I just remembered something funny. Sometimes (okay, oftentimes) I mishear lyrics. We all do, I know, but I think my faults are entirely hereditary. My father, you see, always heard the Rolling Stones "Beast of Burden" as saying...
I'll never leave your pizza burnin'
Now that sounds pretty crazy on first blush. Now, though, sing it. See! See! He's not crazy. It almost sounds "right."
My worst? Until literally last year I heard a line from "My Favorite Things" incorrectly. I didn't think that Rogers and Hammerstein listed "when the bee stings" as something to feel bad about. Nope. Not me. I heard...
When the pee stinks
Which, if you think about, is pretty bad, too.
Posted by mikewolf at June 28, 2004 11:21 PMFrom Talking Heads "Psycho Killer": Not "C'est quelle idea ce soir la" but "Say can I be 6 foot nine?"
Posted by: A random Greenie on June 29, 2004 02:24 AMFrom Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is":
Well they passed a law in '64
To give those who ain't got a little more
But it only goes so far
Because the law don't change another's mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar
I always thought the last line was "Is the light on the cummerbund," although I didn't understand why a song about civil rights ended with the narrator getting married or going to prom.
Posted by: Joel S. on June 29, 2004 07:35 AMhee hee... here's a few of my best misheard lyrics:
that one part in "Stairway to Heaven" -- I still don't know what the hell they're saying, but I'm pretty sure it's not... "well, there's a wino down the road/I should have stolen oreos"
then, there's that Paul Young song.. "every time you go, you take a peice of meat with you"... when I was a kid, I just thought he really hated vegetarians!
Then, of course, there's "Secret Asian Man" -- I always thought that song was about a guy who was ashamed of his Asian heritage.
Yes, I know that I needed to get my hearing checked as a kid...
Posted by: Daniella on June 29, 2004 08:52 PMThree things:
First, I remember seeing a book once about misheard lyrics. I think it was called something like: "Excuse Me While I Kiss This Guy, and other misheard lyrics."
Second, it's so funny that Daniella thought it was "Secret Asian Man" because my friend Sarah had thought the same thing as a kid. How do you keep it a secret that you're asian?
Third, as for "Beast of Burden," Mike, do you recall a very, very, very late suburban drive through Illinois with you and I repeatedly singing "pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty girl" in freakishly high-pitched voices just to annoy Ed?
Good times.
Posted by: Kirsten on June 30, 2004 01:59 AMIt's not just songs -- Until after I was an adult, I thought the phrase. "for all intents and purposes" was "for all intense purposes." No wonder I couldn't understand the meaning of the phrase in legal documents...
Posted by: cathy1709 on July 1, 2004 05:32 PMThe counterpart to the "pizza burning" line is the one from the Jam's "Beat Surrender". The original line is
Come on boy, come on girl
Succumbing to the Beat Surrender
But in high school we always sang
Come on boy, come on girl
So come in to the pizza vendor