We've all got a story about misheard lyrics, be it "Outside the club throwing cherry bombs," or "there's a bathroom on the right." My most recent one is the song Scar Tissue. At work myself and several other liner note deprived souls debated whether the chorus was "The bird in the shed is alone with you" or "The bird we shared is lonely for you. (I felt the second made some sense ["Baby, the bird is lonely, please come back."]) The real lyrics are "We're birds that shared this lonely view."

Take That had a song whose chorus began "All I do each night is pray," with its third line as "All I do each night is think" but when I first heard it I would have sworn it went "All I do is shine and spray ... All I do is shine his thing."

Similarly, East 17's song "Stay Now" had a chorus which began "Baby, if you've got to go away ..." but I was convinced that it went, "Baby, you forgot to go away ..."!

When I saw Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl, an early scene had 4 of the guys come out & sing and I thought they sang "Cinema Days When We Were Young And Lovely". I later found out that the actual song wasn't so sweet & innocent. (And I'm not sure if I can post the correct lyrics here.)

Callie, "Baby, you forgot to go away ..." sounds like a great start to an anti-love song.

Baby, you forgot to go away
I wish you wouldn't stay
Taaaaaaaake a hike
Taaaaaaaake a hike...

Anyone want to continue it?

Cinema Days!!!! Oh man, I can imagine your face when you found out what they really sang!

We could merge the "You forgot to go away" song with the rather old but genuine song called "How can I miss you if you won't go away?"!

A few years ago on Comedy Central, a sketch comedy show ('The Vacant Lot,' I think) had four characters debating just what the HECK the line in Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light" is. ("Ripped up like a douche?" "I saw the lyric sheet." "Well, it was the WRONG lyric sheet!") Anyone else see this?
And, by the way, just what IS that line?

I've always been told the so-called correct lyrics had it "Wrapped up like a deuce", but that ISN'T what they sing ... musta had a speech impediment that day ...

The correct lyrics (I have Springsteen's "Greetings from Asbury Park" -- lyrics on the liner) are "Cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night".

Sorry Scott, but it's "revved up like a Deuce, another runner in the night".
The Deuce that the song is referring to is a '32 Ford. A very popular car to hot rod.

Sorry, I need to clarify my previous post. You're correct as to what Springsteen wrote. What I wrote above is what Manfred Mann actually sings on their version of the song.

I need to get my brain back ahead of my fingers.

That can be a new topic: "Mistyped Lyrics"

For years, whenever I heard Seals & Crofts' very pretty Summer Breeze, I would get to the line about (I thought) Blowin' through the chasm in my mind... and just go "Whoa....I will never understand the seventies!"

I was so very relieved to discover the line is actually Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind...

Good one Blitz! LOL

"Magic" by Pilot. My little sister thought the first words were "Ho, ho, ho, it's my d***". OK, so she had a dirty mind. She was a teenager or a pre-teen at the time.

For those who don't remember really bad '70s songs, the lyrics are "Ho, ho, ho, it's magic".

There are several for me. But perhaps the classic mondegreen was thinking that Robert Plant, in "Stairway to Heaven" was singing "And there's a whino down the road", when in reality he was singing "And as we wind on down the road." Thankfully, that mondegreen is listed in Gavin Edward's book, 'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy, so I don't feel so badly about it. I mean, unlike the others who misheard the verse, I didn't think the next line was "I should've bought more Oreos."

A friend of mine told me that a friend of hers though that "Bootylicious" went "I don't think you're ready for spaghetti". That's bad enough as it is, but then he sang it at the top of his lungs to a room full of classmates before being educated on how it really goes. (Aaahh, junior high...)

There's an entire site dedicated to this:

Brain Candy under "Mondegreens"

I know a few, but I'm in a hurry right now...

Stairway to Heavan

and if you listen very hard
the Jew will bother you a lot.

I know someone t work who to "gotta keep 'em separated" (Is that the title?) sings "gotta eat them mashed potatas"

I won't comment on the person who thought Tied to the Whipping Post had the line, "Lord I feel like I'm Diane."

"You gotta keep 'em separated" is from The Offspring's song, "Come Out and Play".

I know some people who thought Sheryl Crow was singing "All I wanna do is Hooked n Phonics." Personally, I thought it was, "All I wanna do is hurt somebody."

Benn, you're kidding, right? (If they misheard the lyrics THAT badly, I hope their kids aren't on the phonics program...it wouldn't do much good if the kids hear as badly as they do!)
BTW, did you wanna hurt the dj's for overplaying that song so much?

Regrettably Craig, I'm not joking. They really did think that.

And yeah, after hearing the song for the 20th time in one day, I really did have to fight the impulse to hurt a few DJs.

Here's another line I've misheard. Actually, even though I know the real lyric, I still mishear it. In the song "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, there's a line that goes, "How my poor heart aches." I swear to whatever god there is, I still hear Sting singing, "I'm a pool hall ace."

To this day, if I hear The Raspberries "Go All The Way", I still think the chorus starts out "Please go away..."

Here's another one: I remember the DJs on the radio joking about it. In the song, "Zero" by The Smashing Pumpkins, there's the line, "I'm in love with my sadness." As the DJs have pointed out, it sounds like Billy Corgan is singing, "I'm in love with Bob Saget." Makes you wonder about Corgan.

n.p. - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpkins

Here's another line I've misheard. Actually, even though I know the real lyric, I still mishear it. In the song "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, there's a line that goes, "How my poor heart aches." I swear to whatever god there is, I still hear Sting singing, "I'm a pool hall ace."

That's exactly what I hear, too! I remember checking the lyrics once, but I never managed to exorcise "pool hall ace" from my mind, either. I think it's a lost cause.

A few years ago on Comedy Central, a sketch comedy show ('The Vacant Lot,' I think) had four characters debating just what the HECK the line in Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light" is. ("Ripped up like a douche?" "I saw the lyric sheet." "Well, it was the WRONG lyric sheet!") Anyone else see this?
And, by the way, just what IS that line?

I wish I had seen this skit, because I could never hear that line as anything but "wrapped up like a douche." It makes at least as much sense as "revved up like a deuce." There's a whole page for misheard lyrics to this song, by the way.

Until fairly recently, I thought Eric Clapton sang a song titled "Captain Midnight." (Better known to everybody else in the world as "After Midnight.")

How about "Way Down South" instead of "Lay Down Sally?" Hey, I had a really cruddy radio as a kid, and never paid much attention to song lyrics; if a song sounded good, then I'd worry about what it was saying.

I had a pretty decent radio as a kid, but I heard "Way Down South," too. I guess I had lousy ears. Or maybe Eric Clapton needs a speech therapist.

Then, of course, there's Shocking Blue's "Venus",
which at various times (even now), I've heard in different ways...

• I'm your fetus
• I'm your phoenix
• I'm your p*n*s

Of course, I have to mention the Elton John classic:

Hold me closer, Tony Danza. ("Tiny Dancer")

And I always have trouble with the COPS theme. It sounds like:

Bad boys, bad boys.
Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Nobody gonna get you no chicken...

Many people mistakenly believe Neil Young's line "in the 1970's" from "After The Gold Rush" to be "in the nineteen-seventeen." When Prelude did their a capella cover version, they even sang it that way!

This isn't an actual misheard lyric, but every time I hear Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison, I ALWAYS mentally put in "Oh, pudgy woman ... walkin' down the street"

I had a friend in Jr. High who claimed he thought that Mary MacGregor was singing, "Born between two lovers" instead of "Torn between two lovers." I suspect Danny was joking, however.

On the other hand, let's be honest, how many of you, when you heard Kenny Rogers' "Lucille", thought he sang, "You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille/Four hundred children..." Talk about prolific! He's even got tribbles beat! I know I'm not the only one who heard it tha way. I had friends in Jr. High (again) who heard it that way. The actual lines are "You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille/Four hungry children..."

I ruined one song for a friend of mine. The Alarm's biggest hit was "Sold Me Down the River". As a goof, I was singing it (very badly at that) as "I don't know why/I don't understand/Why you sold me rotten liver". Poor Lisa. She wound up hearing that as the actual lyrics for the song. "I'm a baaad boy."

There's a Dixie Chicks song where the line is "She knows a higher state" or something like that. In an interview it was mentioned that some people hear it as "She knows Ohio stinks", which is what I now hear when that song plays.

I was changing channels a while back & came across some show where a country singer was talking about one of her songs where the line is "love me like a lover" & she mentioned hearing a woman request that song on a radio station, but the caller described it as "love me like your brother". Sorry I don't remember the name of the singer & song.

Derf, almost everyone has heard it that way. The only reason I knew better was because I had the Discovery album when it first came out (waaay back in '79). The sad thing is, despite being a major ELO fan, when I first heard the song, I did not recognize it as them. It was the Electric Light Orchestra's first hit that did not feature a string section.

This misheard lyric is only due to a websearch telling me this IS the actual lyric ...

The ELO song Don't Bring Me Down contains the chorus ...
Don't bring me down, grroosss

But I SWEAR everytime the song is aired, I hear ...
Don't bring me down, Bruce ...

Uh, you know I thought my post came after yours Derf; in response your post. Now I'm either confused or a time traveller.

n.p. - ...nothing like the sun - Sting

I tried to erase the "Derf6217" from my post and wound up with a post AFTER your response ... (I need more administrative practice)

[the "Derf6217" came from another website I logged into ... drat!!]

NOW I'm posted as "d" ... (I give up .. g'night folks)

Say "Goodnight", Gracie.

Goodnight, Gracie.

{whalesong}

Re: Don't Bring Me Down lyric.

I always thought they were singing "Don't bring me down, Proust"
I probably had been watching a summarize Proust competition shortly before. :-)

I used to think Neil Young sang, in "Ohio," "This samurai hear the drumming."

The tune Let's Live For Today by The Grass Roots contains the line "Gimme some-a lovin'" but it always sounds to me like they sing "Gimme summer lovin'" ... either way, it sounds like fun!!

Up untill a few months abog, when the book to The London Years' box set set me straight, I thought that the chorus to The Rolling Stones' "Get Off Of My Cloud" ended "Don't hang around/fall to the ground". Turns out, it's "Don't hang around/ 'cause two's a crowd".

Shakira’s single “Whenever Wherever” is high in the British charts at the moment but the only thing I was really aware of was that I couldn’t make out many of the lyrics.

One of the local radio stations in London had a phonecall last week from a listener who thinks that the second line of the second verse is:

“Thank you for my breasts so small and humble,
So you don’t confuse them with mountains.”

It certainly sounds like just like it, too, but I have NO idea what the real words are!

Actually you're not that far off, Callie. The actual lyrics go:

Lucky that my breasts are small and humble
So you don't confuse them with mountains

Of course, I can't speak for the spanish version. :-)

I love this song, BTW.

Oh whoops, so it's not really a misheard lyric at all, then. Sorry!

It's still one very weird line though...

The mondegreen in the "Scuse Me" book lists the song "Guantanamera" as being misheard as "one-ton tomato" ... but I always hear it as "one-ton of Malox".

Derf, I thought the lyrics were "There's only one David Beckham" [you mean "there's only one metatarsal"? - everybody]

Try listening to that Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers song without thinking: "Highlands industry, that is what we are..."

Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has had many interpretations as to how the chorus goes... "I feed two pigs in containers" indeed!

And of course The Clash getting all anti-everyone with their raucous "F**k the Gas Board"...

Near,
Far,
Wherever you are,
I believe that the hot-dogs go on.....

Micheal Jackson's Remember The Time ...
I've always heard
Do you remember the time
Weebles fell in love?
when more-than-likely the correct lyrics are
Do you remember the time
We both fell in love?

I like the misheard version better ... what cuter song IS there than thinking of Weeble love?

(I suppose I could just as easily hear We bulls fell in love, but bovine romance is not something I want to hear musically expressed.)

Similarly, when Jackson sang:
Annie are you OK, are you OK, are you OK Annie?
I heard:
Annie are you wonky, are you wonky, are you wonky Annie?

My favorite is the child who thought that up in Heaven there was a teddy bear called 'Gladly' who had something wrong with his eyes. When she went to church they sang:
Gladly the cross-eyed bear

Years ago a lady wrote to a TV show requesting the song 9-stone Cowboy (Rhinestone Cowboy)

In Stevie Wonder's 'I Aint Gonna Stand for It' I always wonder why he sings I aint gonna stand for Dave.

Nilsson's "Without You" has in my mind been forever spoiled by the following misheard lyric [shurely you mean "by the Mariah Carey cover"? - everyone]:

"No I can't forget the ceiling or your face as you were leaving..."


And no, I won't even go into the more explicit misheard lyric using the same line. (I'll just quietly leave now...)

This may be apocryphal, but I've heard that after "Wayne's World" came out, radio stations got calls from kids wanting them to play "Bohemian Rap City".

When I was younger (so much younger than today) I honestly thought Sting's "Fields of Gold" began thus:

You remember me, with the wrestling moves
Upon the fields of bodies...

Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) ...
I've always heard No dog star has'em in the classroom, but the correct lyrics is no dark sarcasm in the classroom.

Old chestnuts:

Police: So lonely, so lonely heard as Sue Lawley, Sue Lawley (British TV newsreader)

Bonnie Tyler: It's a heartache heard as It's a hard egg

Some Sister Sledge misheard lyrics:

"We Are Family":
We're giving love in a family dose
misheard as We're giving love in a Femidom

"He's the Greatest Dancer"
One night in a disco on the outskirts of Frisco
misheard as One night in a disco on the outskirts of Bristol

And one more....

Blur - "Song 2"
Pleased to meet you! misheard as Please serve me jam!

Dodgy - "Good Enough"
Don't take your eyes from the prize
misheard as Don't take your @r$e off the grass

Oh, Sven!! *bursts into tears* My song!! Ohh....

None of mine come to mind at the moment...


BTW, please come visit me!

I just recently put up pictures of myself with my boyfriend. No, I will not link you to there; I want people to look around my site.

*personal site whoring at its best, folks!)

"Respect" - Aretha Franklin.

Most people hear this:

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take out T-C-P".

but according to eLyrics (don't go there, you get 1000 pop-ups), it's

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take Care, T-C-B".

CC, sorry about the lyric - it had to be mentioned though, but anyway, erm... like the pictures, er... oh dear...

From Steve Miller Band's "The Joker"
Some people call me Maurice
misheard as Some people call me MAUREEN

From Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" (aka the "I Want My MTV" song), there is a lyric something like:

"You've got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchens..."

which I always heard as:

"You've got your Flintstone microwave ovens..."

Tom Petty singing "I was born to rebel" can easily be heard as "I was Barney Rubble."

John Mellencamp sings "Never wanted to be no Pop Singer, never wanted to write no Pop songs" but I sometimes hear "Never wanted to be no Bob Seger, never wanted to write no Bob songs."

And is it just me or is every single line in Elton John's "Levon" open to mishearing?

Sir Rhosis

Bohemian Rhapsody: I used to mishear "Will you do the fandango?" as "Will you do the band and go?"

Rhinestone cowboy: I hear "offers coming over the phone" as "awful's coming over the phone"

Hot Chocolate: "I believe is Miracles". I always heard "I believe in Malco." Never knew who Malco was...

ScottN: Most people hear this: "R-E-S-P-E-C-T"
What I hear is "R-E-S-P-C-T" ;-)

Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" begins:
Looking in your eyes I see a paradise

but I misheard it initially as:
Looking in your eyes I see a pair of thighs

Similarly, I thought Charles & Eddie's "Would I Lie To You" had a chorus that went:
Look into my thighs, can't you see they're open wide
Would I lie to you baby, would I lie to you?

Metallica, "Of Wolf and Man"

I heard:
Shame, shame..

Real lyrics:
Shape-shift..

Ever since I first heard this song (WAY back in the late '60's), Fun, Fun, Fun by the Beach Boys, I've ALWAYS heard ...

And she'll have fun, fun, fun
'Til her daddy takes the teether away

instead of the correct takes the t-bird away ...
I dunno why, I just hear it that way.
I suppose she's 18 months old and just teethed her incisors, so she celebrates by taking daddy's car out for a spin ... ?

'Til daddy takes the T-bag away?

Seal
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
misheard as
I've been kissed by a rose on the grave

Me too!

For me that one goes under the heading of "I still like my lyrics better anyway..."

From the Dobie Grey song "Drift Away"...

original: "Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul..."

heard as: "Give me the Beach Boys, and free my soul..."

Not that anyone has anything against the Beach Boys but I doubt that's what they had in mind here.

I've got an old lyric misheard by ME for humpty-bazillion years ...
(from Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - song "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II")
correct lyric: No dark sarcasm in the classroom
is ALWAYS misheard by me when I hear it as ...
Misheard Lyric: No dog star has 'em in the classroom ...

The chorus to The Kinks' "You've Really Got Me" always sounds to me like they're saying, "You've really got math."

"How Do You Do" from Walt Disney's "Song of the South has a chorus that goes something like:

How do you do?
Mighty pleasant meetin'
How do you do?
Say it when you're greetin'
How do you do?
With ev'ryone repeatin'
Pretty good, shore as you're born.

But the final line really sounds like:

Pretty good, so is your mom.
or
Pretty good, show us your bum.

Listen for it next time you ride Splash Mountain at a Disney theme park.

The lyrics I remember is:

How do you do?
Fine, how are you?
How you come on?
Pretty good, sho as yo' born

The weather's good
The fishins fine
Now what'ya do with all yo' time?
OOOOOoohhh ...
I zigs, I zags
I toos and I fro's
Dat's whatcha acts me
Dats whatcha knows

The first and only time I heard the song "Amnesia" (I think that's the title, and of course I only heard it once, so don't ask me who sang it), I misheard the line "Do you suffer from long term memory loss?" as "Do you suffer from long term mammary lust?" Fortunately, the line repeated a few times so I could pay attention (boy, did I pay attention) and hear it correctly.

Craig: of course I only heard it once, so don't ask me who sang it

"Amnesia", a lament against the then new Blairite government and its Cool Britannia image, was by British group Chumbawamba, more famous for their ode to pub nights out "Tubthumping". One of their band famously poured a champagne ice-bucket over deputy PM John Prescott at the 1998 Brit Awards.

So, does that make them a "two-hit wonder?" (At least in the US, where they seem to have vanished.)

They seem to have vanished over here too.

A commercial for some oldies radio station has people singing wrong (misheard?) lyrics to oldies. One guy singing to, I believe, Sugar Pie Honey, sings "Sugar-fried honey butts". Butts? Wouldn't buns sound more similar?

Maxell tapes ran a similar ad campaign over 10 years ago whereby a man was showing a series of placards with misheard lyrics to the song being played in the background. The two adverts I remembered used Desmond Dekker's "Israelites" and The Skids's "Into The Valley".

A lyric I missheard which my Mum claims is better,
From Elton John's Passengers:

We Blame It On The Ritz & The Wallaby Bong

Whish should be "We Deny the passengers that want to get off."

Some others of mine include:

Shania Twain - You're Still The One:
Just Look At That Scolded Gnome

REM - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight:
Zoe Wannamaker

The Police - So Lonely:
Sue Lawley

Sister Sledge - Lost In Music:
We're Roxy Music, they call us a tramp

I can't tell in the first line of Michael Jackson's Bad is "You're good as mine" or "Your butt is mine". Garry Numan seems to sing "I hate Your Arse" when it should be "I hate to ask" in Are Friends Electric?

The Locomotion seems to have the line "Every night at Soeul" but it's "A lot of Soul". I think having Kylie's version out in the same year as the Olympics in South Korea didn't help.

Yet another: I'm not talking 'bout Bulimia. (sp)
Actual lyric: I'm not talking 'bout moving in.
(John Ford Collie "Really Love to See You Tonight")

Funny, I heard that song earlier today. And I always thought the lyric was "I'm not talkin' about millenium." Still sounds that way to me. By the way, the act that recorded the song was England Dan and John Ford Coley. The song's full title is "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight." Just thought you'd like to know.

With apologies to Brian Webber...
Some misheard lyrics from Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise":

Death row. What a brother knows.
misheard as "Death Row, water buffalo"

and

'Cause a brother like me said "Well...
misheard as "'Cause a brother like me, Fay Weldon"

And another one from "Bring The Noise":

Black is back, all in, we're gonna win
misheard as "Black is back, all England gotta win"

Heard a Cher song that when it first started getting airplay I thought the line was, "Do you believe in love after love?" Which I thought referred to falling in love with someone, then later falling out of love, than falling back in love.
Not sure of the right line. I think it's "life after love" or something.

From "Woodstock," by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

we are stardust, we are part of the devil's bargain
misheard as "we are stardust, we are caught in the devil's parlor"

I did think it was: We are soldiers, we are golden, & we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Here are the official lyrics to "Woodstock": "We are stardust, we are golden
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden."

(Taken from http://www.alpha.nl/CSN/lyrics/dejavulyrics.html)

Problem, Benn, those lyrics aren't anywhere near complete. For each chorus bit, that page says there's only

"We are stardust, we are golden
and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden"

Unfortunately, there's clearly a line in between golden and garden.

Oookay. I haven't heard this song in years. (And haven't particularly missed it either. It's great the first one hundred times one hears it. After that...) However, since the website I checked did not have the complete chorus lyric, I've checked with www.letssingit.com They claim the full chorus is

"We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden."

On the other hand, I went to www.jonimitchell.com (Why? 'Cos she wrote the song, that's why.) The lyrics located there (http://www.jonimitchell.com/Ladies70LyricsHome.html) omit the missing line, you speak of, Sparrow.

My memory of the song (faulty and admittedly out of date) does not include the missing line "We are billion year old carbon." I don't have "Woodstock" in my music... Waitaminute. Maybe I do. Hold on.

Hey. Have patience. I've lot of lot of tapes to go through. And surprisingly (given how anal I can get about these things) they're not in order.

Nope. Not there. A former friend of mine (Rik Nichols; so the RIAA will know who to prosecute. ) had given me a bunch of tapes he had made over the years. Here is one with C,S,N & Y on it. "Woodstock" isn't one of the tracks on it, though. Hmm. Rik always did have strange tastes. I'll keep looking.

Nope. Sorry it took so long. I really don't have "Woodstock" in my collection. The only other C,S,N & Y I have in my collection is '89's American Dream. (Love that song, "Got It Made".)

I guess I could listen to a Classic Rock station 'til they play it. But I'm not feeling particularly masochistic right now.

That's the best I can do for now, folks.

n.p. - Enchanted - Stevie Nicks

Okay, well, the CSN(Y) version is squarely entrenched in my MP3 collection, so...

Here're the missing lines as I hear them.

"we are billion year old carbon"

"we are billion year old carbon"

"we are... uh... something..." (couldn't make this line out)

"we are part of the devil's bargain"

Weird. That doesn't seem familiar at all. Know where I can download it? Just to hear for myself. Settle down Mr. RIAA! Yeesh. Research purposes, y'know? That's permissable isn't it?

n.p. - King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller

Settle down Mr. RIAA! Yeesh. Research purposes, y'know? That's permissable isn't it?

You can't even listen to a song in your head without paying us. Stop that! Now!

Oh, and the head of the RIAA is a woman.

I can probably e-mail you my version if you like.

Sure. That'd be fine. Just click on my username for my email address.

As for you, Mrs. RIAA, well, now I know why I'm so flamin' broke. I get too many songs running through my head in a day.

And remember, Ma'am, this is only for research purposes. Surely you won't begrudge a man doing research would you? Yeah, I guess you would at that.

still playing - King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller

Yee-haw. Look for an e-mail with "Woodstock" prominently featured in the subject line.

Thanks Sparrow. I'll keep an eye out for it.

n.p. - Peel Slowly and See - The Velvet Underground

Well, bad news- the message got bounced back as being to big for your inbox. See "Sqaure One, Back to"

Okay. Let's try this alternate address: benallen@one-eleven.net

Done! Better luck this time 'round...

Got it, Sparrow. I'm in the process of downloading right now. (That's one big file!)

This also marks the third song in the past two days I've downloaded. The others being Berlin's "Blink of an Eye" and "Baby It's Cold Outside" by Buck Dharma (of Blue Oyster Cult) and Sandy Roeser (Buck's wife). Just so Ms. RIAA will know, those downloads were provided by their respective acts, thankyouverymuch. (No theft involved. Nyahh!)

Okay, it just finished downloading and playing. While it played, I read the lyrics provided in the first link I gave. Except that it omits one line, the lyrics seem accurate. The chorus for the record is almost certainly

"We are stardust.
We are golden.
We are billion years of carbon.
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the Garden." (I capitalize "Garden" because I suspect Joni Mitchell was refering to the Garden of Eden in that line.)

Hopefully, that's settled. Finally! By the way, Sparrow, thanks for emailing it. It has been a long time since I've heard "Woodstock". Long enough that I could enjoy it again.

n.p. - Peel Slowly and See - The Velvet Underground. (Hey! It's a five disc set!)

Ah, but as I pointed out above, that line doesn't stay consitent throughout! I still can't figure what it's supposed to be the third time through.

I was thinking that perhaps the reason the lines aren't written in the lyrics anywhere is that because CSN(Y) came up with them, although it seems that might be reflected somewhere in the lyrics. At any rate I find it unlikely given that it'd be a slightly bigger change than they could get away with without some sort of notification.

Okay. I'm re-listening to the song. Hang on a few minutes. Third time the chorus repeats, right? I wanna be sure here.

I think you're right. It does sound as if C,S,N & Y sing "We are part of the Devil's bargain." The change may have been made to emphasize the third verse which speaks of bombers turning into butterflies (sounds like an acid trip if you ask me).

Lemme check something here.

Hmm. According to www.letssingit.com the line is "We are ten billion year old carbon." That only sounds half right. I can hear "ten". But I'm also hearing "Devil's bargain".

In all honesty, I think the best interpretation is "We are part of the Devil's bargain." At least until some further evidence or opinions arises.

Now here's something new... a misheard lyric from an Eminem song:

From "Without Me":

The actual lyrics are
cause nobody wants to see Marshall no more
but I misheard them as
but nobody wants to see my a*seh*le no more

Benn,

But I'm not feeling particularly masochistic right now.

You did not feel particularly masochistic then, how about now? (or next Tuesday?)

S.V.R.

I gotta print that up for an Eminem fan I know.

"The actual lyrics are
'cause nobody wants to see Marshall no more'
but I misheard them as
'but nobody wants to see my a*seh*le no more.'" -S.V.R.

S.V.R.?! Everytime I see that, I keep thinking Stevie Ray Vaughan has come back from the dead is for some strange reason posting on these boards. And is now dyslexic. Frankly it's starting to creep me out.

Anyway...

Is there really a difference between the actual lyric and what you heard? I mean, given that we're talking about Slim Shady here. Marshall. Assh*le. Let's call the whole thing off.

(Keep in mind, I have enjoyed the songs I've heard by Marshall Mathers. But his persona is beyond any doubt repellent.)

"You did not feel particularly masochistic then, how about now? (or next Tuesday?) - Blue Berry

Is that really any of your business? I'll keep my kinks to myself (and whatever woman I happen to be with), if you don't mind. :-p

(This is not, in any way, to say I am into S&M [unless you mean Sex and Music, then...]. And if I was into it, well I wouldn't be telling you kind folks. Y'all probably think I'm weird enough as is.)

One from the radio this morning:
Someone thought Santa's reindeer were called Rudolf and Olive. You know the song:

"Olive the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names"

And many years ago I heard of a class who were told to draw pictures of fireworks night. While most chilren drew pictures of fireworks, one boy drew a picture of some trees. When asked why by the teacher, he reminded her of the rhyme:

"Remember remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder trees on a plot"

(Hint for non-Brits: it's 'Gunpowder, treason and plot")

Do Brits celebrate Guy Fawkes Day because he failed to blow up Parliment, or because he tried? ;-)

Someone actually wrote a children's book called Olive, The Other Reindeer, and it was turned into a holiday cartoon 2 or 3 years ago. (It was okay, nothing special.)

I honestly thought that the following lyrics from the chorus of "Always Have, Always Will" by Ace of Base, which are supposed to go:

you know that I just wanna touch you
whenever you're close to me

instead went as:
you know that I just wanna f*** you
whenever you're close to me

And on a similar line, part of "The Tide Is High" by Blondie (a song recently put to the sword by Atomic Kitten) is supposed to go:

I'm not the kind of girl
Who gives up just like that

But in a "bout of disorientation" I had once misinterpreted them as:

I'm not the kind of girl
Who gives a f*** like that

In a similar vein for me, is Styx's "Lady". I swear, even to this day, I hear "F*** me/Here and love me." The line is actually "Sparkling, clear and lovely." Even though I know better, I still hear that way.

I really need to get my hearing checked.

Or something checked, anyway.

Are there any ladies out there who'd like to volunteer to do the checking?

Or were you referring to my mind, Craig?

Yes, Benn, I was referring to your mind! And if anyone checking out Benn's mind finds out where mine went, get back to me; I miss it and would like it to come back!

Oh, yeah, getting back on topic, I always liked Don Henley's "Drivin' with Your Eyes Closed," but could never figure out what he said after "Before The Death of Lovers and The Punishment of Pride". The closest my wacky mind came up with was "Let's go scrape off the tarantulas, it's just too hot outside."
Scrape off the tarantulas?! Guess I was thinking of that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy scrapes tarantulas off Sapito's back in the temple ruin the first time I heard this song, and the image stuck.
(By the way, looking it up for a change, the lyric sheet says the line is actually "Let's go scrape across the terrazzo, it's just too hot outside.")

And yes, I actually remembered the treacherous guide's name was Sapito. I am a warehouse of useless knowledge.

Sapito ... sounds like a moniker Moe would use for Curly in a south-of-the-border slapstick episode. (nyuk - nyuk - nyuk - [bonk!] Oooh!)

I used to think the line "Take me to the river, wash me down" was actually "watch me drown" - which puts the song in an entirely different context.

From "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers*

"under the bridge downtown/I could not get enough"

misheard as "under the bridge downtown/I could not get it up"

* this mishearing doesn't actually come from RHCP's version of the song because I don't know it. It actually comes from a cover done by an Oberlin acapella group, but I listed RHCP because they use the same lyrics, right?

Then there's the ABBA song "Chiquitita" which always seems to sound like "Chicken Tikka" to me.

Also, the Ash song "A Life Less Ordinary" (as featured in the film of the same name) contains the line
Put on your dress, White Goddess
which I had always thought went
Put on your dress, w**kers

There's a song around at the moment; I think it's
"I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne. The line is "No footsteps of the ground", but I always hear it as
"No forceps on the ground"

Derf, this is up to 126k.

Yay! Butch the K Man is back!