# Your favorite mondegreens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862 "2005-05-07T21:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/21 "2005-05-08T13:51:38Z")
There’s a Shania Twain song that has a line in it “All that extra-hold gel in your hair ought to lock it,” which is a really stupid lyric. My friend (it was look!ninjas) thought Shania was saying “And your extra hotel and your hair on a locket,” which makes jno sense, but gives an interesting mental picture. In the same song, there’s a line that goes, “I can’t believe you kiss your car goodnight,” but my friend heard “I can’t believe you kiss your carving knife.” I like that much better. 🙂 Other Favorites “Wake me up and pour me cocoa.” by Wham. “I want a peice of date bread.” by The Ramones ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/22 "2005-05-08T13:55:44Z")
> [@williamweigand](#): > > My wife had a cute one the other day – she thought “Bismillah” in Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was “Mitch Miller”! Did she wonder why they wouldn’t let him go? ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/23 "2005-05-08T14:02:00Z")
**Smoke On The Water** : “Slow Motion Walter, fire engine guy!” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/24 "2005-05-08T14:27:21Z")
Just exactly what kind of light is “dawnzerly” light, anyway? It’s been an extremely long time since I thought that was the actual wording, if in fact I ever did so, but still, whenever I hear “The Star-Spangled Banner” I can’t help thinking that “dawnzerly” ought to be a real word. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/25 "2005-05-08T14:37:41Z")
**Big Bad Voodoo Lou** posted a great one in another thread recently, from Simon & Garfunkel’s **The Boxer** : “…but I get no offers, just a come-on from the horse on Second Avenue…” ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/26 "2005-05-08T14:41:03Z")
I’ve embarrassed myself. That should read _Seventh_ Avenue. Sorry, Paul. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/27 "2005-05-08T15:02:04Z")
Two obscure ones. In Guided by Voices’ “I Am A Scientist,” I first heard the lines _I am a lost soul I shoot myself with rock and roll_ as _I am an arsehole I shit myself with rock and roll_ –which is a different image entirely, and I must say a more courageous one. There’s a song by the Replacements with a chorus that goes “Never mind / All over but the shouting.” A friend of mine once reported that a classmate of his asked him, “What do you think Westerberg means in that song when he sings ‘I overbooked the chalet’”! Like it’s a song about a frustrated ski resort clerk or something. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/28 "2005-05-08T15:13:16Z")
In “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, it sounds to me like they’re telling you to “Beware of the bathroom on the right.” Man, that’s got to be one seriously skanky bathroom if they’re warning people away from it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/29 "2005-05-08T19:11:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > When I was little I used to think there was a country called “Orientar” (where the Three Kings came from). I thought they lived in a castle named Orien Tower. > [@fishbicycle](#): > > Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted a great one in another thread recently, from Simon & Garfunkel’s The Boxer: > > “…but I get no offers, just a come-on from the horse on Second Avenue…” come on, son, the war’s on seventh avenue. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/30 "2005-05-08T20:38:12Z")
Believe it or not, for years and years I always heard > [@](#): > > Whenever you call me — > I’ll be there > > Whenever you want me — > I’ll be there > > Whenever you need me — > I’ll be there, hoppin’ around What do you mean “I’ll be around” makes more sense than “hoppin’ around”? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/31 "2005-05-08T21:45:22Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > Oh my gawd, I thought I was the only one. No? There were three of us? Actually what I heard-- (summer of '66? Some summer when it first came out), hearing it on the radio while my friend decoded the music for guitar, and I worked on decoding the lyrics,–was that the song was giving driving directions: “Take the next right turn (take the next right turn…)” ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/32 "2005-05-08T21:48:11Z")
I refused to believe that Louis Armstrong was saying; _I see trees of green, clouds of white._ _The bright blessed day, \*\* dark sacred night._\*\* Instead of; \*\*\*…dogs say goodnight. \*\*\* My earliest mondegreen: _Rock and Roll, **poochie poo** _ _Lordy mama, **like my shoes.** _ I still sing it when I get a new pair of shoes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/33 "2005-05-08T22:51:13Z")
In the Cars’ **Bye Bye Love** , I can swear I hear the lyric, “It’s just a fucking alibi”. Since I hear it on regular radio, I know that can’t be right. What is the actual lyric? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/34 "2005-05-08T22:53:46Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > In the Cars’ **Bye Bye Love** , I can swear I hear the lyric, “It’s just a fucking alibi”. Since I hear it on regular radio, I know that can’t be right. What is the actual lyric? "It’s an orangy sky always it’s some other guy it’s just a broken lullaby bye bye love bye g-bye love yeah bye bye love bye bye love-ov-ov-ove " (from [sing365.com](http://sing365.com)) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/35 "2005-05-08T23:07:28Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > come on, son, the war’s on seventh avenue. I used to hear it as, “the war zone, Seventh Avenue.” ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/36 "2005-05-08T23:30:15Z")
Thanx, Mr. Blue Sky.My best friend and I used to write little comedy skits in high school. One of our recurring characters was named Johnny Scumbag–after Lesley Gore’s boyfriend in “Judy’s Turn To Cry”. Think about it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/37 "2005-05-08T23:42:55Z")
Dishwalla, Counting Blue Cars. I still think they’re saying “we pass many cross-eyed people.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/38 "2005-05-09T01:15:36Z")
“Secret… _Asian_ Man…” instead of Agent Man. For years I misheard Simple Minds’ “Alive and Kicking” as “I Love You, Gigi” and wondered why Jim Kerr was mispronouncing “Gigi”. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/39 "2005-05-09T01:45:03Z")
English Beat, “Mirror in the Bathroom” \*Sung: \*You’re my mirror in the bathroom _Heard:_ You might meet her in the bathroom Beach Boys, “Fun Fun Fun” \*Sung: \*You shouldn’t have lied now, you shouldn’t have lied _Heard:_ You shouldn’t collide now, you shouldn’t collide (actually quite appropriate given that the song is about borrowing a car) ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/40 "2005-05-09T13:43:15Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Did she wonder why they wouldn’t let him go? :)I’ll have to ask her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862.md?page=3)