# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/141 "2005-05-14T19:01:49Z")
My favorites is not my own mondegren, but one made by professional musicians. When Joan Baez sang “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” she changed the line “Till Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again” to “Till _so much_ cavalry came.” ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/142 "2005-05-14T19:24:50Z")
Speaking of which, isn’t “Innagadda-da-vida” (or however that’s spelled) a mondegreen itself? I seem to recall seeing an interview on MTV saying that the line was actually “In the Garden of Eden” but one of them misheard it when another sang it for the first time, and Innagadda-da-vida was born. ---
**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 14, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/143 "2005-05-14T21:29:56Z")
Queen, Bo Rap I thought for years Freddy was singing “gotta leave you all behind and fade away.” Now I know that he’s actually singin “face the truth” but I still prefer mine. I’ve never been certain whether the Killer Queen is _faithful_ or _graceful_ as a pussycat. Sometimes I hear one, sometimes the other. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/144 "2005-05-14T21:30:56Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Speaking of which, isn’t “Innagadda-da-vida” (or however that’s spelled) a mondegreen itself? I seem to recall seeing an interview on MTV saying that the line was actually “In the Garden of Eden” but one of them misheard it when another sang it for the first time, and Innagadda-da-vida was born. According to Mr. Punky, the original lyrics were “in the Garden of Eden,” but this wasn’t acceptable. I’m not sure if it was the record label, the radio stations or the FCC, but someone said they couldn’t use those words. The band changed the lyric to “Inna-gadda-da-vida,” and that passed muster. I’ve since been assured that this is true by several other people, but it sounds a little fishy to me. Why would the Garden of Eden be unacceptable? Who censored lyrics? By the time this was recorded, wasn’t everybody falling all over themselves to be “daring?” But it seems to make some people happy to think they are listening to something forbidden, and my questions have been greeted with hostility. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/145 "2005-05-14T21:41:46Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > I’ve never been certain whether the Killer Queen is _faithful_ or _graceful_ as a pussycat. Sometimes I hear one, sometimes the other. And yet you never hear [_playful_](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Killer-Queen-lyrics-Queen/93D90739DD81458A482568940005BC5F)? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/146 "2005-05-14T22:15:04Z")
> [@The Punkyova](#): > > According to Mr. Punky, the original lyrics were “in the Garden of Eden,” but this wasn’t acceptable. I’m not sure if it was the record label, the radio stations or the FCC, but someone said they couldn’t use those words. The band changed the lyric to “Inna-gadda-da-vida,” and that passed muster. > > I’ve since been assured that this is true by several other people, but it sounds a little fishy to me. Why would the Garden of Eden be unacceptable? Who censored lyrics? By the time this was recorded, wasn’t everybody falling all over themselves to be “daring?” But it seems to make some people happy to think they are listening to something forbidden, and my questions have been greeted with hostility. That’s not how I heard the story told. I heard it was supposed to be In The Garden Of Eden, but he was so wasted when he was writing it that it came out _In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida_ and the let it stick. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/147 "2005-05-14T22:28:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > When Joan Baez sang “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” she changed the line “Till Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again” to “Till _so much_ cavalry came.” Maybe that wasn’t a mistake. Didn’t she change some other lyrics in that song too? ---
**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 14, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/148 "2005-05-14T22:30:33Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > That’s not how I heard the story told. I heard it was supposed to be In The Garden Of Eden, but he was so wasted when he was writing it that it came out _In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida_ and the let it stick. So says [Allmusic.com](http://Allmusic.com): > [@Allmusic.com](#): > > With its endless, droning minor-key riff and mumbled vocals, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” is arguably the most notorious song of the acid rock era. According to legend, the group was so stoned when they recorded the track that they could neither pronounce the title “In the Garden of Eden” or end the track, so it rambles on for a full 17 minutes, which to some listeners sounds like eternity. ---
**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 14, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862/149 "2005-05-14T23:03:34Z")
> [@Long Time First Time](#): > > And yet you never hear [_playful_](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Killer-Queen-lyrics-Queen/93D90739DD81458A482568940005BC5F)? 🙂 :smack: d’oh [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-mondegreens/302862.md?page=7)