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Misheard song lyrics

Started by golden eagle, December 18, 2014, 07:06:30 PM

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Big John

Quote from: roadman65 on April 17, 2021, 09:57:59 AM
When I was a child I heard the song John Jacob Jingle Homer Scmidt sung by other kids replacing Scmidt with Shit, so I thought when it was played on children's tv that they were going to play a curse word song to us.
You also misheard John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.


kernals12

What I heard: Pay the rent Collette
What it actually is: Little Red Corvette

What I heard: She got better day besides
What it actually is: She got Bette Davis eyes


sparker

Quote from: kernals12 on April 17, 2021, 04:26:42 PM
What I heard: Pay the rent Collette
What it actually is: Little Red Corvette

What I heard: She got better day besides
What it actually is: She got Bette Davis eyes



Interesting story -- back about '82 right after Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes came out, a friend of mine, who was an aspiring stand-up comic, worked some ersatz Al Yankovic riffs into his act.  A lot of the stuff he did 39 years ago would have gotten him booed off the stage today; the "Davis" riff being one of them:

Sammy Davis Eyes:           Puts it in in the morning
                                     Puts it back every night.
                                     Can pop it out without warning --
                                     He's got Sammy Davis' eye!

Of course, that's in reference to the real Davis' infamous glass eye.  He also had a spoof of Queen's Bicycle called Bisexual; now that definitely would have gotten him thrown out of any venue in the Bay area!  He called his comedy career off in the late '80's (just as well).  But the Davis riff was rendered moot with the real Weird Al's Marty Feldman Eyes about a year later!


roadman65

Quote from: Big John on April 17, 2021, 01:52:17 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on April 17, 2021, 09:57:59 AM
When I was a child I heard the song John Jacob Jingle Homer Scmidt sung by other kids replacing Scmidt with Shit, so I thought when it was played on children's tv that they were going to play a curse word song to us.
You also misheard John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

iPad spell correct thought Himer should be Homer.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

kenarmy


When MJ says "the kid is not my son" in Billie Jean, I thought he said "the chair is not my son".. Maybe I'm crazy but I swear it sounds like that.
Just a reminder that US 6, 49, 50, and 98 are superior to your fave routes :)


EXTEND 206 SO IT CAN MEET ITS PARENT.

zachary_amaryllis

from manfred man:
"little early burly gave my anus curly whirly... and asked me if i needed a ride"

from ccr:
"there's the bathroom, on the right"

from korn:
"something takes a bite of me"

from nirvana:
"hey.. wait.. i gotta lose some weight..."
clinched:
I-64, I-80, I-76 (west), *64s in hampton roads, 225,270,180 (co, wy)

kevinb1994

Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on April 28, 2021, 08:32:17 AM
from manfred man:
"little early burly gave my anus curly whirly... and asked me if i needed a ride"

from ccr:
"there's the bathroom, on the right"

from korn:
"something takes a bite of me"

from nirvana:
"hey.. wait.. i gotta lose some weight..."
The first one may or may not actually be what Springsteen wrote.

CCR is dead on.

There's other good misheard lyrics from Nirvana.

kphoger

I'm pretty sure Nirvana doesn't even know what the real words are to half their songs.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kevinb1994

Quote from: kphoger on April 28, 2021, 10:12:10 AM
I'm pretty sure Nirvana doesn't even know what the real words are to half their songs.
I'm pretty sure that the surviving members would agree with you.

interstatefan990

Selena Gomez's Good For You:

"I'm 14 carats"

"I'm farting carrots"
Multi-lane roundabouts are an abomination to mankind.

kphoger

Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 28, 2021, 01:58:03 PM

Quote from: kphoger on April 28, 2021, 10:12:10 AM
I'm pretty sure Nirvana doesn't even know what the real words are to half their songs.

I'm pretty sure that the surviving members would agree with you.

Quote from: Weird Al Yankovic:  Smells Like Nirvana
What is this song all about?
Can't figure any lyrics out
How do the words to it go
I wish you'd tell me, I don't know

Don't know, don't know, don't know, oh no
Don't know, don't know, don't know

Now I'm mumblin', and I'm screamin'
And I don't know what I'm singin'
Crank the volume, ears are bleedin'
I still don't know what I'm singin'
We're so loud and incoherent
[...]
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kevinb1994

Quote from: kphoger on April 28, 2021, 02:09:09 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 28, 2021, 01:58:03 PM

Quote from: kphoger on April 28, 2021, 10:12:10 AM
I'm pretty sure Nirvana doesn't even know what the real words are to half their songs.

I'm pretty sure that the surviving members would agree with you.

Quote from: Weird Al Yankovic:  Smells Like Nirvana
What is this song all about?
Can't figure any lyrics out
How do the words to it go
I wish you'd tell me, I don't know

Don't know, don't know, don't know, oh no
Don't know, don't know, don't know

Now I'm mumblin', and I'm screamin'
And I don't know what I'm singin'
Crank the volume, ears are bleedin'
I still don't know what I'm singin'
We're so loud and incoherent
[...]
Pretty much hit the nail on that one.

kphoger

Greater, by Christian music group MercyMe:

"Greater is the one living in sodomy..."
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

michravera

Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 28, 2021, 09:36:12 AM
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on April 28, 2021, 08:32:17 AM
from manfred man:
"little early burly gave my anus curly whirly... and asked me if i needed a ride"

from ccr:
"there's the bathroom, on the right"

from korn:
"something takes a bite of me"

from nirvana:
"hey.. wait.. i gotta lose some weight..."
The first one may or may not actually be what Springsteen wrote.

CCR is dead on.

There's other good misheard lyrics from Nirvana.

Springsteen wrote "Little Early Pearly came by in her curly wurly and asked me if I needed a ride" as in "a hooker with really white teeth came by in a 1960s-era really big American tagged car with huge fins to solicit me". It loses something with the gender-swap version that Mannfred Mann's band (actually Chris Slade) sings. The whole song is a list of Springsteen's observation while walking along the Atlantic City boardwalk. I've never really been there, but I can come by many of the same observations in Santa Cruz and Santa Monica.

I won't quote the whole song right now, but I might analyze the whole thing at some later time.
Madman, Drummers, Bummers = Insane people, street musicians, panhandlers (or people tripping out on LSD).
and Indians in the Summer = Baseball fans
with the Teenage Diplomat = the guy trying to make peace between gangs or trying to negotiate a free play or free ride


kevinb1994

#239
Quote from: michravera on May 03, 2021, 03:59:01 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 28, 2021, 09:36:12 AM
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on April 28, 2021, 08:32:17 AM
from manfred man:
"little early burly gave my anus curly whirly... and asked me if i needed a ride"

from ccr:
"there's the bathroom, on the right"

from korn:
"something takes a bite of me"

from nirvana:
"hey.. wait.. i gotta lose some weight..."
The first one may or may not actually be what Springsteen wrote.

CCR is dead on.

There's other good misheard lyrics from Nirvana.

Springsteen wrote "Little Early Pearly came by in her curly wurly and asked me if I needed a ride" as in "a hooker with really white teeth came by in a 1960s-era really big American tagged car with huge fins to solicit me". It loses something with the gender-swap version that Mannfred Mann's band (actually Chris Slade) sings. The whole song is a list of Springsteen's observation while walking along the Atlantic City boardwalk. I've never really been there, but I can come by many of the same observations in Santa Cruz and Santa Monica.

I won't quote the whole song right now, but I might analyze the whole thing at some later time.
Madman, Drummers, Bummers = Insane people, street musicians, panhandlers (or people tripping out on LSD).
and Indians in the Summer = Baseball fans
with the Teenage Diplomat = the guy trying to make peace between gangs or trying to negotiate a free play or free ride
Free Ride was a Edgar Winter song, but it wasn't really his, someone else handled the vocals (and probably wrote the song to begin with-he later managed his own solo/collab career). Chances are that Springsteen may have heard that song. Do you know what an Indian Summer is? The Doors, IIRC, had a song about that. The Cleveland Indians would have been a mere coincidence. But they could very well have been playing whatever team Springsteen would've had been a fan of (likely, of all Tri-State Area teams, the Yanks). If I were Springsteen though, or, being the big fan that I am (like, at the very least, my own father, who happened to see him live in the 70s), I'd agree about it being about the guy trying to make peace between whatever gangs were either fighting or close to such. Madman Across the Water was an Elton John song, originally demoed for the Tumbleweed Connection album, that actually made it to its own eponymous album the following year (going from 1970 to 1971). Drummer, His Band and the Street Choir was (and still is) a notable Van Morrison album, which probably had an influence on Springsteen. I'll note that one of the best songs on that album is "˜I've Been Working', which was also done by Bob Seger on his "˜Back in "˜72' album (it also appears on one of his live albums). A big bummer could be either one you mentioned.

michravera

Quote from: kevinb1994 on May 03, 2021, 04:23:49 PM
Quote from: michravera on May 03, 2021, 03:59:01 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 28, 2021, 09:36:12 AM
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on April 28, 2021, 08:32:17 AM
from manfred man:
"little early burly gave my anus curly whirly... and asked me if i needed a ride"

from ccr:
"there's the bathroom, on the right"

from korn:
"something takes a bite of me"

from nirvana:
"hey.. wait.. i gotta lose some weight..."
The first one may or may not actually be what Springsteen wrote.

CCR is dead on.

There's other good misheard lyrics from Nirvana.

Springsteen wrote "Little Early Pearly came by in her curly wurly and asked me if I needed a ride" as in "a hooker with really white teeth came by in a 1960s-era really big American tagged car with huge fins to solicit me". It loses something with the gender-swap version that Mannfred Mann's band (actually Chris Slade) sings. The whole song is a list of Springsteen's observation while walking along the Atlantic City boardwalk. I've never really been there, but I can come by many of the same observations in Santa Cruz and Santa Monica.

I won't quote the whole song right now, but I might analyze the whole thing at some later time.
Madman, Drummers, Bummers = Insane people, street musicians, panhandlers (or people tripping out on LSD).
and Indians in the Summer = Baseball fans
with the Teenage Diplomat = the guy trying to make peace between gangs or trying to negotiate a free play or free ride
Free Ride was a Edgar Winter song, but it wasn't really his, someone else handled the vocals (and probably wrote the song to begin with-he later managed his own solo/collab career). Chances are that Springsteen may have heard that song. Do you know what an Indian Summer is? The Doors, IIRC, had a song about that. The Cleveland Indians would have been a mere coincidence. But they could very well have been playing whatever team Springsteen would've had been a fan of (likely, of all Tri-State Area teams, the Yanks). If I were Springsteen though, or, being the big fan that I am (like, at the very least, my own father, who happened to see him live in the 70s), I'd agree about it being about the guy trying to make peace between whatever gangs were either fighting or close to such. Madman Across the Water was an Elton John song, originally demoed for the Tumbleweed Connection album, that actually made it to its own eponymous album the following year (going from 1970 to 1971). Drummer, His Band and the Street Choir was (and still is) a notable Van Morrison album, which probably had an influence on Springsteen. I'll note that one of the best songs on that album is "˜I've Been Working', which was also done by Bob Seger on his "˜Back in "˜72' album (it also appears on one of his live albums). A big bummer could be either one you mentioned.

In California, and "Indian Summer" is a period of warm weather in October or November. The Springsteen line is very definitely "Indians in the Summer" and, as such, very likely describes fans of the Cleveland Indians. It may be that someplace in New Jersey had a farm team for the Indians, but I have no reason to say so. However, lots of people from the further inland did go to the beach in Atlantic City in the early 1970s, even before legalized casino gaming. It was a convention destination (even mentioned tangentially in "The Flintstones" in the 1960s).

kevinb1994

#241
Quote from: michravera on May 03, 2021, 04:44:58 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on May 03, 2021, 04:23:49 PM
Quote from: michravera on May 03, 2021, 03:59:01 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 28, 2021, 09:36:12 AM
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on April 28, 2021, 08:32:17 AM
from manfred man:
"little early burly gave my anus curly whirly... and asked me if i needed a ride"

from ccr:
"there's the bathroom, on the right"

from korn:
"something takes a bite of me"

from nirvana:
"hey.. wait.. i gotta lose some weight..."
The first one may or may not actually be what Springsteen wrote.

CCR is dead on.

There's other good misheard lyrics from Nirvana.

Springsteen wrote "Little Early Pearly came by in her curly wurly and asked me if I needed a ride" as in "a hooker with really white teeth came by in a 1960s-era really big American tagged car with huge fins to solicit me". It loses something with the gender-swap version that Mannfred Mann's band (actually Chris Slade) sings. The whole song is a list of Springsteen's observation while walking along the Atlantic City boardwalk. I've never really been there, but I can come by many of the same observations in Santa Cruz and Santa Monica.

I won't quote the whole song right now, but I might analyze the whole thing at some later time.
Madman, Drummers, Bummers = Insane people, street musicians, panhandlers (or people tripping out on LSD).
and Indians in the Summer = Baseball fans
with the Teenage Diplomat = the guy trying to make peace between gangs or trying to negotiate a free play or free ride
Free Ride was a Edgar Winter song, but it wasn't really his, someone else handled the vocals (and probably wrote the song to begin with-he later managed his own solo/collab career). Chances are that Springsteen may have heard that song. Do you know what an Indian Summer is? The Doors, IIRC, had a song about that. The Cleveland Indians would have been a mere coincidence. But they could very well have been playing whatever team Springsteen would've had been a fan of (likely, of all Tri-State Area teams, the Yanks). If I were Springsteen though, or, being the big fan that I am (like, at the very least, my own father, who happened to see him live in the 70s), I'd agree about it being about the guy trying to make peace between whatever gangs were either fighting or close to such. Madman Across the Water was an Elton John song, originally demoed for the Tumbleweed Connection album, that actually made it to its own eponymous album the following year (going from 1970 to 1971). Drummer, His Band and the Street Choir was (and still is) a notable Van Morrison album, which probably had an influence on Springsteen. I'll note that one of the best songs on that album is "˜I've Been Working', which was also done by Bob Seger on his "˜Back in "˜72' album (it also appears on one of his live albums). A big bummer could be either one you mentioned.

In California, and "Indian Summer" is a period of warm weather in October or November. The Springsteen line is very definitely "Indians in the Summer" and, as such, very likely describes fans of the Cleveland Indians. It may be that someplace in New Jersey had a farm team for the Indians, but I have no reason to say so. However, lots of people from the further inland did go to the beach in Atlantic City in the early 1970s, even before legalized casino gaming. It was a convention destination (even mentioned tangentially in "The Flintstones" in the 1960s).
I've been to both A.C. and Santa Cruz. I've never hit the boardwalk in both, but I'll note that A.C. is still a convention destination. Nowadays they hold a notable anime convention there, AnimeNEXT, that I used to frequent. I do think that the Indians may have had such a farm team, or they'd go there (to Atlantic City) because Cleveland isn't a place to go to the beach.
EDIT: It looks like Springsteen may have meant one of the old farm teams of the Indians, but they never did play in A.C.

STLmapboy

I just spent an embarrassingly long time looking up a certain Bee Gees song, which I was certain was called "Take a Knee" or "Manganese."

Turns out it was
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSVTOMkJdqs&ab_channel=JC
Teenage STL area roadgeek.
Missouri>>>>>Illinois

Scott5114

Quote from: STLmapboy on May 24, 2021, 10:16:39 PM
I just spent an embarrassingly long time looking up a certain Bee Gees song, which I was certain was called "Take a Knee" or "Manganese."

I want to live in the alternate universe where the Bee Gees' catalog consisted of nothing but odes to various elements on the periodic table.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

ErmineNotyours

I thought The Pretenders "Brass In Pocket" was "Grass In Pocket."  My mom was using at the time and for some bizarre reason said that if I wanted some she couldn't say no.  I think I'll pass, but I was on the lookout for pro-marijuana signs.

Earlier in the thread were a number of songs with a word misheard for "funk".  Prince's "Erotic City" got some airplay with that word that was uncensored before but is censored now.  But now the background singers insist the word is "funk", and the lyrics on Amazon Music also use that word.

Scott5114

Quote from: ErmineNotyours on May 29, 2021, 12:20:50 AM
Earlier in the thread were a number of songs with a word misheard for "funk".  Prince's "Erotic City" got some airplay with that word that was uncensored before but is censored now.  But now the background singers insist the word is "funk", and the lyrics on Amazon Music also use that word.

I had a friend who misheard The Who's "Eminence Front" when it played on the intercom at work as "Unlimited Fuck", which she thought was hilarious.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: Scott5114 on May 29, 2021, 12:33:04 AM
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on May 29, 2021, 12:20:50 AM
Earlier in the thread were a number of songs with a word misheard for "funk".  Prince's "Erotic City" got some airplay with that word that was uncensored before but is censored now.  But now the background singers insist the word is "funk", and the lyrics on Amazon Music also use that word.

I had a friend who misheard The Who's "Eminence Front" when it played on the intercom at work as "Unlimited Fuck", which she thought was hilarious.

For a time I thought the background vocals were saying "Baby, let's fuck!"
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

kurumi

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 first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

NWI_Irish96

One that I just thought of was that "It's not fair to deny me, the cross I bear that you gave to me," from Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know" was commonly misheard as "It's not fair to deny me, the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me."
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

kphoger

Quote from: cabiness42 on June 01, 2021, 08:53:34 AM
One that I just thought of was that "It's not fair to deny me, the cross I bear that you gave to me," from Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know" was commonly misheard as "It's not fair to deny me, the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me."

I suspect that's how I'm going to hear it from now on.  Thanks!   :cheers:
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.



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