[Proud Mary] Until a fellow muscian suggested that our group do the song, for years I had thought the CCR/Tina Turner records went: "Brown Berry, keep on turnin'!" There is a saying, from an old song, Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella. The original song was, "Let Us Smile Be' Your Umbrella," with be' being a contration of "beneath."

Re: "Round Yon Virgin. Most singers (and congregations) sing the song wrong, as far as pauses and punctuation are concerned. They sing, "...all is bright (breath) Round yon virgin (breath) mother and child...," as though the song were punctuated, " All is calm, all is bright. 'Round yon virgin, mother and child... ." No wonder some kids think there are three people being mentioned in the line, and maybe that one of them is Round John Virgin! It should actually be punctuated (often is, in hymnals) "All is calm, all is bright 'round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace."

[We three kings of Orient Are] When I was a kid I always wondered where "Orient Are" was!

I also heard, "Lee Don, oh, King Eternal," for "Lead on, oh, King Eternal." and "Hark, The Harold Angels Sing!" (Angels named Harold?) There's another hymn, This is My Father's World, with a line, "... the music of the spheres ...," which I heard as "... the music of the spears... ."

My cousin used to get really confused on song lyrics. One day she sang, "Later on, we'll perspire as we sit by the fire." (Winter Wonderland)

And, as a child living near Brooklyn and rooting for the Dodgers when I first got a TV set and became aware of the national anthem, sung before each game, I thought it was their theme song -- "Oh, say, can you see by the Dodgerly light ...?"

I posted this last one and a couple of others under "lyr req: Round John Virgin et al.