# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/81 "2005-05-10T00:45:41Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > Dishwalla, Counting Blue Cars. I still think they’re saying “we pass many cross-eyed people.” They _ **are** _ saying that. Except there’s a comma between many and cross. I checked the liner notes and there are no lyrics included, but every one of the half dozen sites I looked at gives that as the line, so either that’s it, or a lot of us have been fooled. My favorite is one I “heard” when I was very young. “Maybe I’m just like my mother, she never sat inside…” I also like my brother’s insistence that in Depeche Mode’s “It’s no good” that the line _Don’t say you want me_ is _I saw the monkey_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/82 "2005-05-10T01:13:32Z")
My favorite came back when my little sister and I were riding in the car, singing along to Carly Simon’s _You’re So Vain_. The line that says: _You flew your Lear Jet to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun…_ she said, loud and clear… **You flew your _rear end_ to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun…** I laughed _my_ rear end off… ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/83 "2005-05-10T01:28:43Z")
To this day, I still hear the last lines of “Lola” by the Kinks _But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man And so is Lola_ as… _But I know what I am and what I am is a man And so is Lola_ I mean, when you listen to the song and hear the other lyrics… _Well I’m not the world’s most physical guy But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine_ …and… _Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man_ … it makes perfect sense to think that the singer got seduced by a transvestite, and didn’t learn the truth until it was too late. Oh, and on that Peter Gabriel song. For some reason, I always heard \*“Jeux sans frontieres” \* as… _"She’s so f_-\*_ing old."_ ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/84 "2005-05-10T01:52:03Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > They _ **are** _ saying that. Except there’s a comma between many and cross. I checked the liner notes and there are no lyrics included, but every one of the half dozen sites I looked at gives that as the line, so either that’s it, or a lot of us have been fooled. I have the sheet music–it says “Our clothes are stained, we pass money, cross our people, and ask many questions, like children often do.” I never woulda guessed that. Every time I hear it, it still sounds like “cross-eyed people.” ---
**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 10, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/85 "2005-05-10T01:55:47Z")
Erm, yes, Lola _is_ a transvestite. But I always assumed the singer is gay, and knew all along. Remember that he naver kissed a _woman_ before, and he always wanted to be that way. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/86 "2005-05-10T02:33:31Z")
I’m definitely not a fan of Whitney Houston, but when I first heard “I’m Every Woman” I thought she was singing “Climb every woman.” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/87 "2005-05-10T03:40:36Z")
Ooh, in PSB’s “A Red-Letter Day,” I always took “The flowers in the garden, the wine” as “A thousand dollars, the wine” which completely changes the tone of the stanza. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/88 "2005-05-10T04:35:31Z")
Larry in a coma - check (except at some point I heard the name of the song announced & from that point I should have Known Better) you & me & lesleee - check Boy this thread is a revelation! Here’s a couple I persistently misheard: “Won’tcha be my four-letter woman . . .” etc. What was I thinking? I can’t remember the artist or the song but I heard a line of it as, “Dusty diamonds wanna be wine.” Well of course they would. Actual line: “Dust be diamonds, water be wine.” Favorite kid one: I used to wonder why we sang “O- V-I-C” at the end of “My Country Tis of Thee.” I had a friend named Vic and he heard it that way too, of course, only he was just honored (and in his 30s before he realized that was NOT what they were singing). There was also one I used to hear that had the word “Cincinnati” in it, which I misheard as “Sunset Daddy.” ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/89 "2005-05-10T04:56:16Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Come out of Fogerty as something like “hava whatcha zee…nanana, whatcha hear”. I swear, he didn’t look up the lyrics before recording it; just went with what he heard. I’m convinced that John Fogerty has an accent that is regional only to wherever he happens to be standing. He’s been the source of more of my own mondegreens than any three other artists put together. In addition to his complete butchering of “Heard It Through The Grapevine,” and the often-misheard “bathroom on the right” there’s Sweet Hitchhiker, which took me forever to figure out, because what I HEARD was “sweetie-chee-eye-gah”; Down On The Corner, which seems to have the line, “There ain’t a poor boy in the band, bringin’ nickel can’t be beat”; Proud Mary - “big wheel keep a-coin in” and Up Around The Bend - “goin’ a prize and win, we’re goin’ up a round again.” ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/90 "2005-05-10T08:39:07Z")
Foreigner’s song, _Hot Blooded_. When I was young I always thought they were singing… Well, I’m hot blooded, **Chicken of the Sea** I got a fever of a hundred and three Come on baby, do you do more than dance? I’m hot blooded, I’m hot blooded ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/91 "2005-05-10T09:19:44Z")
Rocking around the Christmas Tree Let the Christmas Spirit ring Later we’ll have some _f_\*_in’_ pie and we’ll do some caroling One Xmas at my sister’s house, my mom couldn’t understand why I got a case of the giggles when that song was playing. Nope, not gonna tell ya. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/92 "2005-05-10T10:49:21Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > I have the sheet music–it says "Our clothes are stained, we pass money, cross our people That version gets **zero** hits on google… strange, that. To be honest, I’m inclined to think the sheet music has the typos. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/93 "2005-05-10T12:41:26Z")
A friend in high school said that one time when the marching band was playing _Hot Stuff_ (by Donna Summer), he sang these words (loudly): “Sittin’ here gettin’ a hard on, baby, waitin’ for some lover to call.” The real lyrics: “Sittin’ here eatin’ my heart out waiting…” He wondered why the girls in front of him at the pep rally gave him such odd looks! ---
**Author:** ![JerseyJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JerseyJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyJohn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/94 "2005-05-10T13:13:20Z")
Song: “Key Largo” Real lyric: “Wrapped around each other …” Mondegreen: “Macaroni chowder …” ---
**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 10, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/95 "2005-05-10T13:19:28Z")
> [@Hilarity N. Suze](#): > > I can’t remember the artist or the song but I heard a line of it as, “Dusty diamonds wanna be wine.” Well of course they would. Actual line: “Dust be diamonds, water be wine.” “Dust Be Diamonds” by the Incredible String Band. You mean someone actually played that on the radio at some time? ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/96 "2005-05-10T13:28:49Z")
According to my nephew… _ **Brick House** _ (heard)…built like a _Mack-a-ma-zon_ (actually) …built like an _ah-Amazon_ According to a former coworker _ **Tubthumper** _ by Chumbawumba (heard) …I get _no doubt_, but I get _off_ again (actually) …I get _knocked down_, but I get _up_ again. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/97 "2005-05-10T13:56:40Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > A classic of mine is when I heard **“Jingle Bells”** as a child and always wondered what a “Four _horsopen_ sleigh” was. For me, it was “in a one-horse soap and sleigh”. My personal favorite from when I was a kid is John Mellencamp’s “Hurts So Good”, where _“Sometimes love don’t feel like it should”_ became _“Sometimes love don’t **fit like a shoe** ”_ Made perfect sense to me at the time. In fact, it still does! ---
**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:** [May 10, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/98 "2005-05-10T15:00:08Z")
OK, I’m still unconvinced by this one – Creedence Clearwater Revival’s **Out My Backdoor** For years I thought the line was “…Let’s take a ride On the Glide-Wheel Spoon.” What the hell is a Glide-Wheel Spoon? Is it like the Tilt-a Whirl? Years later I heard it as : "…Let’s take a ride on the Glide. We’ll Spoon" _That_ makes sense – you are your girl are sitting on the front-porch Glide (kinda like a swing) and you’re “spooning”. **Pepper Mill** independently heard the same thing. I mentioned this on the SDMB, and people tell me that it’s really: "Let’s take a ride on the Magic Spoon" apparently referring to cocaine use. I note that all the lyric sites on the internet give this interpretation, with _zero_ hits for “…glide. We’ll spoon.” But I _swear_ that every time I listen to it, it doesn’t sound at all like “magic spoon”. Heck, that doesn’t even _scan_ properly. I want to see some sheet music on this. I suspect everyone on the Internet of copying from each other, with the first guy gettin’ it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/99 "2005-05-10T15:12:45Z")
> [@Barrytown](#): > > For me, it was “in a one-horse soap and sleigh”. And I heard “one horse soapin’ sleigh.” I pictured a sleigh pulled by a horse with all kinds of soap foam and bubbles coming out. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/100 "2005-05-10T17:18:17Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Not my favorite, just the most recent: > Gwen Stefani singing “ain’t no harm in that girl” instead of “ain’t no holla-back girl”. > How the heck would I know what a “holla-back girl” is??? > At least I didn’t think it was “ain’t no Harlem black girl” like someone else on the board. 😉 What a timely post. I happen to have an interpretation of what a “hollaback girl” is, [right here.](http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/05/35/music-stacy.php) I bear no responsibility tor the accuracy of the analysis. I will point out that this newspaper once offered a deconstruction of [Milkshake](http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/21/music-stacy.php), albeit under a different byline. Do I have a mondegreen? As it happens, yes I do. Although I was never a big fan of disco, I did develop an earworm, listening to the Brothers Gibb wailing about: _Four-letter Woman, four-letter woman to meee._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862.md?page=6)