# 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:** 6
**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:** [May 27, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/101 "2020-05-27T11:57:01Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > …and TIL that the lyric isn’t > > “out of a job - you can’t tell me that I’m not” > > I guess I could have learned that five years ago. > > Also, I like my version of the end of the chorus > > “If not, just stop > Don’t say ‘yeah’, and not” > > just as well as the real one > > “If not, just stop > Don’t stay there and rot” That \*is \*better! Or even “nod” would be better. “Rot” never really worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/102 "2026-07-18T17:53:55Z")
So after listening to _Strawberry Fields Forever_ for almost 60 years, I just recently learned that the correct line is _No one I think is in my tree I mean, it must be high or low._ I had always heard it as the (much better) line: _No one I think is in my tree I mean, I must be high alone._ The “high alone” image ties in with no one else being in his tree, and the double entendre on “high” is more pointed in my version, referring both to his location in the tree and to his mental state, unshared by anyone else, which is consistent with the sense of isolation expressed elsewhere in the song. I’m still kind of gobsmacked that my version isn’t correct. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/103 "2026-07-23T18:13:40Z")
The song “Darkness” by The Police (last track on Ghost In The Machine) - I always thought he was singing _I wish I never woke up this morning_ _Life was easy when it was pouring_ Apparently the actual lyrics are _Life was easy when it was **boring** _ I think my version makes more sense, especially with all the thunder-y sounding drums. It sounds like a rain storm! ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/104 "2026-07-30T11:56:51Z")
As a teen, I thought the lyrics to the Led Zeppelin song were: _Made up my mind, making you starve Goin’ to California with an aching…in my heart_ Made sense to me: he’s going to kill his girlfriend through forced starvation, then flee to another state, but with regrets. (It’s actually “make a new start.”) ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/105 "2026-07-30T14:42:13Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Apparently the actual lyrics are > _Life was easy when it was **boring** _ Wait, what? They are? I like pouring better, too. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/106 "2026-07-30T14:47:14Z")
Well, those are lyrics I found on the internet, so they could be wrong. I don’t believe my copy of the CD has printed lyrics. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/107 "2026-07-30T14:49:39Z")
Genius lyrics has “boring”, and they are righter than most. Well, it’s still pouring for me, so there, Stewart! ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/108 "2026-07-30T16:28:43Z")
_Modern Love_ Real lyrics: I know when to go out Know when to stay in Get things done What I hear: I don’t want to go out I want to stay in Get things done I need to stay in to get things done. Make perfect sense. _Down on the Corner_ Right lyrics: Bring a nickel, tap your feet I hear: Bring a nickel, happy feet. Bring a nickel and your happy feet, because you’ll be dancing to the music. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/109 "2026-07-30T17:34:39Z")
I could be here ALL DAY LONG. It’s made even worse when I strongly suspect that the singer (who is usually the lyricist) has actually changed the lyrics over time from what they were on the original studio recording-where he likely just forgot what the originals were and just made them up later off the top of his head during live shows. My fave example of the above is The Cult’s “Big Neon Glitter”, where I’ve always heard it the opening stanza as: _Oh, drag me back, and drag me back_ _And drag me back, drag me back, drag me back_ _ **To that ocean, of absolution** _ If you listen carefully, you can clearly hear 4 syllables for the first part of the bolded line, 5 for the latter. Makes sense, a very evocative image, and why wouldn’t anyone want to return to a place which will wash away all of their sins? Except I’ve sampled a few live versions, and now Ian Astbury (lead singer) now sings: _ **Thru that revolution, without solution."** _ Now we have 6 syllables for the 1st part vs. 4–where did they come from, why are there more now? There is absolutely NO “r” sound in the original either. Annnd semantically we also now have a totally nonsensical return to a hapless and worthless situation, vs. the one in the above version where actual deliverance is achieved. The online lyric sites all insist it is the latter, alas. * * * The other bugaboo is (going to the other extreme) spurious sounds that the singer makes, which the online site people then pick up on and invent phony words to put into their formulations, typically resulting in something which makes less than zero sense. REM’s “I Believe”: _When I was young and give and take_ _ **The foolish sent my fool away** _ Always heard the 2nd line as that way, recalling the nuns at my grade school who attempted to do just that (hint: they utterly failed). Alas, Michael Stipe puts in a spurious “K” sound towards the end, meaning the onliners think he’s actually singing _ **The foolish said my fool: ‘awaKe!’** _ Huh?! The foolish (in this case) would want to _keep_ you asleep. Plus, if that is indeed the intended lyric, where is the “to” before “fool” at? At best we just have the image of someone being startled awake, with no actual clue as to why the “foolish” would be such for doing so even if it just a case of a student falling asleep in class and having the instructor hit them with a ruler or something. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/110 "2026-07-30T17:46:52Z")
Paul Simon, “The Myth of Fingerprints” (from _Graceland_) Real lyric: “Ever since the watermelon” What I heard: “Elvis is the watermelon” It doesn’t make any less sense than the real lyric, and it ties nicely in with the album’s title. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/111 "2026-07-30T22:16:10Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > My version: “”…a kiss from a rose on the grave. What!? I’m just finding this out. Damn. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/112 "2026-07-31T19:40:08Z")
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”: Real lyric: “The baddest man in the whole damned town” I heard: “The baddest man in the whole downtown” My lyric almost works, I just assumed downtown was Leroy’s territory. But I admit it does contradict that line earlier in the song that says he lives in the South Side of Chicago, which of course is not downtown. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/113 "2026-08-05T21:07:15Z")
Once upon a time I thought that The Bitch is Back had instead of: The Bitch is Back Stone-cold sober, as a matter of fact I heard it as: The bitch is back A dog called Rover as a matter of fact. It’s a good play on words. You thought I was using an offensive term about a girl but I’m actually talking about a dog using an acceptable word (yes, I know a female dog wouldn’t be called Rover). ---
**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:** [August 5, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/114 "2026-08-05T23:46:20Z")
Porcupine Tree, “Baby Dream in Cellophane” also has a dog in it, maybe…[video linked to the 2nd iteration] [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E9spRPXlTkw/maxresdefault.jpg "Baby Dream In Cellophane") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9spRPXlTkw&t=137) _Pale dogs and demigods_ But it has always sounded a lot more like this to me: _Held a box of sticky glass_ Which is _precisely_ what cellophane basically is, right? And again if the former lyric is true, then why do we have a definite if spurious “s” sound for the 5th syllable there for the last two interations (for the 1st one I don’t hear an “s” admittedly, but I definitely don’t hear a “d” for the last two). ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/115 "2026-08-06T00:27:17Z")
Creedence Clearwater Bad Moon Rising. There’s a Bad Moon on The Rise. People started saying, There’s a Bathroom on the Right. Even John Fogarty has perfomed it that way for laughs. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2026, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/116 "2026-08-06T11:48:51Z")
I know this is a very old - and very long - thread, so I’m going to reference this long-buried post: > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > [@Gatopescado](#): > > > > _There’s the Bathroom on the right…_ > > Please read the OP. > > I didn’t intend for this to be yet another mondegreen thread where everyone trots out the memes we’ve all heard since the beginning of the interwebs. > > Unless your claim is that you’ve long thought that ‘bathroom on the right’ was the correct lyric _and_, once you found out it wasn’t, feel it is a plausible alternative to the proper lyric. > > mmm ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/117 "2026-08-06T12:50:50Z")
From Bob Dylan’s “Lily, Rosemary & The Jack of Hearts”. Per Dylan’s website: _The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked_ I always assumed it was “…a Colt revolver”, with Colt being both a famous manufacturer of revolvers and pretty much synonymous with the vibes of a silver-mining town with gambling wheels and dancing girls. Sorry, Bob, I don’t have a Nobel prize but I still know better than you on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/118 "2026-08-10T16:19:00Z")
Consensus lyric from “Down on the Corner” (Creedence Clearwater) … _Poorboy twangs the rhythm out_ _On his kalamazoo_ _And Willy goes into a dance_ _Doubles on kazoo_ What my ears heard for many decades: …_Willie goes into a dance_ _The devil’s on the loose_ I like mine better. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/119 "2026-08-10T18:29:15Z")
Wow, TIL today. I’ve also always thought it was “devil’s on the loose”. For a long time I also heard “bring a nickel, can’t be beat” rather than “tap your feet”, and I heard “you don’t need a pinhead” rather than “penny”, but I can’t really argue that my version is better for those lines. Fogerty really mush-mouths the lyrics on that song more than usual. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005/120 "2026-08-10T18:44:34Z")
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2GY9GyHxyEo/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/2GY9GyHxyEo?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=RD2GY9GyHxyEo I’m guessing that the Ed Sullivan version used live vocals with recorded instruments. No devils. Just kazoos. And the official version with lyrics on the Youtube CCR channel is also devil-free. Too bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-youve-misheard-that-are-perfectly-acceptable-perhaps-even-better-substitutes/723005.md?page=7)