# Song lyrics you've misheard that are perfectly acceptable - perhaps even better - substitutes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005 "2015-06-20T13:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/1 "2015-06-20T13:04:59Z")
I have a couple: “ **Margaritaville** ”, by Jimmy Buffet Correct lyric: “Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt” What I hear: “Searchin’ for that outlaw shaker of salt” “ **Tangled Up in Blue** ”, by Bob Dylan Correct lyric: “We split up on a dark, sad night both agreeing it was best” What I hear: “We split up on the docks that night both agreeing it was best” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/2 "2015-06-20T14:21:37Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > “ **Tangled Up in Blue** ”, by Bob Dylan > > Correct lyric: “We split up on a dark, sad night both agreeing it was best” > > What I hear: “We split up on the docks that night both agreeing it was best” Great. I’ve been mishearing one of my fave songs for 40 years :smack: Oh well, what else can you expect when it’s Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/3 "2015-06-20T14:24:31Z")
“Singapore” by Tom Waits What he says: “I’ve dangled from a rope of sand” What I hear: “I’ve dangled from a rope of sin” There are several places in this song where it’s easy to mishear what he’s saying, so I think he does it on purpose (tawny Moor/tawny whore, as well as the “jerk off to the Land of Nod”/plain old jerking off part). I really like “rope of sin” better than “rope of sand” though. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/4 "2015-06-20T14:29:55Z")
**Shelter from the storm** by Bob Dylan His lyric: Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn my lyrics: Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged to the core. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Tof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tof)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/5 "2015-06-20T14:34:43Z")
I don’t know if it makes it better or not… but growing up I heard this line from Eye of the Tiger “Did my time, took my chances” as “took my dime, took my ten cents” Which totally made sense to me… He was on the streets and completely penniless… they had taken literally everything. But he’s still there, and still fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/6 "2015-06-20T14:37:07Z")
Dylan again, from “Jokerman” His: Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face Mine: Half asleep near the stars with a small dark look on your face Seriously, Dylan? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/7 "2015-06-20T15:54:41Z")
Nina Gordon “[Tonight and the Rest of My Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z29Wq7vWKDI)” Correct lyrics (chorus): “I feel so light” What I thought I heard: “I feel so _alive_.” _crickets_ Oh c’mon, cut me some slack, not _all_ of us had Dylan when we were seventeen! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/8 "2015-06-20T18:14:59Z")
“Games People Play” – sorry, I don’t know the artist’s name offhand. Actual: - Oh, they while away the hours In their ivory towers \* Better: \* […] …With their rivalries and powers \* ---
**Author:** ![Sasori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sasori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasori)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/9 "2015-06-20T21:12:44Z")
Probably more pretentious than better, but made sense to me at the time in a too literal “guy’s holding himself down” kind of way: Coolio’s _Gangsta’s Paradise_ He sings: I’m an educated fool with money on my mind. I hear: I’m an educated fool with my knee on my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/10 "2015-06-20T21:49:36Z")
Kesha’s “Blow”: Correct lyric: Let me see them hands What I hear: Let me see them Hanes (as in Hanes underwear). I’m pretty certain she did this intentionally. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/11 "2015-06-20T22:03:18Z")
The one I [always list](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15020050) is from Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose”: Original lyric: “…a kiss from a rose on the gray.” My version: “”…a kiss from a rose on the grave." I think it’s at once more somber and more hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/12 "2015-06-20T23:10:47Z")
_Blinded by the Light_ like a douche in the night. douche being a jerk or unlikeable person. a douche bag. Not the more common medical meaning. I thought **that was** the correct lyric for 20 years. I found out differently when the internet posted song lyrics. I’d sing douche, if I were to sing it at a party. Then tell anybody that asked I pronounced it deuce. 😉 Deuce is just an awkward word and hard to sing. Even Manfred Mann garbles the vowels and make it sound like douche. Some think they sing Whoosh. Deuce is just a terrible word to force somebody to sing. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/13 "2015-06-20T23:14:12Z")
Queen - We Will Rock You second verse: Their lyrics: Buddy you’re a young man, hard man Shoutin’ in the street gonna take on the world some day You got blood on your face, you big disgrace Wavin’ your banner all over the place What I hear: Buddy you’re a young man, hard man Shoutin’ in the street gonna take on the world some day You got blood on your face, you big disgrace Wavin’ your pecker all over the place ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/14 "2015-06-20T23:15:03Z")
Youngbloods - Get together Original “We will surely pass…” Mine “Evil surely pays…” ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/15 "2015-06-20T23:16:52Z")
The way I understand Blinded: Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night As in Deuce coupe Not that mysterious ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/16 "2015-06-20T23:18:42Z")
Sure, If you know there once was a car called a deuce coup. 😉 There’s no problem. They haven’t existed since the early 1950’s. I’m not entirely sure what they were. A homemade hot rod? They chopped the body of a Model A and swapped the motor, _I think_. Not sure and I grew up in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/17 "2015-06-20T23:47:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Sure, If you know there once was a car called a deuce coup. 😉 There’s no problem. They haven’t existed since the early 1950’s. > > I’m not entirely sure what they were. A homemade hot rod? They chopped the body of a Model A and swapped the motor, _I think_. Not sure and I grew up in the 70’s. Little Deuce Coupe is a song by the Beach boys, even tho it was the B side of Surfer Girl, it independently got to #15 Billboard in 1963. It’s pretty well known. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/18 "2015-06-20T23:52:55Z")
From Bowie’s _Suffragette City_, I always heard “This mellow-thighed chick just put my spine out of place” as “This mellow fat chick just put my spine out of place” which personally I like much better, I like the idea of the happy plump groupie squashing emaciated rock stars. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/19 "2015-06-21T00:01:58Z")
“Excuse me while I kiss this guy.” “Let’s not bring the pasta anymore.” “Want you to know: I love you, man.” ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/20 "2015-06-21T00:16:35Z")
From the Boston song _Rock n Roll Band:_ “When I hear you on the car radio, you’ll be a sensation.” I heard: “When I hear you all in Carnegie Hall, you’ll be a sensation.” I think mine is better if only because it rhymes internally. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005.md?page=2)