# What song lyrics have you misinterpreted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931 "2008-10-28T13:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/21 "2008-10-29T00:34:11Z")
In the song “Welcome” from the Who’s _Tommy_, I thought Roger Daltrey was singing: _Milkman come in! And you baker, Little old lady welcome And Jew shoe maker_ The official lyrics are “_you_ shoe maker”. Though in that case Roger’s “y” still sounds awfully like a “j”. This is unrelated, but I sometimes misread signs with peculiar results. For example, the deli in the hospital where I work has a different couple of soups available daily, with little placards set above the tureens listing the soup variety. The other day I thought they were advertising “Medical Turtle” soup. Yum, how therapeutic. When I got a litle closer, I saw it was actually “Mexican Tortilla”. Still not very appetizing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/22 "2008-10-29T00:44:55Z")
I used to think Billy Joel was singing, _“I’m an elephant man!”_ ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/23 "2008-10-29T01:03:28Z")
“Every time you go away you take a piece of **meat** with you…” (what a bitch! why is she taking all his meat???) “All I need is **America** all I neeeeeeeeeed is you” (make up your damn mind!) ---
**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:** [October 29, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/24 "2008-10-29T01:04:21Z")
For over a decade I thought the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” was **Take the back right turn**. Yes, really. I never understood why the rest of the lyrics were about a guy trying to sell his book. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/25 "2008-10-29T01:23:10Z")
> [@kitemaker\_chuck](#): > > The lyrics I’ve minsinterpreted are from Desmond Decker’s “The Israelite”: > > Yumsk in my tear ast jozie zabo > I don’t want to identify Bonnie and Clyde > Yo zabo zabo zabo the Israelite [Classic Maxell ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxELSzay2lc) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/26 "2008-10-29T01:27:03Z")
In Rocket Queen, when Axl sings, “I’m a sexual innuendo” I heard “I’m a bisexual innuendo.” Which you gotta admit, is a lot cooler. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/27 "2008-10-29T01:30:08Z")
My “Blinded by the Light” haluca hear is “little early burly gave my anus curly whirly” ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/28 "2008-10-29T01:31:39Z")
_Miniature highway, in the sunshine Where the days are longer The nights are stronger than moonshine You’re gonna go I know_ ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/29 "2008-10-29T01:54:54Z")
> [@rock\_party](#): > > My “Blinded by the Light” haluca hear is “little early burly gave my anus curly whirly” I also heard the “anus curly whirly” line. We’ve done this before, my misheard lyric was from an Aerosmith song, “Lovin’ an Alligator”. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/30 "2008-10-29T01:58:55Z")
Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi You don’t know what you’ve got 'till it’s gone. It ain’t paradise, put on a fucking light. The real lyrics are: You don’t know what you got till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parkin’ lot ---
**Author:** ![Lavender\_Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b782af/32.png) [@Lavender\_Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lavender_Falcon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/31 "2008-10-29T02:13:01Z")
When I was a kid, I thought ABBA’s Waterloo went: My, my, at Waterloo the pony did surrender It’s actually: My, my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/32 "2008-10-29T02:55:06Z")
> **[Mondegreen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen)** > > A mondegreen (/ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn/) is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense. The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, recalling a childhood memory of her mother reading the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (from Thomas Percy's 1 "Monde... I love 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/33 "2008-10-29T02:58:38Z")
There’s a Rob Thomas song called “Lonely No More”. Part of the lyrics go: > [@](#): > > Now its hard for me with my heart still on the mend > Open up to me, like you do your girlfriends Which, I swear to God, I always heard as: > [@](#): > > Now its hard for me with my heart still on the mend > Open up to me, **so I can do your girlfriends** Took me an embarassingly long time to figure that out. Also, I heard “dogs say goodnight” instead of “dark sacred nights” in “What a Wonderful World”. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/34 "2008-10-29T03:13:53Z")
It’s a bit of a cliché, but for many years I seriously thought that CCR was telling listeners that they can find a bathroom on the right. I only figured out the real lyrics after I found out the name of the song (Bad Moon Rising). ---
**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:** [October 29, 2008, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/35 "2008-10-29T06:39:37Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > That just triggered another memory of when I learned the Star Spangled Banner in grade school and couldn’t figure out who Jose’ was or why our national anthem was directed at him: > > “Jose, can you see by the dawn’s early light…” It’s because when Jose went to the ball game, all the seats were sold except for one in center field, next to the flagpole. The crowd just wanted to be sure he had a good view of the field. Although I’ve never heard of a baseball game starting at dawn before. > [@](#): > > And when my 10 year-old (who clearly inherited this disorder from me) learned the Pledge in kindergarten, he thought it went “…and to the Republic, for Richard Sands, one nation under God…”. I found this out when he asked me who Richard Sands was. 😃 “I led the pigeons to the flag…” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JollyGoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@JollyGoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JollyGoon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/36 "2008-10-29T09:15:04Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > I’m only a man in a silly red sheet > Digging for kryptonite on this one way street > Only a man in a funny red sheet > Looking for special things in sodomy This is fantastic!!😃 Mine: Love and adore you Always lookin’ for you And I’ll be there whenever you need me Be my spiderwoman I’ll be your spiderman The Charlatans - One to Another Always thought the last part was: I’ve been inside a woman I’ve been inside a man :smack: ---
**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:** [October 29, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/37 "2008-10-29T09:38:53Z")
I always thought Eddie Vedder was singing: “head at your feet, fool to your crown **pissed on my face** , swallowed it down” in _Rearview Mirror_. “Fist on my plate” is much less humiliating. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/38 "2008-10-29T14:32:09Z")
The Disturbed song _Are You Breathing?_ has 2 sets of lyrics that, while I didn’t think these were the actual lyrics, sure sound like it, AND are much more entertaining this way. Instead of: **Insane** you’re gonna die when you listen to me It sounds like: **N’Sync** you’re gonna die when you listen to me And instead of: You’re still breathing, you’re making **me glum**. It REALLY sounds like: You’re still breathing, you’re making **meatloaf**. No question about which version would be better! ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/39 "2008-10-29T14:40:15Z")
In Crocodile Rock, I always heard “Suzie went leftist for some foreign guy…” Hey, it was the times, right? ---
**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:** [October 29, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931/40 "2008-10-29T14:55:44Z")
"Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone … " For the longest time I thought it was: “Rocket man burning down the streets of Avalon” I never could quite figure out what that meant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-lyrics-have-you-misinterpreted/469931.md?page=3)