Misheard song lyrics

[GaryV]

There's an old hymn, "Gladly the Cross I'd Bear".  I read a story (true? I don't know) about kids singing it thinking about a unlucky bruin with bad eyesight known by the unlikely name of "Gladly".

[michravera]

This song is playing with the idea of deliberately mishearing lyrics: the English and Japanese sound similar, but have different meanings. And it's all subtitled. Examples:

J: Ryuu gaku sei (exchange student)
E: You gotta stay

J: Heya nijuu heibei (20 square meter room)
E: Hey I need you here babe

J: Beddo ni neru toki kutsu nugu (take off your shoes when going to sleep)
E: Better never talking cause it's no good

The song doesn't start until about 1:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvEVP7NPklU

"My Sharona" was variously rendered as "maishuu onna" (Japanese for "Every week girl") and "Rice-a-rona".

"Me and Zero request you in the Mercedes" was rendered "Meet at zeroes. Request you in the Mercedes."

[kurumi]

Probably my favorite Pixies song, "In a Lifeboat":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0ugnZfHHCE

[CoreySamson]

Kphoger might like this one:
Someone in my family misheard the lyrics of the second verse of the CCM band Elevation Worship's "See A Victory" as this:

"I'm not backing down from meningitis, for I know how this story ends..."

Actual lyrics:

"I'm not backing down from any giants, for I know how this story ends..."

[kphoger]

Kphoger might like this one:
Someone in my family misheard the lyrics of the second verse of the CCM band Elevation Worship's "See A Victory" as this:

"I'm not backing down from meningitis, for I know how this story ends..."

Christian Scientists!   

[hbelkins]

To tie this in to the "songs that self-reference" thread, for years when I was younger, I thought the first line in "Iron Man" was "Ozzy lost his mind" instead of "Has he lost his mind."

[Takumi]

"Ozzy lost his mind"

I think that happened a bit later.
https://youtu.be/8m2nfk5jCOI

[michravera]

To tie this in to the "songs that self-reference" thread, for years when I was younger, I thought the first line in "Iron Man" was "Ozzy lost his mind" instead of "Has he lost his mind."

My step-kids pointed out that "Stark Raving Love" and "I Need a Hero" use the same intro.
Blondie has a couple self-references: Including "Fade Away and Radiate" that is referenced in "Dreaming" and "Atomic" that is referenced in "Rip Her to Shreds". It may be that "Atomic" was written afterwards (and possibly there "inspired" rather that referenced).

[kphoger]

There's a song on Christian radio these days called Come What May by the band We Are Messengers.  The first several times our eldest son heard it, he misheard the title phrase as "Kumquat Day" every time it came up in the song.  Obviously he knew that was wrong, but he couldn't hear it as anything else.  I suspect that's because people don't usually go around using the phrase "come what may" in casual conversation, so it hadn't been a phrase in his vocabulary.

[Scott5114]

You should surprise him with a meal with kumquats as the central ingredient, and declare that day to be Kumquat Day.

[kphoger]

Madonna — La Isla Bonita — "Last night I dreamt of some bagel"

[Takumi]

Madonna — La Isla Bonita — "Last night I dreamt of some bagel"

"Young girl with eyes like potaaaatoooooes"

[tmoore952]

A co-worker of mine in mid 80s thought that Huey Lewis's "I Want a New Drug" was "I Want a New Truck".

Thinking about this, in the context of the other lyrics, that interpretation is reasonable.

[tmoore952]

I mentioned this in another music/song-related thread; when I first heard Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music as a kid during the mid-70s, I thought they were saying "Play that fu*@ing music...".

Reminds me of the day my sister was reading the lyrics for Convoy and suddenly exclaimed "Oh, it's "Roll that Truckin' Convoy!"  I thought it was ....

If it makes it out over the air, the odds are very much against what you may have thought it was.  For more, ask George Carlin.

Nowadays, yes.  (and yes I am aware I am responding to very old posts --- I am reading this thread for the first time)

But in the late '70s I remember hearing on the radio both variations of Steve Miller's "Jet Airliner":

"Cause I don't want to get caught up in any of that funky kicks going down in the city"
"Cause I don't want to get caught up in any of that funky s**t going down in the city"

I finally figured out I wasn't mishearing things, there were actually two different edits.

[tmoore952]

Surprised no one's mentioned "Hold me closer, Tony Danza" yet.

Tiny Dancer from Elton John! That one made me LOL!

Reading through thread for first time to make sure I am not repeating anything in new posts.

As a result I am reading 8 or 9 year old posts.

I never got the Tony Danza reference (or better said -- thought it was funny) because that song was out several years before I ever heard of Tony Danza (I first heard of him on the "Taxi" TV show). So this must have been misheard by someone who does not remember a time without Tony Danza.

[roadman65]

I know Cox Media Group dubs out part of the line in Money For Nothing by Dire Straits directed at a homosexual. The f*****t with earring and the makeup is blurted. They also blurt out the GD word in Eagles Life In The Fast Lane.


I wonder what they would do in Ten Years After song I Want To Change The World where there is a line using slang for lesbians and gays? The local station around my area don't play it as it's a Classic Hit station and not Classic Rock not fitting into that format.

[tmoore952]

I use to think that I wanna hold your hand by The Beatles they were singing I get high instead it was I can't hide.

I read that Bob Dylan thought the same thing before he met the Beatles. So you have good company.

[tmoore952]

In HS when this ["Summer Breeze by Seals and Croft] came out, we heard "Jazz man in my mind".

I have thought that for over 50 years. Never saw the lyrics printed, so no reason to believe otherwise (it's really "jasmine" according to the next sentence of the quoted post that I edited out).

[roadman65]

I know this is been said before, but the Duce in Manfred Mann's Blinded By Light to some was not that particular word. Ironically enough, Bruce Springsteen, the actual author of the song, in his version of the song, makes Duce out to be clear when he delivers the word.

[tmoore952]

I know Cox Media Group dubs out part of the line in Money For Nothing by Dire Straits directed at a homosexual. The f*****t with earring and the makeup is blurted. They also blurt out the GD word in Eagles Life In The Fast Lane.


I wonder what they would do in Ten Years After song I Want To Change The World where there is a line using slang for lesbians and gays? The local station around my area don't play it as it's a Classic Hit station and not Classic Rock not fitting into that format.

Most of the ones I remember, from when I was young they now either blurt it out ("erase" the word) or they remove the word and surrounding music completely, so that the rhythm is wrong (7 beats where there should be 8). When the latter happens, I usually say out loud (intended for the radio station) "why do you bother playing it?".

WRT the ones you mention:
"Money For Nothing" - I have heard the offending word blurted out ("erased") but the rhythm stays correct.
"I'd Love To Change the World" - I haven't heard that on the radio since the 20th century, so I can't comment.

[tmoore952]

For the longest time after it came out, I always heard that well known Go-Gos song as something on the lines of 'Honest Lucille'.



Mike

When it first came out and for several years afterwards I thought it was "Honest I'd See You" instead of "Our Lips Are Sealed".

Side note - this is one of my favorite songs from that timeframe, in spite of the fact that the lyrics don't apply to me (I won't go any further than that).

[roadman65]

In A Flock of Seagulls song I Ran, after walking along the Avenue where the singer sings " I thought I'd never meet a girl like you" was " I thought I'd never meet a guy like you" as in the video of the song, the lead vocalist appeared woman like in his character.

[kphoger]

I know this is been said before, but the Duce in Manfred Mann's Blinded By Light to some was not that particular word. Ironically enough, Bruce Springsteen, the actual author of the song, in his version of the song, makes Duce out to be clear when he delivers the word.

TIL it isn't "wrapped up like a douche".  Thought that's what it was this whole time.

[1995hoo]

The original lyric is "cut loose like a deuce" (not "Duce," which refers to Benito Mussolini). Springsteen has said he was thinking of a little deuce coupe (a car, for those who don't know—hardly surprising for Springsteen) when he wrote the lyric and that it took Manfred Mann singing about a feminine hygiene product to make the song a hit.

[cockroachking]

Howard Jones - Life in One Day:
Heard: Time will wear away the stone, Dance through the rabbit tree farm
Actual: Time will wear away the stone, Gets the hereditary bone

Haken - Falling Back to Earth:
Heard: I scale the summit like a non-stop purple force
Actual: I scale the summit like an unstoppable force