# You had the lyrics wrong...but you actually like yours better **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790 "2008-12-26T23:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pollux\_Oil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/858c86/32.png) [@Pollux\_Oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pollux_Oil)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/41 "2008-12-28T02:14:27Z")
Franz Ferdinand’s _Jacqueline_: “It’s always better on holiday So much better on holiday That’s why we only work when We need the money” I initially heard it as “That’s why we only work when we need the booty.” I really like mine better. It’s gotten so bad that when I hear the song now, when it gets to that line I change it even further on purpose and uproariously sing “That’s why we only work when we need Djibouti!” ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/42 "2008-12-28T05:24:26Z")
> [@November](#): > > The Nick Cave song “The Mercy Seat”, about a convict on Death Row being strapped into the electric chair… I have to say I like your version better too. It sounds like something Leonard Cohen would come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/43 "2008-12-28T05:56:08Z")
I submit Coldplay’s “Speed of Sound.” Real lyrics: “And _birds_ go flying at the speed of sound, to show you how it all began.” Erdosain’s lyrics: “And _words_ go flying at the speed of sound, to show you how it all began.” I mean, _birds_? Give me a break, Chris Martin. How many birds can reach Mach 1? At least words actually do travel at the speed of sound. The real version makes no sense compared to mine. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/44 "2008-12-28T08:16:54Z")
from A Whiter Shade of Pale, I’ve always heard, “and its faded now to Goldstein” instead of and her face just turns all ghostly ahem ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/45 "2008-12-28T08:21:12Z")
I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s true: most of these lyrics are improvements on the originals. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/46 "2008-12-28T08:31:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I once embarrassed myself by asking why Eric Clapton named the song Layla when Layla is never mentioned. That’s because every time he sang Layla I heard “hey girl”. > > My only excuse is that I was hearing the song through the speakers at a table in a diner. If you remember those it’s surprising I could even tell what song it was, let alone understand the lyrics. Ditto this for me, except I thought it was “hey love”, and I didn’t know the name of the song at the time. I still like mine better; it sounds as if he’s singing to love as a concept, submitting to its power and begging it to ease his weary mind. Who the hell is Layla? (Don’t answer that. Point is, mine doesn’t need backstory. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/47 "2008-12-28T08:43:37Z")
You don’t want to know who Layla was? Clapton never made a secret of it. Pretty interesting story…though I would have thought anyone tuned into music enough to have your Doper name would already know. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/48 "2008-12-28T08:56:10Z")
P.S. - (missed the edit window) There should have been a 🙂 at the end of my post above. Somehow it got omitted when I rephrased the comment and the comment appears unduly brusque as a result. My apologies to **RO** if it did. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/49 "2008-12-28T09:56:08Z")
The song “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal. The actual lyrics are: \*I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey …kiss from a rose on the grey. Ooh, The more I get of you, Ooh… Stranger it feels, yeah And now that your rose is is in bloom A light hits the gloom on the grey\* But I heard “kiss from a rose on the grave”, which evoked for me the love-beyond-death trope of authors like Edgar Allan Poe. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/50 "2008-12-28T10:07:24Z")
The “little skirt climbing way up her knee” in Aerosmith’s Walk This Way becomes a leather skirt in my version. I think it works better for a sassy rebellious schoolgirl. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/51 "2008-12-28T13:26:34Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The song “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal. The actual lyrics are: > > \*I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey > …kiss from a rose on the grey. > > Ooh, > The more I get of you, > Ooh… > > Stranger it feels, yeah > And now that your rose is is in bloom > A light hits the gloom on the grey\* > > But I heard “kiss from a rose on the grave”, which evoked for me the love-beyond-death trope of authors like Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve been hearing “grave” all these years too. I don’t even get what a rose on the grey _is_. What is the grey?!😕 ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/52 "2008-12-28T19:21:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You don’t want to know who Layla was? Clapton never made a secret of it. > > Pretty interesting story…though I would have thought anyone tuned into music enough to have your Doper name would already know. Heh…I did already know the story; I love me some Clapton. I was just defending the honor of my misheard lyric. Maybe _my_ post should have had a 😉 after it. [offtopic] Incidentally **SA** , I am going to get back to you soon. Been a bit caught up lately; holiday hooplah and all that. [/offtopic] ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/53 "2008-12-28T19:47:51Z")
[offtopic] Thanks. I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I’d said something I oughtn’t. 🙂 [/offtopic] ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/54 "2008-12-28T20:15:19Z")
> [@Tamara+](#): > > from A Whiter Shade of Pale, I’ve always heard, “and its faded now to Goldstein” > instead of and her face just turns all ghostly > > ahem Um…to be specific > [@](#): > > And so it was that later > as the miller told his tale > that her face, at first just ghostly, > turned a whiter shade of pale 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/55 "2008-12-29T01:46:39Z")
Jane Wielen’s _Rush Hour_ Actual: It’s so good Baby when you’re at the wheel I can’t believe the way I feel I thought: It’s so good It’s better when you’re at the wheel I can’t believe the way I feel * * * ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/56 "2008-12-29T06:18:16Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Heh, that makes two of us. > > For ages, I heard the first line of the chorus of “Love the One You’re With” as “And there’s a road and a distant love.” Apparently, it’s really “And there’s a rose in a fisted glove,” but I think my version makes more sense. I heard that halfway in-between as “And there’s a rose in a distant glove.” A poetic symbol of romance that’s somewhere else, but not here right now. I heard the words as “There’s a warm wind blowing the stars around, and I’d really love to see you tonight” - I believe the real lyrics are “There’s a warm wind blowing, the stars are out, and I’d really love to see you tonight.” Myself, I kind of like the picture of the warm wind and hoped-for romance leaving the fellow a little bit dizzy, and he hopes that she feels the same. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/57 "2008-12-29T06:31:42Z")
If I had known the title of the song, it would have helped, but what I always heard on the radio as a kid was “Keep it down now, this is scary.” The actual lyric is “Keep it down now, voices carry” and the song is, of course, “Voices Carry” by Til Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/58 "2008-12-29T06:51:21Z")
Okay, I don’t know the name of the song any more, but in the middle of it, this female voice says: “Quiet, big boys don’t cry” over and over And I always thought it was : “Quiet, be poised and quiet” And then there’s the Eagles’ from “Take it Easy” With “Lighten up while you still can…” Which I took to mean “Light one up while you still can…” Q ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/59 "2008-12-29T07:00:47Z")
What is it with Bowie? “China Girl” (though really Iggy Pop): My little China girl you shouldn’t mess with me I’ll ruin everything you are You know I’ll give you television, I’ll give you eyes of blue I’ll give you a man who wants to rule the world I always heard (and still hear, dagnabit) the last line as “I’ll give you man o’ wars to rule the world”. You know, man o’ war as in the 19th century battleship. Opium War, Western rape of the orient and all that. China’s doors opened to consumerism (television, eyes of blue) and imperialistic ambitions on its own accord. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790/60 "2008-12-29T08:44:29Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Okay, I don’t know the name of the song any more, but in the middle of it, this female voice says: > > “Quiet, big boys don’t cry” over and over > > And I always thought it was : > > “Quiet, be poised and quiet” Q The song is 10cc’s _I’m Not In Love_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-the-lyrics-wrong-but-you-actually-like-yours-better/478790.md?page=4)