Until I saw the words to "Mr. Bojangles" in print, I thought one of the lines was, "He looked to me to be the eyes of Ish as the smoke ran out."

I did not know what ancient deity "Ish" was, but I pictured a tropical island with a huge stone idol with smoke and fire pouring out of its eyes.

Now that I have seen it printed as " ... the eyes of age, as he spoke right out," I have little trouble hearing it correctly.