolivia” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mondegreens-where-you-are-utterly-convinced-that-you-are-right-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-crazy/641672.md?page=5)