# YOUR misheard lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 6, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166 "2015-08-06T16:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/381 "2021-11-24T01:49:05Z")
I’ve had “Get Back” going through my head because Disney + is promoting a feature on The Beatles so I keep hearing it. This made me think about the lyrics and whether they were transphobic, so I looked them up in order to read them carefully and think about what they mean. I am gobsmacked that the lyrics are not “Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a woman, but he was another man.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/382 "2021-12-04T23:03:32Z")
Run Away - Slade Lyric: ‘If you got it soft, don’t beat around the bush.’ Heard: ‘If you gotta crush, don’t be an octopus.’ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/383 "2021-12-04T23:30:28Z")
Correction: Run Runaway. Further correction (original post was from the ‘kiss this guy’ mondegreen site): # If you’ve gotta crush, don’t beat about the bush ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/384 "2021-12-06T19:27:43Z")
Africa, by Toto: Actual lyrics: As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti Heard: As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like an empress above the Serengeti My way is better. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/385 "2021-12-07T13:46:59Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Pearl Jam - _Rearviewmirror_- the first couple of times, I heard “pissed on my plate” as “pissed on my face” The correct lyric, of course, is “_fist_ on my plate”, I knew that when I made this typo. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/386 "2021-12-07T15:07:35Z")
38 Special Actual Just hold on loosely But don’t let go If you cling to tightly You’re gonna lose control Heard **Just hold on Lucy** But don’t let go If you cling to tightly You’re gonna lose control ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/387 "2021-12-07T15:30:43Z")
Sweet Ballroom Blitz. First time I heard it was out of a jukebox in a crowded, noisy bowling alley. Actual: It’s, it’s, a ballroom blitz I heard: it’s, it’s, a bottle of piss ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/388 "2021-12-07T18:18:17Z")
“Rocky Raccoon” Actual: _And her name was McGill_ Heard: _And her name was Moogy-ill_ “We Can Work it Out” Actual: the title Heard: _wicket, wicket out_ “Penny Lane” Actual: _There, beneath the blue, suburban skies_ Heard: _There, beneath the blue, so purple skies_ (ya know, being five or six, and everything) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/389 "2021-12-07T21:21:19Z")
A guy kept correcting me that the lyrics were bar room blitz. I had the satisfaction of him eating crow after him checking the facts. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/390 "2021-12-08T14:44:39Z")
In Weird Al’s “Tacky” (a spoof of “Happy”) I couldn’t understand why Al’s used Lincoln Bibles on display were tacky. Turned out to be “used liquor bottles”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/391 "2021-12-08T23:13:16Z")
I get Knocked down But I get up again Then everybody kicks me down ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/392 "2021-12-12T08:24:47Z")
Maybe not spot on for what the OP was looking for, as well as sort of gross, but I find deep resonance and life meaning when singing the lyric: _Livin’ it up at the Hotel California_. …to the tune of… [_If you get caught between the Moon and New York City_](https://youtu.be/qqGWOxu_H4I?t=117) …from Chris Cross’s _Arthur’s Theme_. You have to extend it to a “foooorrrrrr-n’ya” so it kinda fits. ETA: please take note of Chris’s really razor-sharp lip-syncing. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/393 "2021-12-12T22:12:51Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I am gobsmacked that the lyrics are not “Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a woman, but he was another man.” They _aren’t?!_ [Checks online lyric site] “Loretta Fart”??! “Frying pan”!?? I thought they got that shite out of their system with Walrus. Michael Stipe would be proud. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/394 "2021-12-12T22:41:50Z")
I am calling shenanigans on that one-just listened, and it’s definitely the former, Paul’s voice is crystal clear no Stipe level mumbling no reverb no being drowned out by a background instrument. As I said in one of these threads these lyric sites all copy from each other mindlessly, so I suspect some joker early on uploaded these gag lyrics somewhere and they all got copied. Unless someone can show me an official source (The Fabs weren’t generally in the habit of printing their lyrics on their albums) I call bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/395 "2021-12-12T22:47:34Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I am calling shenanigans on that one-just listened I have never heard the song with ‘Sweet Loretta Fart’ in it. Here’s a [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKJqecxswCA) of the song. The ‘Loretta Fart’ stanza sounds like the guys goofing off, and is spoken without accompaniment. ETA: I don’t know The Beatles well enough to identify who is speaking. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/396 "2021-12-12T23:08:25Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > am calling shenanigans on that one-just listened, and it’s definitely the former, Isn’t it actually " Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner, but he knew it couldn’t last"? When you listen knowing that those are the (supposedly) correct lyrics, it sounds plausible. If you Google “Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a woman, but he was another man” there are only 1800 hits. That seems unlikely if those were the accepted lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/397 "2021-12-13T00:03:43Z")
Actual: Undercover angel, midnight fantasy I heard: Undercover angel, midnight Tennessee ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/398 "2021-12-13T01:40:17Z")
That’s first snippet is the first stanza, not the second, the one under discussion. Mondegreen site [amiright.com](http://amiright.com) has it as the non bizarre version in any event. I’ve documented innumerable mondegreens of these sorts on all of the usual lyric sites, and this is just another example. Listen to it on phones and make up your own mind. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/399 "2021-12-13T01:50:39Z")
OK, I’m confused. What is the exact line you’re calling shenanigans on? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166/400 "2021-12-13T02:44:18Z")
Same! This thread has made me laugh and cheered me right up. I always heard All Those Parrot Eyes instead of Almost Paradise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166.md?page=21)