# 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:** 3
**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 22, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/41 "2015-06-22T04:56:13Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > In my defense, if there was a town named “Armageddon”, it would definitely be a mean town! [There certainly used to be.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Megiddo) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/42 "2015-06-22T13:06:15Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > Misheard lyric “Just like a one winged dove.” > Actual lyric “Just like the one we love.” > > We had a pair of Mourning Doves that had a nest in the bushes. Mama Dove only had one wing. They raised babies in that bush for 4 years running. We moved so for all I know she is still sitting in the nest popping out babies while Daddy Dove is still scrounging food for her and the offspring. > > My other excuse is the video had a white dove flapping about fast enough you couldn’t tell if it had one or two wings. > > (Just checked and… we’re past the longest captive bird’s lifespan so… she and he will just be memories.) I always hear it as “one winged dove” also but all the lyric sites I checked say it’s “\*white \*winged dove”. Certainly explains the dove in the video, eh? Steve Miller’s _The Joker_ has the famous line “I speak of the pompatus of love”. I “knew” it couldn’t be “pompatus” so I decided - and convinced a whole lot of people at the time- that the line is “I speak of the properties of love” I was so proud of myself until I read about how it is actually “pompatus” :smack: ---
**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 22, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/43 "2015-06-22T14:28:31Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I always hear it as “one winged dove” also but all the lyric sites I checked say it’s “\*white \*winged dove”. Certainly explains the dove in the video, eh? > > Steve Miller’s _The Joker_ has the famous line “I speak of the pompatus of love”. I “knew” it couldn’t be “pompatus” so I decided - and convinced a whole lot of people at the time- that the line is “I speak of the properties of love” I was so proud of myself until I read about how it is actually “pompatus” :smack: The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” has an interesting permutation in Russian. The title phrase comes out in that language as \* ken babe lom\*, meaning “Throw a crowbar at the old lady.” (!!) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/44 "2015-06-22T14:47:13Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I’d Really Love to See You Tonight - England Dan and John Ford Coley > > Real lyrics - There’s a warm wind blowin’, the stars are out, and I’d really love to see you tonight. > Misheard lyrics - There’s a warm wind blowin’ the stars around, and I’d really love to see you tonight. > > Quite aside from the fact it sounds WAY more like what he’s actually singing…while obviously not literally true, the wind blowing the stars around is a lovely poetic image that I think works a lot better in the context. I’ve always sung it your way, but now I know why I like it better. Don’t forget the other part of that song: “I’m not talkin’ 'bout Millenium\*” sounds so much better than the actual “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in”, which makes it just another song about shackin’ up in the swingin’ 70s. \*technically, “milleni-un” but I figured that was his accent ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/45 "2015-06-22T14:54:30Z")
Toto’s Africa. Correct lyrics: It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I \*\*bless \*\*the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had The lyrics I heard: It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I \*\*left \*\*the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had It made sense to me that when \*she \*arrived the rains stopped. It’s weird that it took so long to pick up on the true lyric – it’s repeated in the refrain multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/46 "2015-06-22T15:50:20Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I’d Really Love to See You Tonight - England Dan and John Ford Coley > > Real lyrics - There’s a warm wind blowin’, the stars are out, and I’d really love to see you tonight. > Misheard lyrics - There’s a warm wind blowin’ the stars around, and I’d really love to see you tonight. > > Quite aside from the fact it sounds WAY more like what he’s actually singing…while obviously not literally true, the wind blowing the stars around is a lovely poetic image that I think works a lot better in the context. Similarly, “Knights in White Satin” is a lovely visual image. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/47 "2015-06-29T23:49:10Z")
I’ve just discovered I’ve been hearing this one incorrectly all these years: Neil Young “Tell Me Why”: Correct: “When you’re old enough to repay. But young enough to sell” Obviously superior version: “When you’re old enough to repaint. But young enough to sell” Seriously, wtf does “old enough to repay” mean? At least “repaint” connotes age and connects at least tenuously with getting something ready to sell. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/48 "2015-06-30T00:11:54Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > The original Oh Fortuna in ancient Latin: > > [est affectus > et defectus > semper in angaria.](http://www.listology.com/celtchic/story/lyrics-and-translation-o-fortuna-carmina-burana-composer-carl-orff) > > After this classic Youtube parody I will always prefer: > > This octopus > Let’s put him boots > Send him to North Korea! > > (O Fortuna Misheard Lyrics) > > 🙂 Speaking of which, there’s a choir singing during the fight on the bridge in Mordor in the LOTR movies (specifically when the goblins are shooting arrows at the party) where it sounds like they are singing “oooooh…ahhhhhh…who got salami? who got salami?”) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/49 "2015-06-30T00:21:51Z")
I thought Ke$ha was saying in Tik Tok: “Tonight, I’m-a fight till I see the Satellite.” I thought that was an interesting lyric which made me like the song more. Of course, what she is actually saying is “Sunlight” but it still sounds like “Satellite” to me. ---
**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 30, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/50 "2015-06-30T01:15:37Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I’ve just discovered I’ve been hearing this one incorrectly all these years: > > Neil Young “Tell Me Why”: > > Correct: “When you’re old enough to repay. But young enough to sell” > > Obviously superior version: “When you’re old enough to repaint. But young enough to sell” > Seriously, wtf does “old enough to repay” mean? At least “repaint” connotes age and connects at least tenuously with getting something ready to sell. This is one of those things that has to be wrong. “Repaint” is it. I can’t believe Neil says it’s repay. There is a tape of him doing Tell me why, and he explains he is doing it as a request for Briggs or his manager. He sings and then says “I don’t edit this stuff folks” ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/51 "2015-06-30T01:41:23Z")
_Thirty thieves and the thunder genie! Thirty thieves and the thunder genie!_ ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/52 "2015-06-30T01:47:35Z")
Pink Floyd, From DSOTM: Correct: Haven’t you heard, It’s a battle of words, The poster bearer cried Incorrect: Haven’t you heard, It’s a battle of words, And most of them are lies ---
**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 30, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/53 "2015-06-30T05:29:39Z")
For “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” **Correct:** \* Eighty men died, tryin’ to end that spree\* **Better:** \* Aim and dive, tryin’ to end that spree\* ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/54 "2015-06-30T23:40:00Z")
> [@The\_Tof](#): > > 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. The “Weird Al” version has one of these lines, as well: Real line: “Goes in the back and beats up on the liverwurst.” As my older brother and I heard it: “Goes in the back and beats off on the liverwurst” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/55 "2015-07-01T00:33:41Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > For “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” > > **Correct:** \* Eighty men died, tryin’ to end that spree\* > **Better:** \* Aim and dive, tryin’ to end that spree\* It’s funny, I’ve heard that song since I was ten and thought the last word in that line was “Streak”. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/56 "2015-07-01T01:32:11Z")
Help I’m steppin’ into the twilight zone The place is a madhouse Feels like being cloned My beacon’s been moved under moon and star Where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far Soon you will come to know When the bullet hits the bone WTF does being cloned feel like? I heard it as: The place is a madhouse Feels like Vietnam To an American of a certain age the word Vietnam invokes an image of a place that’s not only dangerous, but also chaotic. And where there were many guns. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/57 "2015-07-01T01:57:14Z")
The theme song to the old Wonder Woman show included the lines: _In your satin tights Fighting for your rights And the old red, white, and blue!_ I heard the last line as “And the only boy you knew!” Which TOTALLY MADE SENSE. Diana was from an island of all women, she had never seen a man before Steve Trevor crashed on Themyscira. And she was always saving him, all the time. So he was the only boy she knew, and he was one of the things she was fighting for. Q.E.D. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/58 "2015-07-01T02:30:37Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > 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. Almost everyone hears it as “grave”, but hearing it was “gray”, I looked up the lyrics to study them. He’s wrapped it all up in poetic metaphor, but he talks about having been a graying tower on the sea, and she is like a kiss from a rose - she is a splash of color to his gray, bleak world. A kiss of red on the gray of his life. > [@the\_diego](#): > > “Excuse me while I kiss this guy.” > “Let’s not bring the pasta anymore.” > “Want you to know: I love you, man.” Be nice if you listed the original or identified or someway. I do know the first. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I think mine makes more sense. He certainly fades away, but how exactly does he face the truth? He killed a man, so Beelzebub is going to take him away. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/59 "2015-07-01T11:22:24Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Pink Floyd, From DSOTM: > > Correct: > Haven’t you heard, It’s a battle of words, The poster bearer cried > Incorrect: > Haven’t you heard, It’s a battle of words, And most of them are lies I thought that too, and it is better. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2015, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/60 "2015-07-01T12:16:40Z")
I’ve mentioned this one before – in the Creedence Clearwater Revival song _Lookin’ Out My Back Door_ are the lines: _Tambourines and Elephants Are playing in the band Won’t you take a ride On the Flying Spoon? do, doo, doo_ I swear that I not only have heard this as, but STILL hear it as: _Won’t you take a ride On the Glide? We’ll spoon._ Fior years I couldn’t understand what that meant, until I finally learned that a “Glide” is a sort of parallelogram Rocker/swing: [https://search.yahoo.com/search;\_ylt=AwrBT8842JNVNfQA4HhXNyoA;\_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTI1MgRncHJpZANwRUFpME5oYlJNZTY4bVpaNzdNWTRBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMzBG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzE4BHF1ZXJ5A0dsaWRlIHN3aW5nIGltYWdlcwR0X3N0bXADMTQzNTc1MjUxMQ--?p=Glide+swing+images&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=yfp-t-252&fp=1](https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrBT8842JNVNfQA4HhXNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTI1MgRncHJpZANwRUFpME5oYlJNZTY4bVpaNzdNWTRBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMzBG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzE4BHF1ZXJ5A0dsaWRlIHN3aW5nIGltYWdlcwR0X3N0bXADMTQzNTc1MjUxMQ--?p=Glide+swing+images&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=yfp-t-252&fp=1) [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT7w.2JNVRsQAUI1XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEyYmZ1ZmJzBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjAzOTZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Glide+Swing+Images&fr=yfp-t-252#id=14&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fkitguy.com%2F818.gif&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT7w.2JNVRsQAUI1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyYmZ1ZmJzBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjAzOTZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Glide+Swing+Images&fr=yfp-t-252#id=14&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fkitguy.com%2F818.gif&action=click) [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT7w.2JNVRsQAUI1XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEyYmZ1ZmJzBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjAzOTZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Glide+Swing+Images&fr=yfp-t-252#id=159&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.furniturefashion.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2FWooden-Porch-Glider-by-Willies-Woodworks.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT7w.2JNVRsQAUI1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyYmZ1ZmJzBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjAzOTZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Glide+Swing+Images&fr=yfp-t-252#id=159&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.furniturefashion.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2FWooden-Porch-Glider-by-Willies-Woodworks.jpg&action=click) Okay – that made sense. Lots of back porches had glides on them, for sitting in the summer breeze. The singer is inviting the listener to sit with him on the glide and lightly make out (“spoon”). When I was originally perplexed, I had neither hear of a “glide” or of “spooning”. But it all fit together. For years I was convinced that I had finally figured out the meaning of the lyrics – it was country slang that I, a suburbanite, was unfamiliar with. Then someone pointed out that the lyrics were really “flying spoon”. I was sure they were wrong. It never sounded like “flying spoon” to me. It still doesn’t when I listen to it. I would still be disputing it, but every copy of the lyrics online says the same thing. So I’ve gone from thinking I figured out the innocent meaning in the band’s bucolic roots to trying to understand something that sounds like a coke reference. And just in case you think I’m completely off my Glide, my wife Pepper Mill had the same evolution of understanding about the lyrics, completely independently of me – except she knew what a “glide” and “spooning” were. She was similarly disbelieving when I showed her the lyrics online. I still prefer “Won’t you take a ride On the Glide We’ll Spoon” …which is what it certainly sounds like they’re singing. And makes a helluva lot more sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005.md?page=4)