I thought it was “keep on, when the fun starts.”
Not me, personally, but a friend of mine insisted that Lipps Inc.‘s Funky Town was really “Country Time,” and another heard the Go-Gos’ Our Lips Are Sealed as “Olives or Seals.”
Ah, I just recalled the one I was thinking of earlier. “Bring Me a Higher Love” by Steve Winwood. I could have sworn he was singing “Ricky and Oliver.”
(I guess the name of the song was actually just “Higher Love.”)
The Who’s “Pinball Wizard”
Actual: “His disciples lead him in”
Heard: “He slides the nickel in”
Prince’s “1999”
Actual: “2000, zero, zero/Party’s over, oops, out of time”
Heard: “2000, zero, zero/My deodorant’s out of time”
Given that the song came out in 1983, my thought was “You got 16 years out of that deodorant. Why complain?”
Eagles, The Last Resort:
Heard: and jesus-people bought 'em
Lyrics*: and, jesus, people bought 'em
*According to a words and music book of Eagles tunes I saw.
For years and years and years, I thought the chorus to Van Halen’s Panama was “round and round,” not Panama (don’t ask why – I just did). Now, keep in mind I didn’t know what this song was titled or who sang it, so I couldn’t figure out the error that way. Over time this was just the ‘round and round’ song that I liked which occasionally popped up on the radio.
Now, there’s another song that does have ‘round and round’ in the chorus – Round and Round by Ratt. I don’t like this song, and as the Internet grew I discovered I could track down those mystery songs I liked by searching for snippets of lyrics. Sadly, since the only lyrics I could keep in my head was ‘round and round,’ my searches kept bringing up the Ratt song.
I didn’t figure out I was mishearing the lyrics until the movie Superbad came out. 
The one I still hear incorrectly is 'Til Tuesday’s Voices Carry. Instead of hearing “voices carry” I always hear “this is scary”. I think it’s because she pronounces the oi in voices like a short i sound rather than a oy sound. Even if I listen really hard, I hear visses carry rather than voices carry, with visses rhyming with kisses.
“I Love Rock 'n Roll” by Joan Jett:
Real lyric: “I saw him standing there by the record machine”
I heard: “I saw him standing there by the wrecking machine”
Same with Van Halen’s “Jump”:
Real lyric: “I got my back against the record machine”
I heard: “I got my back against the wrecking machine”
…I pictured them hanging around scrapyards.
Speaking of “Voices Carry”…
Actual: “Hush, hush, keep it down now, voices carry”
Heard: “Hush, hush, even downtown voices carry”
I never misheard “record machine” but I can understand why you would; what a stupid way to refer to a jukebox. To me it comes off like someone calling a tv “the talking box” or something.
Two more " :smack: " moments…
Until this very moment I thought it was “2000, zero, zero/party overloops, out of time.”
Just last night I learned that the chorus to Rob Zombie’s “Dragula” does, in fact, say “dragula” – not “jagged edge.”
And, apparently, per the thread on the song 2525, I have spent my life mis-hearing the lyrics:
Real: In the year 2525, if man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may find…
Heard: In the year 2525, if man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may FLY…
Oh, the things I learn on SDMB…
That’s exactly what I thought for a long time too.
My entry, Stevie Nicks - “Edge of 17”. I know there have been a few mondegreens for this line, but I haven’t read any that matched what I heard.
Actual lyrics:
Just like the white winged dove
What I heard
Just like the one we love
I heard:
Just like the one-winged dove…
Me too. I always pictured it flying in a circle.
You’re not alone; I thought the same thing until I “realized” it was “one winged dove”.
It’s called enunciation, Ms. Nicks; look into it.
I thought it was “wild winged dove” and pictured a white bird with racing flames on the wings.
I thought Hall & Oates were singing “Friday night I’m watching you” - it’s “Private eyes are watching you.”
When I was really little I couldn’t make out Elvis’s “I’m All Shook Up” - I thought he was saying a woman’s unique name, “Amoshica.” (Kind of a cool name, if you ask me.)
…“they’re all whistling”
lol, that would make no sense at all.
Huh. I thought it was ‘they may thrive’, because it rhymes with twenty-five, alive, and survive.