When I first heard that song I thought it was I’m not talking 'bout Meridian. Not my style of music, but for some reason I heard the song over and over. The false line stuck.
So now I live in a place with a street named Meridian and I think of the mondegreen nearly every time I think of it.
Me too!
I couldn’t figure out why he was talking about geography at that point.
It took a lot of listening before I realized it was “Movin’ in.”
Nitpick (to anyone other than a Californian) – CCR is from Northern California (El Cerrito, IIRC – which is halfway between Berkeley and Richmond in the East Bay).
Especially flabbergasting when he claims to be born on a bayou.
Well, it’s 3/5 true…hey, maybe it’s a mondegreen! He was really singing “Born on the Bay, ooh!” all along!
I tihnk CCR is from San Bernardino (although maybe the Los Bros Fogerty were born elsewhere). San Berdoo is a stone’s throw west of L.A. and, according to Google Maps, practically the same latitude.
–Cliffy
jsc1953 is correct; Fogerty and company hailed from El Cerrito.
AND
"proud Mary keep on boinin’ "
I heard it on the radio this morning, and he said it every single time.
Ike & Tina’s version, is much clearer. Although, there’s one part that drives me crazy:
" …but I never lost a minute of sleep, worried about the way things might have been."
Tina says:
" …but I never lost a minute of sleep, I was worried about the way things might have been."
A friend of mine and I were listening to the radio at work one night and she was singing along to Madonna’s You’ll See. However she was singing “LUCY!”
Another friend’s son asked his mom what a “ten eyed ho” was. He had been listening to John Michael Montgomery’s Auction song (can’t remember the actual name…something like the Grundy County Auction?) that goes:
“She’s an 8
She’s a 9
She’s a 10 I know”
And heard it as “she’s a 10 eyed ho”.
G
I think this one would probably win a prize for the most people not having a clue what they were saying.
I remember this song from when I was taking Driver’s Ed. The radio station was having a lot of people calling in saying what they thought the lyrics were, and it seemed like no two people agreed. There was debate in my Driver’s Ed car as well.
I thought they were saying “I’m not talking about millenia.” In other words, he was just proposing a one-night stand rather than forever and forever. (Which, actually, was pretty much the same meaning as “I’m not talking about movin’ in.”)
I much prefer the “moo venom” line, though.
This was bugging me still, so I used Wayback (the internet archive) to get older version of the official site - because the latest version only has lyrics for the new album - and they do indeed say “we pass many, cross eyed people”. Dishwalla official site, circa 2002 Case closed 
Thought of another - lots of people have mentioned “Hold me closer, Tony Danza” but the “I’m not talkin’ 'bout the linen” reminded me of the OTHER mondegreen from Tiny Dancer:
“Lay me down and she so planned it”
which never made sense, but hey, it’s Bernie Taupin, we don’t generally expect sense, right? I later learned it was
“Lay me down in sheets of linen”
For a long time I thought it was “Lay me down in sheets of laughter.”
Tell your friend not to feel to bad: my mom sang 'I can’t believe you kiss your CARPET knife" the other day.
You mean he didn’t say "I’m not talkin’ 'bout Bolivia?
For 28 years I thought he said Bolivia.
I too have fallen victim to “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys, except my version was:
“I went to a dance
Lookin for a mance
Saw **Ba-boo-an **
So I thought I’d take a chance”
For years I couldn’t figure out who Ba-boo-ann was.
It’s really weird how differently you hear things when you’re a kid: every holiday season my sister would unknowingly sing about a “Wild Christmas” as opposed to the typical white one.
Do you know a person who messes up EVERY line that they sing? Well I have one of those at work. Last week when the song “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias came on the radio, he was singing “Alamo!” and was completely dumbfounded when we revealed to him that Enrique was not singing about the Dennis Quaid movie.
Oh yes – a bona fide one from my childhood. As in grade 2. Anyone remember the song “Kokomo?”
Well, I thought “That Montserrat mystique” was “Your mom’s a rotten snake.” It made total sense! The guy wants to go with his girlfriend down to Aruba, Jamaica, etc. But he has to convince her mother to let her go with him. First he tries flattery - “come on, pretty mama” - but it doesn’t work, so he bitterly complains to his gf that her mom is a rotten snake for not letting her go.
Right? right? See? It all makes sense!
I’m not talkin’ 'bout the living. (Scary, non? But zombies need love too, I guess…)
I heard ‘Carry a razor’. Self-defence is key, when you’re travelling through the darkness of the night!
Other notables:
Peter Cetera’s “Faithfully”
Real: This inside for you is as constant as the Northern Star.
Heard: This fire inside for you is as constant as the rolling stone.
Michael Jackson’s “Don’t stop till you get enough”
Real: Keep on with the force, don’t stop. Don’t stop till you get enough.
Heard: Get off in the Post Office. Don’t stop till you get enough.
Men at Work’s “Who can it be now?”
Heard: Oooh, killer bee now. (which works really well with the opening lyrics “Oooh, killer bee knocking at my door - go way, don’t come 'round here no more”)
Donna Summer’s “Hot stuff”
Real: I want some hot stuff, baby, this evening.
Heard: I want pasta, baby, this evening. (I still sing this when I’m cooking pasta, btw.)
Plus a heap more that are variations on what’s already been put in here.
Today I heard Def Leppard’s “Too Late for Love” for the first time. What a dumb-ass song, by the way. Anyhoo the first couple of times through the chorus, if you’d asked me I would have sworn he was singing “It’s KOOL-AID! KOOL-AID! KOOL-AID! KOOL-AID FOR LOVE!”
When I was a kid… Why do my posts always start that way? Anyway, when I was a kid I thought the guy who was singing I Believe In Miracles was singing ‘I believe in Milk-Os’, which I think I assumed was some sort of breakfast cereal.
Ha, Johnny! That reminds me of another - my friend Heather thought Joe Jackson was singing:
“Breakfast! Where the hell is breakfast?”
instead of:
“Memphis - where the hell is Memphis?”
Many late, late nights that ended in 24-hour restaurants found us singing Heather’s version.