• eva
  • eva
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  • From: germany
  • Registered: 2007-03-15
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Topic: The misheard lyrics thread

Hey everybody,

Just wanted to share a funny story with you:
You all know that english isn´t my mother tongue and so I sometimes hear funny stuff when I try to figure out the lyrics of a song - so I wrote a mail to Roy yesterday about an Albert Cummings Song (called "Come up for air"), because I just didn´t get one line.
It´s the line before "I wish I had more free time to spend...." and then I couldn´t figure out the one before - so I asked Roy if Albert sings something about burning a cadillac........
You know what the original line was?! "I burn the candle at both ends" - not "I´d burn the cadillac"! lol
I just couldn´t stop laughing ...

Another lyric-misunderstanding was "Colour and Shape" - I always understood "Seven years (!) and I still brake away" instead of "Seven days and I still pray for rain" ...

Please tell me that this happens to you too from time to time .... smile

Eva

2 Reply by MontiusWinston (edited by MontiusWinston 2008-02-13 06:00:14)

  • From: Kansas
  • Registered: 2007-10-12
  • Posts: 375

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

eva wrote:

Hey everybody,

Just wanted to share a funny story with you:
You all know that english isn´t my mother tongue and so I sometimes hear funny stuff when I try to figure out the lyrics of a song - so I wrote a mail to Roy yesterday about an Albert Cummings Song (called "Come up for air"), because I just didn´t get one line.
It´s the line before "I wish I had more free time to spend...." and then I couldn´t figure out the one before - so I asked Roy if Albert sings something about burning a cadillac........
You know what the original line was?! "I burn the candle at both ends" - not "I´d burn the cadillac"! lol
I just couldn´t stop laughing ...

Another lyric-misunderstanding was "Colour and Shape" - I always understood "Seven years (!) and I still brake away" instead of "Seven days and I still pray for rain" ...

Please tell me that this happens to you too from time to time .... smile

Eva

Happens all the time.

Some of my favorite misheard lyrics are:

Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising
Real: "There is a bad moon on the rise"
Not Real:  "There is a bathroom on the right."
Not Real:  "There's a fat man on your wife"

Real:  "Looks like we're in for nasty weather"
Not Real:  "Looks like we're in for mashed potatoes"

Manfred Mann's Earth Band's Blinded by the Light
Real: "Revved up like a deuce
          Another runner in the night"
Not Real:  "Wrapped up like a douche
                Another boner in the night"
Not Real:  "Dressed up like a dude
                another stoner in the night."

Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love
Real:  "Might as well face it you're addicted to love"
Not Real:  "Might as well face it you're a d!ck with a glove"

So many more....

Well, the night I was born
Lord I swear the moon turned a fire red
  • Registered: 2006-12-28
  • Posts: 3,742

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

Eva... you know the only thing worse?...singing the wrong lyrics...I'd mention this one song, but I'm too embarassed...my wife corrected me a couple of years back...I'd sing my arse off when ever I heard it....and she knew the whole time that I was butchering the song ...lol

Dave

  • From: Deep in the forest
  • Registered: 2007-02-11
  • Posts: 5,296

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

You all are too funny..Roy, What a mind! Eva..I don't know how you translate as much as you do and as well as you do! When I was little and would sing the National Anthem, I thought the last line "and the home of the brave" was "and the home of God's grave"..Guess I thought we were that great! lol Never thought about God being dead!   Cathy

  • susan
  • susan
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  • From: Lake Mary, FL/USA
  • Registered: 2006-11-08
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Re: The misheard lyrics thread

That happened to me with 'Burnin Hell' the first time I heard it, which was the first time I saw Joe.  And, of course he was trying to get everyone to sing along.  I thought he was saying 'Ain't no way I'm gonna burn in hell', instead of 'Ain't no hell but a burning hell'.  Glad everyone was yelling louder than I was.  lol

You see, it happens to all of us.

Susan  smile

"Listen to the melody cause my love is in there hiding"
  • From: Edgewater, FL
  • Registered: 2007-12-08
  • Posts: 5,046

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

I always wondered who Richard Sands was.

...one nation, for which it stands...

youknow
Jeff

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

bigjeffjones's Website

  • From: Deep in the forest
  • Registered: 2007-02-11
  • Posts: 5,296

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

LMAO!!!!!     Cathy

  • gsj
  • gsj
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  • From: North Essex, England
  • Registered: 2006-09-21
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Re: The misheard lyrics thread

A friend was on holiday in Portugal and heard a duo singing that old Simon & Garfunkel favourite "Hello Douglas my old friend, it's good to talk with you again." On a slightly different note (band names) I've been told of a function band called Earth Wind & For-Hire.

never give up, never slow down
never grow old, never ever die young
  • From: Benicia, Ca.
  • Registered: 2006-05-08
  • Posts: 5,828

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

I always wondered who Jose was and what was he trying to see, you know in the first line of the National Anthem. Eva, I almost bought a book years ago in a book store in Seattle titled Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy Or What The Hell Are They Saying?  It was an entire book on lyrics nobody could understand.

                                                                                         Whatchutalkinabout,

                                                                                         J Dawg

What is success? Is it do yo' own thang, or is it to join the rest?   -Allen Toussaint
  • From: Frederick County, MD
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 857

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

Always amusing:

http://www.kissthisguy.com/

I bought the aforesaid book and it's sequel, whose name escapes me at the moment.  Funny stuff.

I am sure I butcher many lyrics and am often amazed when I find out what they really are....closed captioning on MTV is fascinating.

CarljMD

Takers get the honey, givers sing the blues

11 Reply by eva

  • eva
  • eva
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Re: The misheard lyrics thread

Man, I can tell you - I´m very happy that this happens to you too!

These National Anthem stories are the best - Jose, Richard Sands, the Home of the brave, God is dead  .... lol
And Montius - I let some of my friends read this thread and we had so much fun reading it (especially "Might as well face it..."), we were nearly lying on the ground laughing!

Hey Shred, you need to tell us the song! Pleeeaaase smile !

I´d burn the Cadillac!

Eva

P.S.: Roy, my dear - the original lyrics of "Burning Hell" ARE in fact "Ain´t no heaven or burning hell" ! At least in the version of John Lee Hooker.
I had a discussion about this with Michael Lynch, too. You can definitely hear both versions .... I guess I´ll have to ask Joe, if I manage to see him in March.

  • From: Kansas
  • Registered: 2007-10-12
  • Posts: 375

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

eva wrote:

Man, I can tell you - I´m very happy that this happens to you too!

These National Anthem stories are the best - Jose, Richard Sands, the Home of the brave, God is dead  .... lol
And Montius - I let some of my friends read this thread and we had so much fun reading it (especially "Might as well face it..."), we were nearly lying on the ground laughing!

Hey Shred, you need to tell us the song! Pleeeaaase smile !

I´d burn the Cadillac!

Eva

P.S.: Roy, my dear - the original lyrics of "Burning Hell" ARE in fact "Ain´t no heaven or burning hell" ! At least in the version of John Lee Hooker.
I had a discussion about this with Michael Lynch, too. You can definitely hear both versions .... I guess I´ll have to ask Joe, if I manage to see him in March.

I've got some more.  I'll type them up when I get some time.

Well, the night I was born
Lord I swear the moon turned a fire red
  • From: Central PA, USA
  • Registered: 2007-11-18
  • Posts: 1,037

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

Last year one of my fellow Machine fans (and actually the same guy who turned me onto JB) discovered through posting on their forum that he was misunderstanding a lyric from the Roger Waters song "What God Wants pt 1"... the line is "God wants chain stores" (yeah, I know, THAT sounds like the misunderstood version, but it's not, lol) and he always thought is was "God wants chainsaws"... lol... he still calls the song "God Wants Chainsaws" as a running joke... cracks me up every time. lol

--Vik cool

  • From: Indianola, IA
  • Registered: 2006-07-26
  • Posts: 4,429

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

So you're telling me that The Pledge of Allegiance doesn't have this line in it??????

"With Liverty and Justice For All."   (That's for all you liver fans out there....eeeewwwww)
                                                   lol  pattyluvsjoe

"I'm not nice to any guitar!"      lol
                 Joe Bonamassa 05-03-12

JBLP CHILD #184
  • From: Kansas
  • Registered: 2007-10-12
  • Posts: 375

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

pattyluvsjoe wrote:

So you're telling me that The Pledge of Allegiance doesn't have this line in it??????

"With Liverty and Justice For All."   (That's for all you liver fans out there....eeeewwwww)
                                                   lol  pattyluvsjoe

Liver is yummy, especially with a nice mushroom gravy.....*drool*

Well, the night I was born
Lord I swear the moon turned a fire red
  • From: BEAVER PA
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 179

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

YEAH BLUESMAN,  John Lee Hooker sings "Gonna shoot ya right down,right off your feet,take ya home with me,put ya in my house BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM / HOWL HOWL HOWL HOWL.  That is where ZZ TOP got that  "HOWL HOWL HOWL HOWL" in the song La GRANGE from.

Tell me about the car i saw parked outside your door ? Tell me what you left me waiting two or three hours for ? Tell me why when the phone rings, baby, your up and across the floor ? Please dont keep me wondering no more.....
  • From: Central PA, USA
  • Registered: 2007-11-18
  • Posts: 1,037

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

I was about 12 or 13 when the AC/DC song Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was released.  At the time there was a teenage girl living across the road from me named Dawn Derr.  When she first heard the song, she thought they were saying "dirty deeds, Dawn Derr's cheap"... hahahaha... and to this day I can't hear that song without thinking THOSE lyrics in my head! lol

--Vik cool

  • From: Central PA, USA
  • Registered: 2007-11-18
  • Posts: 1,037

Re: The misheard lyrics thread

Jane H. wrote:

my sister's ex boyfriend thought Crack the Sky was singing 'hot raisins in my heart' instead of hot razors in my heart

CRACK THE SKY!!!  OMG, somebody's heard of them!  I have actively sought out other people who've heard of them with no luck, til now.  I went to college in Hagerstown MD from '86-'88, and I often listened to a classic rock station from out of Baltimore (forget the name) who used to play them, especially in the middle of the night.  It's not like they were the greatest band in the world by any means, but there was just something so bizarre and fun about their music, I couldn't help but like some of it.  I still have an old homemade cassette tape of 2 of their albums I recorded off a friend, and I actually got it out and listened to it last year.  I did some online research too and found out the band is still around after all these years, although they've gone through a lot changes in their line-up I believe.  Anyway, I don't mean to get off-topic, but I just had to interject that.  I'm just excited to find someone else who has heard of them! smile

--Vik cool