Misheard song lyrics

Hmm, if only there were a way to find out myself, and even more quickly?

I think it's actually *shove* me in the shallow water - meaning, before I drown, get me back to the shallow water. But, I don't know for sure.

I think it's shove, not choke.

I'm not the only one that thinks it's choke.

When I was a little kid, I always thought the Go-Go's were saying "how does that feel" in the song "Our Lips Are Sealed" - until I saw the video.

Elton John "The Bitch is Back" - He sings "I don't like those my God what's that." I always though he sang "I dropped my drawers, my God what's that?"

I'm not-a wearin' too many things.

I know what I know if you know what I mean

Fuck You OP. Now I have that damn song stuck in my head!

R7: For years, I wanted to know what she meant. Now, I'm sure that I do not care but I still like this quirky little song.

This song was ahead of its time. It has a mid-90s alternative vibe, but it was released in 1988.

The song 'Send me on my way' - I always thought they were singing Cindy and the whale.

In "Eleanor Rigby" I thought the Beatles were singing, "Ahhh... look at all the lovely people..."

Th classic mondegreen is Jimi Hendrix singing, "'scuse me while I kiss this guy."

There's a bathroom on the right.

Like the mentally tardated

Rock the casbah, rock the casbah

This isn’t a misheard lyric but I think I must be misunderstanding the meaning of lyrics to Kool and the Gang’s Cherish:

I often pray before I lay down by your side If you receive your calling before I awake Could I make it through the night

So - is he worried about his woman dying in her sleep? Is he even more worried about not getting a good sleep next to a dead body? Why does he pray about this often? That’s really creepy. Surely I’m misinterpreting something here.

Apparently it’a Not “Livin’ like a lover with a red iPhone” in Pour Some Sugar On Me.

Who knew?

In the 2001 version of "South Pacific", when Nellie sings "But I'm only a cock eyed optimist", I thought she was saying "But I'm only an Oscarless actress in her 50s trying to play an ingenue".

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like an empress above the Serengeti

Blondie's "Heart of Glass",as a kid I always thought she was singing, " Mucho mistrust formaldehyde". I WAS wrong wasn't I?

formaldehyde is a better lyriic. Stick with it.

No, no it IS “lovin’ an alligator...”

My 3 year old niece would agree r22, instead of elevators she calls them alligators.

R15 LOL! I always thought it was "Fundamental retardation! Rock the casbah! Rock the casbah!"

"I wanna come over. To hell with the concert friends..."

Blinded by the light Wrapped like a douche in to the runner in the night.

Jane, Jane, Jane...Jane’s a Fool.

In Sia’s song, I thought she was singing “I am a dirty whore” instead of “I am titanium” and actually thought “why would a person that.”

[quote]When I was a little kid, I always thought the Go-Go's were saying "how does that feel" in the song "Our Lips Are Sealed" - until I saw the video.

I thought they were emphatically saying "Honest, Cecile!"

Which made no sense, of course, but fun song!

I also have never gotten the mental retardation line in Rock the Casbah. So I looked it up...

He thinks it's not kosher

Fundamentally he can't take it.

You know he really hates it.

It is choke me in the shallow water, OP.

For years, I thought Enya was saying, "Save the whales, save the whales, save the whales!"

Phoebe/Friends.... Hold me close Tony Danza

It's. Chuck me in the shallow water

They call me the island sleaze / all my body's yours for free/ this is where I long to be / La Isla Bonita

I always heard chuck me into shallow water too r34, but apparently the lyric is shove. It works either way. Choke gives it a different meaning.

A friend said that she originally understood a music name to be of one person: Ikentina Turner.

Billy Joel, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. It's about Brenda and Eddie, but for a while I thought it was about someone named Brenda Renetti.

I thought the line from "Voices Carry" was, "Oh, George. Even downtown, it's so scary."

"Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. Ain't nothin' that a hundred men on Mars could ever do..."

R26... I always hear that line as "douche" also.

Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree:

"Later we'll have some fuckin' pie."

I always thought The Bee Gees were singing “ you come to me on a submarine “. How Deep is Your Love.

Ummm...so r26 and r41 if it’s not douche, what is it?

Deuce ^

"please have mercy, mercy on my hole"

Shawn Mendes.

R44 "Blinded by the light. Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night."

R42 LOL!

I once had a roommate who thought the second verse to "We Are Family" was this:

"N****r life is fun, and we've just begun..."

He couldn't believe Sister Sledge would call themselves that word.

Thanks r45 & r47, my “friend” is grateful for the correction.

R43 Speaking of the Bee Gees, I thought one of their songs was "Bald-headed woman, bald-headed woman to me."

R50 When that song first came out, EVERYBODY thought the lyric was "douche," including my shocked mother.

Of course the grand daddy of all misheard lyrics is “Eminence Front” by The Who:

"Last night, I dreamt of some beggar Just like I'd never go I knew the hoe Young girl with eyes like potatoes..."

My little niece used to sing, "Every time you go awaaaay, you take a piece of meat with you".

Red wine, cheap perfume, and a filthy CUNT.

"Young girl with eyes like potatoes" (or, is it "tomatoes"?)

Madonna - La Isla Bonita

R57 See R54 LOL!

omg it's eyes like the desert??? I thought she said eyes like marquesas! WTF - all these years! Why would you have eyes like the desert when you could have eyes like this...

Plus I thought it was another island reference.

We have a cure for that!

So the young girl had dry eye syndrome?

My eye doctor said that's a DISEASE.

When it first came out I had a few friends swear Toni Braxton was singing...

"Calling on the phone, asking me to come back home, begging me to eat pussy..."

At the end of He Wasn't Man Enough.

The correct line is "begging me that he could stay..."

This guy does a whole comedy routine on misheard lyrics. Once you hear the wrong ones you can’t unhear it.

Looks like ta-may-tas -- Looks like we made it (Barry Manilow) Slow Cousin Walter -- Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple)

One toe over the line sweet Jesus

One toe over the line

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toe over the line

From a Dave Barry column on bad songs:

[quote]A recent song that has aroused great hostility is "Achy Breaky Heart," by Billy Ray Cyrus. According to voter Mark Freeman, the song sounds like this: "You can tell my lips, or you can tell my hips, that you're going to dump me if you can; But don't tell my liver, it never would forgive her, it might blow up and circumcize this man!"

"If you receive your calling" from Cherish means if Jesus calls you to Heaven. Such a weird lyric for a love song.

Someone I knew years ago thought Stevie Nicks’ lesser known song “Enchanted” was “Aunt Janet”

"Jump," by the Pointer Sisters:

"When you are next to me, oh, I come alive.

You're the perfect size..."

I used to think the B52s' "Roam" went like this:

"Roam, misty watu, roam around the world. Roam, misty watu, without wings, without wheels..."

"As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like an empress above the Serengeti"

You mean...that's NOT what they're saying????????

R71 It's "Rises like Olympus above the Serengeti." I always thought it was "an empress," too.

"Gloria!

I think they got yer number!

I think they got the evi-dence

That you've been livin' under!"

Strut, pout, put it out, no talkin' at Thanksgivin'...

Who's Sue Minhoo? To this DAY my sister won't let me live that down.

R75 What song are you referring to?

The Pretenders' Brass in Pocket:

"Gonna make you, make you, make you, make you more tense..."

The Marshall Tucker Band requires a translator, because I thought their tunes were called " Tennessee" and "Purty Little Love Song".

I Love You

Like Walter

In "Life on Mars?" by David Bowie, I thought he sang "there's lemons on sale again."

All the leaves are brown

And the sky is gray

I went for a walk on a winter's day

I could safely walk if I was in LA

[quote]What song are you referring to?

I'm thinking it's "Who's Zoomin' Who?"

I've got the Swedish hangover,

I don't wanna get over

The Swedish hangover.

Streisand's version of Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) on Simply Streisand. I thought she sings:

Someday we'll meet/And you'll dry all my tears/Then whisper sweet little things in my arse.

But it's ears, not arse.

Yes, Who's Zoomin' Who. Sorry, thought people would figure that out.

Four legged love is so bittersweet (Whitney Houston - How Will I Know) It's falling in love but I thought she meant two people (four legs).

R85 LOL!

"One ton tomato, for he's a one ton tomato...."

All together now class, "Guantanamera....."

Whose jon is she in? (Who's Jonny by El Debarge)

"But when, once more, she whispers, 'Shut the door,'

C'est magnifique."

(I was very, very young. My parents played the album.)

I thought "Jackie Blue" was "Jackie Poo"! I didn't realize it until right now, when I saw this thread, and got to thinking which songs whose lyrics I must've misunderstood as a child. Nice song, btw. I haven't listened to it since I was a kid during the 70s.

For years I thought Shania Twain sang “you kiss your carpet knife” instead of “kiss your car good night” in “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”

Cindy Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I thought the lyrics were "when the world can't stay inside, girls just wanna have fun." Actual lyrics "when the working day is done, oh girls, girls they wanna have fun"

ELO:

Don’t let me downnnnnn....BRUCE!

Whoever sings "I Won't Go Down With this Shit" has the worst diction... There will be no wifi Obama door. I'm in luhh and away swill be.

R95, that's British singer Dildo.

OP-I thought she was saying “Chuck me into the shallow water before I get too deep”. Made sense to me but her mouth is too wide. Why would some girl ask to be choked??

I still think it’s “Mental retardation!!!!! rock the Casbah!! Rock the Casbah” Omg I have to look it up again.

“why would you leave the pizza burning?”(Beast of burden)

It’s really Chuck me into the shallow water??? That’s even more idiotic than choke me in the shallow water. “What I am is what I am or what you are or what???” Am I right? Confused the shit out of me.

"You walked into the party

Like you were walking onto a yacht,

You had strategically dicked another guy . . ."

"You walked into the party

Like you were walking onto a yacht,

You had strategically dicked another guy . . ."

R95 that song is White Flag. It’s by Dido who is English so perhaps the issue is her accent not her diction since I can understand what she says quite clearly. She sings “I will go down with this ship” btw.

R101 Also form "You're So Vain:"

"You had one eye in the mirror as

You watched your silk cravat..."

Also from "Lover Man":

"I go to bed with a bear who'll make love to me, strange as it may seem.."

Also from "You're So Vain":

"Your scarf, it was Africa."

I'm living with a poltergiest that's giving off sparks

Total Eclipse of the Heart.

It took me years to work out the lyric was “powder keg” r106. I can’t remember what I thought it was, but I do remember discovering it was powder keg and realising that it made much more sense than whatever I thought it was.

Man, I see I'm not the only one who was thrown by Blinded by the light...wrapped up like a douche, you know they rolled her in the night...

Olivia Newton-John - Magic. I thought she was singing "I'll be goddamned you". instead she was really singing "I'll be guiding you".

Here's two more commonly misheard ONJ lyrics in my family growing up.

"And I Know My Dog Is Dead" Actual: "And I Know My Darkest Day" (Come On Over)

"Still Tried To Hold On With The Power Of My Breasts" Actual: "Still Tried To Hold On With The Power Of My Prayers" (The Rumour)

Dressed up like a dude she was a runner in the night

Tasmin Archer's Sleeping Satellite:

I wonder why, are the seats still dry

Modern English’s “I Melt With You”.

When they sing ‘The future’s open wide’, I always heard ‘CONFUCIUS- Open Wide!’ I thought they were trying to be spiritual or something.

Don't chew on me, baby - The Human League

"Hold my ham"

Hootie and the Blowfish

Gopher Tuna?

Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of reverend mother - Madonna, Justify My Love

R110, "power of my prayers"? I always thought it was "power of my press," as a rumor-journalism joke.

Many of these are SO much better then the actual lyics.

Yes, she’s saying “choke me in the shallow water”.

You say you've seen seven wonders and you're Bertram Greene but you can't see me..you can't see me

Seems I've got to have a panacea...every night I have the strangest dream

(Feelin Alright by Joe Cocker. Seems I need a change of scene)

When the dog bites

When the bee stinks

So, Gerard, only you can do what must be done.

There’s a bathroom on the right

Toe the line

You and I must make a pair

R45 I remember when that song first came out and my friends didn't understand that lyric. I understand why people younger don't get it but at the time we were kids raised with Snoopy's flying ace with his trusty sopwith camel persona. I am always surprised how little interest others have in history.

IT'S NOT "JACKIE POO"?!?!?!?!?!?!

No. No I can't believe it.

No I can't forget the semen on your face as you were leaving

Not a misheard lyric but the internet just told me that Paul McCartney was singing about finger fucking girls in the bus shelter in Penny Lane. I’m shocked.

Four of fish and finger pies in summer

Finger pies means ....yeah.....

Uh huh make me tuna! .. TUNAAA! Make it riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!

Online lyric databases are about as accurate as Wikipedia.

1997's greatest alt-rock doom anthem 'Everything is Automatic' by Matthew Good Band.

Until I saw the video where the lyrics literally flash on the screen, I was convinced of my version. The original line "this Karma-machine only takes quarters,/New-Age Soldier, New-Age Soldier" sounded to me like, "this gamma-machine only takes corners,/you wait, Soldier; you wait, Soldier".

"She's in pottys, she's in the can." - Bauhaus

"With nothing but my teacher on"

"Every breath you take, every rule you break, I'll be washing you. Oh, can't you see, that you're dirty?"

"The ants are my friends, they're blowin' in the wind…"

"I drove all night, crapped in your room. Woke you from your sleep..."

Thought "Eminence Front" was "living with the funk". Thought "Our Lips are Sealed" was "honest I'll seat you"

R140 The GoGos once told a story about going to Norway to perform, and the whole audience started singing "Alex the Seal."

From Take My Breath Away: In all that body lotion, somewhere there’s a loving flame (Haunted by the notion, somewhere there’s a love in flames).

"I'll prostate breach when I find it" ("I cross that bridge when I find it"), from 'The Reflex'.

Le Bon was so thicc in that video that it distracted from the lyrics.

Oh sharing our love, holds on holds on.

You had one eye on the mirror as you watched yourself go by -

You had one eye on the mirror as you watched yourself gavot. Gavot? WTF? I had no idea what the lyric really was until it was included in on a soundtrack and I read the lyric in the subtitles.

R1 from a Vanity Fair interview with Brickell: What did you mean by “Choke me in the shallow water”?

That’s the part that was irritating about the class. Everybody was getting so deep in terms of making things up—“Does this mean this and does that mean that?” I was just irritated, like, just kill me now before I get out there and lose myself and my sense of who I am.

A gavotte is a dance.

Hit the B square!

R141, even knowing the title of the song, I still think they’re saying “Olive Cecile.”

But Taylor Swift is saying “Starbucks lovers” in “Blank Space,” and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

Keep on to the post office

Don't stop til you get it up...

Games without frontiers War without tears

She's so fucking late

Or rather:

She's so fuck-in late

ABBA, Waterloo: My my, at Waterloo, Napoleon. did surrender. Oh yeah! That night I have met my distant-kneelin', quite a sillhouette. A mystery book on the shelf, it's always repeating itself. Waterloo, you were defeated, a wonder wall. ...

ABBA used phonetics early on, R153. They weren't entirely comfortable singing in English straight-up.

Intentionally or not, this is one of the funniest tunes VH ever did. Roth sounds like he's singing with a mouthful of mineral oil-coated rubber bands. I'm ususally snickering up to the second verse (1:56 ?), at which point I usually lose it. I've never looked up the lyrics, and I don't want to. It'd ruin it for me, I'm sure. That, and most (all?) lyric sites suck. Hard.

Has anyone mentioned Michael Stipe/early REM i.e., The Mumble Years"?

[quote]Snoopy's flying ace with his trusty sopwith camel persona

??? Was this translated to and from a dozen different languages before ending up with (allegedly) English?

Wtf is this supposed to mean?!??!

R146 - That is exactly how I've always interpreted the lyric (and I never thought of it as anything other than "choke"). I'm glad I kept reading this thread all the way through!

For the poster upthread who thinks ELO's lyric of, "Don't bring me down.....BRUCE!" is wrong: I have always thought it was "BRUCE," too, and I don't want to find out that I'm wrong! Would ruin my childhood in a way.

Howard Jones "New Song". Instead of "throw off your mental chains" I heard "throw off your menstrual chains".

From Train's "Drops of Jupiter"

"Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights are faded / And Van Halen is overrated?"

R145 I always thought the lyric was "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched your silk cravat..."

Ok. When I was a kid I thought Olivia Newton-John sang "I'll be goddamned you" instead of "I'll be guiding you" in her hit song MAGIC.

R141 - thank you. ‘Alex the Seal’ had me laughing until I cried. A friend and I always thought it sounded like ‘ I love Cecile’.

I used to think Marc Bolan sang ‘ Bobby’s alright. Bobby’s alright. He’s a natural born homo, he’s just outta sight’ in Telegram Sam. Apparently it’s ‘ natural born poet’.

Projection, much....

I thought the line in Angel of the Morning was “Just crack my teeth before you leave me.”

Too Much Heaven by the Bee Gees. Instead of Oh you and me girl Got a lot of love in store And it flows through...... I heads Oh you nigger. I wondered how there was no ruckus over the use of that word.

On Motley Crue's 'Wild Side': "it's just "SCREAM-SCREAM-SCREAM-SCREAM-SCREAM" "It's called a 'chorus', dude..."

for r145:

I used to think the lyrics to Stop Dragging My Heart Around went like this:

"I know you really wanna tell me good vibes. I know you really wanna be younger."

OP’s (and subsequent posters’) mentioning the idiosyncratic lyrics to “What I Am” remind me of the joke lyrics (not misheard) that some of my friends used to sing over the chorus near the end:

What is spam? Spam is ham. It comes in a can And spreads like jam

Neil Diamond's "Forever In Blue Jeans" - for the longest time I thought he was singing "reverend blue jeans", which made absolutely no sense.

The Go Go's "Our Lips Are Sealed" - I always thought they were singing "alex the seal", and was pissed that there was no seal in the video.

R168, see R141.

Please tell me I'm not the only who thought The Motels were signing "Only the lonely get laid" and not "Only the lonely can play."

R169 see r169.

r169 see r142.

r169 see r11.

r169 see r168.

R170 Can’t say I’ve ever thought that, but I kind of wish I had. That’s hilarious.

"Kerry, hear Lee sing" in an Irish accent rather than "Kyrie eleison" sung American. Yes, I'm a pagan dickhead who doesn't know his Mass.

I had a notion of Kerry & Lee as one of the great mythical couples in rock, like an alternative spiritualist Beatnik version of Tommy & Gina.

In Hall and Oates' "Adult Education," I thought Hall was singing, "Livin' obnoxious life in the high school" instead of "Believe it or not, there's life after high school."

I always wondered why Elton John wanted to find a comb from Mars.

r178 What song is that?

A Russian friend thought Bowie's "Time" included the lyric "I had so many drinks, I had so many grapefruits" ("I had so many dreams, I had so many breakthroughs").

I listened and enjoyed and grooved to "Love Train." The problem was when I'd hear it, my mind would forget the actual title of the song, and my mind would change "love train" to "Lorne Greene" of "Bonanza" fame, and I could never understand the relevance, why the group would tip their hats to Lorne Greene!

Not one of mine, but Michael Stipe once said there’s a line in “Sitting Still” that everyone thinks is “We could gather, throw up beer” (it’s “We could gather, throw a fit”).

Groovin' -The Rascals " Life would, be exctasy, you and me and Leslie groovin'" I can't spell ecstacy.

I always thought Melissa Etheridge was singing "to hell with the concert friends" instead of "to hell with the consequence" in "Come to My Window."

I always just figured she was singing about wanting to do her show, then go spend some time alone with her lesbian lover instead of hanging out with her friends afterward. "To hell with the concert friends! I wanna get laid!"

My cow orker in the early '80s couldn't stop mishearing David Bowie's "Let's Dance" as "Tremble like a COW -UH"

For the longest time, I heard Phil Collins sing 'She seems to have an invisible attachment'.

It was only relatively recently I saw the lyrics and learned that he was really singing 'She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah.'

I prefer my version.

Love that bit R63, it makes me laugh every time I watch it.

"Filth!"

"I blow bubbles when you are not here." - Macy Gray

Elton John - “Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me”...

R189 And his smash followup “Hold Me Close and Tie Me Down, Sir”

Count the head lice on the highway...

Or as Phoebe Buffay said, "Hold me closer, Tony Danza"

Meanwhile, the comb from Mars is from Elton John's Tonight

"Tonight

Does it have to be the old thing

Tonight

It's late, too late

To chase the rainbow that you're after

I'd like to find a comb from Mars

And place it in your hands"

Turns out the comb from Mars is "compromise."

I was listening to this the other day. I always thought the first line was, "So messed up, I want you here." But maybe it's "So methed up, I want you here."

Either works.

In Reba's Fancy, I thought she sang "We didn't have money for food or rent, To say the least we were hard BREAST" instead of "pressed." I thought it meant they were so poor the mama couldn't even produce breast milk. Also, I had a family member who swears to this day that when she sings "I charmed a king, congressman, And an occasional aristocrat" that she is really singing, "And an occasional arrest for crack."

[Bold]Bei mir bist du schön[/bold], please let me explain ...

I thought the Andrews Sisters were singing "My mere Mr. Shane ..."

Reverend Blue Jeans. Same here

Ironic-Alanis Morrisette

It's like radiate on your wedding cake.

Not rain

True lyrics Bitch Is Back. I wasn't off too much

I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch oh, the bitch is back Stone cold sober as a matter of fact I can bitch, I can bitch 'cause I'm better than you It's the way that I move, the things that I do oh

Although in early sobriety from alcohol this song was the go to when I was riding that pink cloud and realized what a true winner I really was. The natural mojo that appears at the 6 month mark. Thought he was saying "I can bitch" . The "cause I'm better than you" would be appropriate for anyone who achieved spells of sobriety to scream into Brett Kavanaugh's face.

My other go to sobriety song was figured out years later when we could look up lyrics online. I also found out that people perceived the tune as addiction to heroin but I assumed he was speaking of beer bc "is it honey, is it cold" The debate rages on.

~I find you in the morning After dreams of distant signs You pour yourself over me Like the sun through the blinds You lift me up And get me out Keep me walking But never shout Hold the secret close I hear you say You know the way It throws about It takes you in And spits you out It spits you out When you desire To conquer it To feel you're higher To follow it You must be clean With mistakes That you do mean Move the heart Switch the pace Look for what seems out of place On and on it goes Calling like a distant wind Through the zero hour we'll walk We'll cut the thick and break the thin No sound to break no moment clear When all the doubts are crystal clear Crashing hard into the secret wind You know the way It twists and turns Changing color Spinning yarns You know the way It leaves you dry It cuts you up And takes you high You know the way It's painted gold Is it honey Is it gold You know the way It throws about It takes you in And spits you out Oh, cuts you up Oh, cuts you up Oh, cuts you up Oh, la la la la la la la la You know the way It throws about It takes you in And spits you out It spits you out When you desire To conquer it To feel you're higher To follow it You must be clean With mistakes That you do mean Move the heart Switch the pace Look for what Seems out of place Oh, cuts you up Oh, cuts you up It's o.k. It goes this way The line is thin It twists away Cuts you up And spits you out Keeps you walking But never shout

Until only fairly recently, I always heard the line from The Monkees' [italic]Daydream Believer[/italic] as "Cheap, cheapie jeans, oh what can it mean." Turns out it's actually, "Cheer up sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean."

Perhaps if they'd enunciated more clearly…

Donuts Make My Brown Eyes Blue

I think most have a problem understanding the true lyrics to Bowie's Young American. To put it to bed, ended up on an Australian lyric site and they posted "behind the fridge" for bridge and "Afro Sheilas" instead of AfroSheeners. Anyone growing up near a major metro city in US instantly realized he was speaking of that glistening hair care product. Anyone with frizzy/ kinky hair was stashing that shit before Shiseido introduced silicone polishing drops. Black hair products were co- opted by us kinky headed hos.

Only when I pulled up the proper lyrics did I realize the dark message behind the classic tune. It's not complimentary in the least. I always thought he said "she/he was a young American but it is actually he WANTS a young American.

Really read these lyrics

~They pulled in just behind the bridge He lays her down, he frowns Gee my life's a funny thing, am I still too young? He kissed her then and there She took his ring, took his babies It took him minutes, took her nowhere Heaven knows, she'd have taken anything, but All night She wants a young American Young American, young American, she wants the young American All night But she wants the young American Scanning life through the picture window She finds the slinky vagabond He coughs as he passes her Ford Mustang But Heaven forbid, she'll take anything But the freak, and his type, all for nothing Misses a step and cuts his hand, but Showing nothing, he swoops like a song She cries, "Where have all Papa's heroes gone?" All night She wants the young American Young American, young American, she wants the young American All right Well she wants the young American All the way from Washington Her bread-winner begs off the bathroom floor We live for just these twenty years Do we have to die for the fifty more? All night He wants the young American Young American, young American He wants the young American All right (all right) Well, he wants the young American Do you remember, your President Nixon? (ooh) Do you remember, the bills you have to pay? Or even yesterday? Have been the un-American? (ooh) Just you and your idol sing falsetto (ooh) 'Bout Leather, leather everywhere, and Not a myth left from the ghetto Well, well, well, would you carry a razor (ooh) In case, just in case of depression? (ooh) Sit on your hands on a bus of survivors Blushing at all the Afro-Sheeners Ain't that close to love? Well, ain't that poster love? Well, it ain't that Barbie doll Her hearts have been broken just like you and All night All night you want the young American Young American, young American, you want the young American All right You want the young American You ain't a pimp and you ain't a hustler A pimp's got a Cadi and a lady got a Chrysler Black's got respect, and white's got his soul train Mama's got cramps, and look at your hands ache (I heard the news today, oh boy) I got a suite and you got defeat Ain't there a man who can say no more? And, ain't there a woman I can sock on the jaw? And, ain't there a child I can hold without judging? Ain't there a pen that will write before they die? Ain't you proud that you've still got faces? Ain't there one damn song that can make me Break down and cry? All night I want the young American Young American, young American, I want the young American All right I want the young American, young American Young American, young American, I want the young American (I want what you want, I want what you want) All night You and I I want you, I Young American, young American, I want the young American All right And all I want is the young American Young American, young American, I want the young American

Songwriters: David Bowie

Oh, later on Bowie penned a tune I'm Afraid of Americans. The message is the way Europe views the Americas with their religious fixations. Crazy Christians. Latino Catholic seems to be represented here as main protagonist. Released in 1997, did Bowie not punch our ticket over 20 years ago or what? Nostrodamus, that Bowie.

Again, a societal viewpoint of Americans by a European. What do you see?

r200 types young.

White men say only fools rush in ...

R204, that is fucking great!😂

In "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart", I once thought it went "Oh honey, if I get arrested", instead of "Oh honey, if I get restless".

I guess it was all of those National of Omaha African plains documentaries back in the 70s and Born Free crap on PBS but a toddler exposed to that era was well aware of hyenas in the bush. So while the lion was sprawled out lightly snoring on his back in the village under a gazebo where he was stationed to protect the town's people from hyenas and jackals he was protected from the elements during rainy season. The hyena given no protection was wet and soggy.

Hush my darling, don't fear my darling the lion sleeps tonight

Hyena wet hyena wet hyena wet

[quote] It's like radiate on your wedding cake.

R197 Radiate isn't the only thing you misheard.

Cher - Gypsies, chimpanzees...

Oh gawd R209! Keep em coming

This is the lion's digs in the peaceful village while on patrol protecting children from hyenas. He's working night watch shift.

r211 Is his name "Awingawack"?

I’m soooo glad someone eventually cleared up the Edie Brickell song. I never misheard it, and I always knew what she meant by it (well, once I matured and thought about it in the 90s as a teen; I was 9-10 when it was a hit).

It’s a song about the study of philosophy, and only “choke” makes sense, out of all the misheard words that were suggested or insisted upon in the responses. (“Chuck”? Seriously?)

I always thought in Donna Summer's "Heaven Knows," she was singing, "I am yours forever more, until they turn us in" instead of "until eternity." I thought the song was about two criminal lovers on the run.

Yes, chuck. To toss in. Toss in the water. Why would she ask someone to choke her?

I always thought it was “shove me into shallow water.”

Mack the Knife finally makes sense once you get the gist of the character MacHeath. 5 will get you 10. 10 what? Old saying to place a bet. Get it now.

Always thought "oozing life" was oozing light why it never gelled for me.

Lies a body just oozin' life, eek And someone's sneakin' 'round the corner Could that someone be Mack the Knife? There's a tugboat, huh, huh, down by the river don'tcha know Where a cement bag's just a'drooppin' on down Oh, that cement is for, just for the weight, dear

Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown Oh, that line forms on the right, babe Now that Macky's back in town I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown Yes, that line forms on the right, babe Now that Macky's back in town Look out, old Macky's back Songwriters: Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht / Marc Blitzstein

According to the link below it seems Jenny Diver is on Mack's kill list but I take it as prostitutes in line because MacHeath is spending like a sailor. No?

Curious, is Blitzstein pronounced steen or stine? Would be a great pet or stage name. What does it mean? Lightning rock? Stone? Meteorite? Blitzkrieg means lightning war, Blitzen means lightning to describe Santa's antelope. That has got to be the best surname out there. Excuse me. It's the Belvedere talking.

Favorite Mack the Knife version has to be Ella Fitzgerald's standing room only performance in Berlin. Legend.

Black people need to be careful when choosing spirits. Stick to beer & wine, yo. Black people in Germany drinking Rumplemintz? Black diabetic Americans, no less. She's totally wasted out of her mind during this performance. Forgetting the lyrics and skillfully ad libbing make this recovery probably the best version to go down. Her live repertoire is outstanding.

This is for the troll and his critics concerning Toto's Africa. One of a handful of black racial preoccupation trolls. If not the RPT herself.

Remember, white people are cut throat and greedy, always oppressing the black man just for kicks. Black people are true blue and not responsible for their behavior and actions.

I hear one more racist black troll on this board of Datalounge screeching about how evil white people are, I'll pretend to be a lizard hailing from Mars. Okay?

Toto, everyone

R215, why would she requiring chucking into the shallow water before she gets too deep? The deepness suggests she’ll already be in the water and won’t want to go farther. I can’t think of a scenario where the “chuck” scenario makes sense.

“Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep” just means, “stop me before I get too far into this mess”, wherein the mess is a philosophical discussion, per the quote that another DLer shares upthread from an interview she gave.

Excuse me. Ladies and Gentlemen, Toto.

Also, if she were the kind of chick who pronounces “chuck” as “choke”, as she clearly does in the song, I would have to, uh, choke her.

R220 because the mind doesn't normally register "choke". It just doesn't and save your philosophical crap. We were kids then. Even an adult mind wouldn't go there. We're not just returning from a class dissecting the theories of Kant. Anti blah blah blah dialectic theory. Don't you dare push this on us like we're some kind of quantum thinking riff raff. Screw you, you pretentious hose bag!

And everyone here agrees with me and not a soul will back your fault projection onto the rest of us. A try hard yokel, you.

Some of us grew up in middle class up to highly affluent neighborhoods. Not your disadvantaged youth. So save that shit for another thread of why we hate our parents(you will find me there for sure).

Besides yelling Stop and getting a red, white and blue bomb pop when the ice cream man came around if he made bank off of at least 5 kids..

All kids would ban together and scream "Chuck!". He would then grab a handful of candy samples and chuck them out of the ice cream van. Kids would scurry. In adult terms this equals the 4th drink purchased to be on the house.

Don't attempt to chuck the rest of us into your low rent beginnings. Chuck you.

Ohhhhhh-kay, R223.

“Chuck” just doesn’t make sense in the context. And this thread is not about “lyrics you misheard as a child”, it’s just about misheard lyrics.

R224. FAIL

R221 here. So rich. Just watched Toto vid.

It's "bless the rains" not miss. New to me and so thread appropriate.

Bless the rains. I can't at this age.😅

For you Toto racial preoccupation troll. For you.

In Linda Ronstadt's version of the Smokey Robinson classic "Tracks of My Tears", I used to think she was singing "though he's cute he's a prostitute.." (the real line is substitute).

Being that we described how even an adult mind wouldn't go there..for sure R224 is a loser of the highest order. If you ever find someone IRL clinging to have the last word and always being right..escape from the insanity of such niggas. We've got to save ourselves. Right, jjigaboo, at R224? You discredit to our race! That's right, jjigaboo. FF a fellow POC, nigga. Tired of you playing victim and smearing the rest of us, old woman.

[quote] It's "Rises like Olympus above the Serengeti." I always thought it was "an empress," too.

So did I!!!

Jimi Hendrix: "the hour is getting late"

my ears: "I was getting laid!"

That's what I feel so...

Beautiful...

Magical...

Flexible... [in reality: "Life's a ball..."]

Get up on the da-ance floor, Vogue! Vogue!

Silent Night, Holy Night -

All is calm; all is bright . . .

Round John Virgin; mother and child . . .

In the Beatles' "Across the Universe", it sounds like they're singing "Macaroon baby". The actural lyrics are "Jai guru deva om", whatever the hell that means. I like "macaroon baby" better.

R232, while thumbing through the Sears catalog, we were right there with you.

I bless the rains

Miss America, i'll shove. Shove you, Miss america. When young i thought what a women hater.

When realized the real lyrics, inwardly chastised myself.

Now this is where you need to trust your gut. The message to me as a 6 year old smacked at an angry rejected man. Cut to last year when I found out he dated a former Miss.America who dumped him. Even a kindengartner can innately sense his scorn, the loser. Listen to the rage in this numbskill's voice. A pet iguana could pick up on the sour grapes. Cringarama.

Sorry, Toto troll et. al.

Here's the bitter Dennis DeYoung

Before the bitterness of being dumped. Not owning an American attitude can be so detrimental. We call it 'bootstraps'.

Your paws build me up when I'm sinking and fur shines from your eyes

To all the girls I fluffed before....Julio Iglesias

Until I read this thread, I ALWAYS thought the line was "I miss the rains down in Africa." I just Googled the lyrics, and damned if it isn't "I BLESS the rains…"

I will be fucked!

What if she said 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤 me in the shallow water before I get too deep, because she might be a clam and also...

verb: shuck; informal 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 (𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞) 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞; 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.

She is talking about wanting to be fooled by religion. "Philosophy is a walk on slippery rocks, religion Is a light in the fog"

Until I listened again to the song last night, I always thought she was saying “Philosophy is a walk-on-slippery-rocks religion”. Wherein “walk-on-slippery-rocks” is the adjectival phrase describing the kind of religion that philosophy is.

I didn’t realize that the word ‘religion’ was the start of the next line. There’s no pause between ‘rocks’ and ‘religion’ so I assumed they were part of the same phrase.

"Don't Stop Believin'

Hold on 'til the bitter end..."

Thy say the heart of rock and roll is still beatin'

And from what I've seen, I believe 'em.

Now the oboe may be barely breathin'...

The Pointer Sisters - Jump:

"When you are next to me

Oh, I come alive.

You're the perfect size."

From Life Is a Highway - I thought it said “A crime of passion and Coors Light” instead of “The Khyber Pass to Vancouver’s lights.”

I used to think that the Doobie Brothers' "China Grove" was about my grandmother, because they mention Mrs. Perkins, which was my grandmother's name.

Just call me angel of the morning, angel.

Just brush my teeth before you leave me, baby.

In the song "Disco Inferno" I thought they were singing:

The heat was on, rising to the top.

Everybody goin' to school

That is when the smoke got hot.

I was pretty certain that Barenaked Ladies were saying "Chicken vagina, the Chinese chicken".

My brother always called it Labia Gaga....soon all the kids were saying it.

You had your time, you had the power You've yet to have your finest hour Labia (Labia) All we hear is labia ga ga Labia goo goo Labia ga ga All we hear is labia ga ga Labia blah blah Labia, what's new? Labia, someone still loves you

Every step you take, every move you make, I'll be washing you.

They tried to sell us egg foo young...

Michael Jackson:

"Keep on with the fore stroke

Don't stop 'til you get enough."

From Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” - Got a flamin’ whore, can’t get my fill (Got a flamin’ heart, can’t get my fill)

What song is that R252?

Not R252, but my guess is "They Tried To Tell Us We're Too Young." (Nat King Cole, early 1950s).

Thank you, R256.

I always thought The Clash were singing "FUCK the Casbah, FUCK the Casbah." I thought that was so punk.

In "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam the lyrics are "the dead lay in pools of maroon below." But Eddie Vedder sings, and I swear this is what he sings "the dead lay in pools of brew blow."

Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello I Know What Did Last Summer

Sounds like "The bitch is on the phone" really is "The pictures on her phone"

You just opened up a whole other can of worms, r240, because I always thought the line was, "religion is the smile on a dog." For being an ode to shallowness, this song sure invites a lot of misinterpretation.

R260 Both lines are in the song in separate verses.

The song Guilty by Barry Gibbs and Barbara s. I thought they were saying you gotta be a Nword in that song

R262 I had a roommate who thought the verse in "We Are Family" that starts with "Livin' life is fun" was actual "N-word life is fun."

I always hear the chorus of Drift Away, as Give me The Beach Boys!

I always heard it that way, too, r264, even as I told myself that made no sense.

"If it made no sense," myself would respond, "he wouldn't be singing it," and on and on I went with "Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock and roll."

from Like a Virgin:

"If they don't give my proper penance I just walk away-a" is actually "If they don't give my proper credit I just walk away-a"

He's the Greatest Dancer: I always thought it was "I wonder why he's the greatest dancer" when it's "Oh what wow! He's the greatest dancer."

R267 I always thought it was "I went wild! He's the greatest dance star!"

Take your pants down And make it happen

That’s funny

So I looked up funniest misheard lyrics and tiny dancer confused for tony Danza had me screaming.Most of the songs everyone gets confused are from the brits

"Suddenly, the wizard emotion

And I...I....I...I...I...am ready to sail any ocean."

"...count the head lice on the highway..."

SONG: Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass"

ACTUAL LYRIC: Take me from the wreckage / Save me from the blast

WHAT I HEARD: Take me from the wicked / Save me from the blacks

In my defense, I was 12 and the song came out 2-3 months after the LA riots.

Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers: I thought "With the birds I share this lonely view" was "Ripper the shade is a lonely view"

It sounds like Bryan Adams is saying "Me and my baby in a 69" in "Summer of '69."

It’s a little yellow pill for a thousand years...

The Sundays

Oh come, froggy faithful

bumping

Take your pants off. And make it happen. Bitches come alive you can dance right through your life !

Bananarama: I'm your penis, I'm your fire at your desire.

Beatles: the girl with colitis goes bi.

This bitch takes the biscuit

"She's got electric boobs, and her mum does too! I've seen them in a magazine.." from Benny And The Jets- Elton John.

Hey, mister, can you tell me, where a man might find a man?

I just found out Creedence's Fortunate Son lyrics are "And when the band plays Hail to the Chief they point the cannon at you." I always thought it was "they bought the candidate, too."

I have a few, but here is what I think is the weirdest of mine. "Going back to my plough. Back to my farm in Rhode Island..." (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road)

"Gypsies, Tramps, and thieves. We'd hear it from the people of a town named Cola!"

"F uck the cashbox! F uck the cashbox!"

Finally, the Go Gos were assuring listeners, "Honest, I see you!"

I was listening to this song earlier and thought that, at 1:08 and 2:07, she was singing, "She's just Justin Bieber." The lyric is actually "She's just dusted, leave her." (As it happens, the song was released a year before Bieber was even born.)

Anyone remember that song by The Specials? "Free-hee Nelson the panda". Well anyway..... "Turn the lights out, it's a steakhouse! Here we are now, eating 'taters; I'm with Stupid, and the Rangers. Here we are now, in containers. I'm a lardo, he's a wino, I'm in Speedos, he's in Devo. Blah!"

Okay, I was only a little kid, but in John Stewart's "Heart of the Dream" when he was singing "Livin' in the heart of the dream" I thought he was saying "Livin' in a hollow tree."

No, no, no, everyone. The Clash were venting re: their experience at an on-the-cheap wedding when they sang:

"FUCK the cash bar! FUCK the cash bar!"

But I DO agree with the poster, above, who's convinced they shouted "MENTAL RETARDATION!" in the closing chorus.

As a young Gayling I bought Dianna Ross' s album 'Touch me in the morning' . On my old gramophone I thought she sang ' You fuck me and I wake up singing.' I was so shocked. The line is, 'you touch me and I wake up singing.'

"Just brush my teeth before you leave me.."

You must have had the same old gramophone player.

I used to think Mariah was constantly horny and obsessed with cum. When she covered "Without You", I thought she was singing "No, I can't forget the semen on your face as you were leavin'" and a few years later she sang "Honey", which was actually about cum.

This one is more a case of mispronounced words causing lyrics to be misunderstood. When I was in graduate school one of my classmates was a Korean guy from Busan, who had mistakenly believed that the word "penis" was pronounced "pennies". Once when a group of us were hanging out and listening to old 80s songs on the radio, the poor guy was embarrassed and amused when "Material Girl" came on.

He misunderstood the "Only boys that save their pennies make my rainy day" lyric and thought that Madonna was singing "Only boys that save their penis make my rainy day". The others in my group couldn't stop laughing when the cause of his confusion was discovered. One of them asked him what he'd thought "rainy day" meant with his interpretation. The poor kid blushed and mumbled something or the other.

I wonder if he was disappointed that the song wasn't quite as explicit as he had thought it was.

Bump.

"But where are the clowns......they're all tippy clowns....."