When I was a little kid, I thought the lyric from Toto's Africa went: "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a limpus above the Serengeti" I didn't know what "a limpus" might be. I assumed it was some kind of pimple, or wart. When I finally learned they were singing "Olympus" I felt just a bit silly.
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“When I was a little kid, I thought the lyric from Toto's…”
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158 of the story’s 260 posts, best first: each person’s best post, then their other posts. We leave out exact copies and posts from people whose settings keep them off pages like this one. Page 1 of 4. The title is the name people mention most, or the opening line of the best post.
Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. "When everything feels like the movies, yeah you bleed just to know every line." The actual lyric is "to know you're alive" but my version makes sense with the movies reference, if life is a movie, you want to know what's coming next, you'd bleed for that knowledge
Blinded by the light I for years did not understand what “Rolled up like a douche in the corner with a knife” meant. Sometime in my 20s I found out it was “Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night”.
For years I thought that Eurydice in the Broadway version of Chant said “Lookin’ high and lookin’ low / For the food and firewood, I know / We need to find an iamb.” Like, as in they both needed to find the right metrical foot for Orpheus’s song so he could be done and their problems would end.
'Headshrinker' by Oasis manages to include three. "I'm a wanker who's lost & lonely" (I know a girl who's lost & lonely) "Up a tree like a dog" (I've been treated like a dog) "She's a headshrinker now and I think i've set me arse on fire" (...and I think it's time we had some fun)
You used to be able to pay rent publishing this kinda stuff
First time I heard the Metallica song "The Thing That Should Not Be," I misheard the line "Hunter of the Shadows is rising" as "Hunter of the Shadows on rye bread." Still my favorite misheard lyric, AND my favorite sandwich!
So when I was roughly 20 years old, the internet introduced me to the album "Space Metal". And a song on that album, "intergalactic space crusaders", is the first song I ever resorted to looking up lyrics to, because I knew what I was hearing could not possibly be correct. And indeed, it wasn't...
Journey's "Separate Ways" Actual lyric: "Here we stand / Worlds apart, hearts broken in two ..." What I heard: "Here we stand / We're a powerhouse broken in two ..." (It didn't make sense to me, but it was the '80s when a lot of lyrics made no sense even when you heard them correctly, so ...)
Tears for Fears, “Head over Heels”: Actual: “It’s hard to be a man when there’s a gun in your hand” Misheard: “It’s hard to be a man when there’s a girl in your head” I still prefer mine.
"The One Thing" by INXS. Actual line: You've got a dozen men behind you What I heard for the *longest* time: You've got guitars and men behind you
In the Roxette song “Knockin’ On Every Door,” there’s a lyric: “I got to get a-whirlin' like a human hurricane” For many years I misheard it as “like a urinary king.” Obviously I knew that wasn’t right, but I only looked up the real lyric like two years ago.
I agree with a lot of these. But the one that stands out for me is I totally thought, for years, that the line was "dark is the rain". I was like "sure. Checks out." But the title of the song is not that. My only excuse is liner notes, meet blindness. youtu.be/2ZdWyvGDhog?...
when we were little, me and my sister tried to learn what the words were to Walk Like An Egyptian probably didn't help that several of those words and concepts were things we had no idea about because were were little kids our transcription was sheer gibberish
In Pierce the Veil's Fast Times at Clairemont High I heard the lines "I was saving myself for you" and "I've been saving myself for you" as "I was even myself for you" Great song, I like my version a little better.
I simply could not correctly process “raspberry beret” in the Prince song until someone told me that’s what he was saying I didn’t even have a good theory of what the words were, just total inability to figure it out now that I know I can hear it, but man
"A Hazy Shade of Winter" - The Bangles (cover) It's bound to be a better ride than what you've got planned Carry a gun in your hand. Should be a "cup" in your hand. "Gun" does rather change the vibe.
The classic: Blinded by the light Wrapped up like a douche, another runner in the night Blinded by the light Wrapped up like a douche, another runner in the night Blinded by the light Wrapped up like a douche, another runner in the night
In "Burrito" by Seether, I thought for the longest it was "My hands are stained with cum." But the line is "My hands are stained with scum, Wish I could wash it away" According to my wife Shaun Morgan also goes "My hands are stained with cum" some times during live shows and that's really funny
For years I thought they were saying "hey" not "Peg". In my defense I wasn't a fan at the time and I'd only heard it on the radio. I got into them years later and realized my error. youtu.be/u_pt3khMRFs?...
The intro to Modern Love by Bowie, and I still prefer mine “I don’t want to go out I want to stay in Get things done” (Actual: “ I know when to go out Know when to stay in Get things done”)
I never actually knew until a few years ago that in Take On Me he was singing, "In a day or two" at the end of the chorus. I thought he was just scatting.
In the E.L.O. song “Don’t Bring Me Down,” I always thought they were singing “BRUCE!” in the chorus. Since I knew the song was made in the ‘70s and Bruce Lee was one of the most famous celebrities at that time, I thought they were singing about him! They’re actually singing “Gruss!” for some reason.
According to written down lyrics the line in the second verse of "Fisherman's Blues" is "a night that's full of soul". I always heard "a knife cuts through a soul" and I think that's a better line. youtu.be/a4UQJwd3awQ?...
SexyBack by Justin Timberlake. There is a line in there that I SWEAR is "you make me wild/Julia Child". I am also well aware they are 100% not referencing the TV chef in a song about modern sexiness.
“Sure as Kilamanjaro rises like a leopress above the Serengeti.” It’s an archaic word for a girl leopard! I just thought they were cool and literate!
There was a song that contained some lyric about Ray-Bans. I had never heard of Ray-Bans, so this did not register for me. Which led to me, horrified, asking my friend why she was OK hearing these people sing about rape vans.
In Marianne by Fontaines DC I misheard “I can help you disappear” as “I can have you disapeared” which makes things orders of magnitude more weird and threatening.
When I was younger, I didn't understand the song Rock The Casbah For the longest time I genuinely thought they were singing "fuck the gasball"
Can’t find the ocean. To be fair, I’d only ever heard the song on the radio while I was at work, so I’d never seen the title written down.
When I was young there was this decent hit. Title was, I thought, “Rain” since that was the big title belted out for a good five seconds each chorus. But I barely could remember any lyrics. I knew one line solidly. But no searching found it.
Age 6-ish, thought “Love lifted me…” (Kenny Rogers) was “Love is Lipton Tea…” Because mom made a fresh pitcher every day.
"There is a BOMB in Gilead" It's "balm." But 10-yr old me was so confused.
Growing up, I hated Rick Astley’s mega hit because I thought he was loudly and proudly stating “Then I’m gonna give you up, then I’m gonna let you down, then I’m gonna run around and desert you, then I’m gonna make you cry, then I’m gonna say goodbye, then I’m gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 🤦♀️
"I have my looks and my poetry to protect me" from "I Am A Rock" I totally related to one's appearance discouraging human contact. (It's "books")
"then I'm gonna give you up. then I'm gonna let you down. then I'm gonna run around and hurt you." bonus (not me): "I ain't no Harlem Black girl!" (yes, he was.)
I thought the chorus of Pearl Jam’s song Jeremy was “Jeremy smokin’ grass today” for an embarrassingly long time
not me but my kid: Bob Dylan’s “Idiot Wind” became “yaaanywayyy” and now I can only sing it like that
My most recent example's from "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean; I misheard the line, "The way we like to share a walk in Central Park" as "The way we like to share all our consensual parts"🙃
🎶 And the movie's only Betamax 🎵 (Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back by Meat Loaf: the line is actually "and the movie's over, fade to black")
Whenever I hear No Doubt's "Spiderwebs" on a store's crappy P.A. system, it sounds like she's singing "I freeze my balls off"
Misheard a line in Dire Straits' Money For Nothing as "Money for nothing and your cheques for free" rather then "Money for nothing and your chicks for free"
Me, and MANY more FFXIV players singing along to the beginning of this song: "Wild...FREAKS!..." Actual lyrics: "Wild SHRIEKS..."
Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I thought he was saying “Sometimes I wish Some awful Bear would fight me”
In the song Take My Breath Away by Berlin, I thought the lyric 'through the hourglass I saw you' was Julio Iglesias saw you. Wasn't until I got to college that I learned the truth 🫣😭
Don't know if this is exactly a "cover" but Patsy Cline singing Willie Nelson's Crazy has got to be one of the greatest recordings ever made. ✌🏻 #Music m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbnr...
"She's so [something] YAY!" for "Jeux sans frontières" (finally got the right line from watching The Americans with closed captioning).
For years my husband thought the song "I'm like a bird" contained the lyrics "I dont know all my homies"
“Hey satan! Hey now jews! Reelin’ in a rocket bay” Is actually… “Paid satan, paid my dues. Playin in a rockin band” From Hi. Way to hell?
I repeated the namesake of these mishearings before I knew they had a name… There is no "Lady Mondegreen" in "The Bonny Earl of Moray"!
