Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Norah
Date: 30 Oct 13 - 03:59 AM

Jimi Hendrix version, not "Verizon". Oops.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Norah
Date: 30 Oct 13 - 03:53 AM

Don't know if anyone's still looking at this, but I always thought In the Jimi Hendrix Verizon of "All Along the Watchtower" he sang "people stand here and drink my wine. Come and dig my herb. None will level, undermine nobody else in this world."

Actually he said (according to the lyrics I've read anywa): "Businessmen drink my wine. Plowmen dig my earth. None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Jesse
Date: 28 Apr 11 - 05:11 PM

Not from a song, but continuing the Religious Ceremony sub-thread from over a decade ago:

The first time a friend of mine attended a Lutheran Church, he wondered at the oft repeated phrase: "May the Pizza DeLorean bewitch you!"

Afterwards he asked and learned it was: "May the peace of the Lord be with you."

For years our group would greet each other with the DeLorean version.

-Jesse

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: maeve
Date: 17 Sep 07 - 03:45 PM

"You can't lock me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough"

Here's a link for the nameless GUEST.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road lyrics


maeve

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Sep 07 - 12:52 PM

How about Elton John whose "cat locked me in your penthouse" in his song "Yellow Brick Road". (Of course there are several other unintelligible phrases in that song...many of which I have YET to figure out!)

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 03:28 AM

Christmas Carols.
We three Kings from Orry and Tar.
Even more embarrassing when off to the Isle of Man for the TT and sailed on the King Orrie.
Hang on, I might be right.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: BK Lick
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 02:26 AM

Searched the Mudcat and I don't believe anyone's yet mentioned this very graphic bluegrass mondegreen -- someone heard the line "to me boys it was sad" in Bill Monroe's "Goodbye Old Pal" as "two meatballs in the sand."

—BK

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: the button
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 01:56 AM

A friend of mine thought that the chorus of The Pixies' "Monkey's gone to heaven," was "this much is known for certain." Despite knowing what the song was called.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Genie
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 01:29 AM

As I believe I've posted in some other mondegreen related thread, when the Beach Boys' song "Little Deuce Coupe" was popular, for the longest time I thought they were singing about "My Little Blue Scoop."   (I never paid much attention to the lyrics.)

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,lefthanded guitar
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 05:35 PM

My country is a tree

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Mr Happy
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 10:24 AM

In Manfred Mann's cover of Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light, the line "revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night" is often cited as a prominent example of a mondegreen in popular music.

The line is often misinterpreted in Mann's version (the pronunciation is very exaggerated) as "wrapped up like a douche" (Springsteen's original lyric was "cut loose like a deuce").

Deuce, in the song, refers to a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe, and not a hygienic procedure.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Cluin
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 03:19 AM

I knew a guy who thought the chorus to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" went:

Slow walkin' Walter,
Fire engine guy...

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Genie
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 02:26 AM

Uncle Fred, I'm sure this has been mentioned in other mondegreen-related thread -- partly because one of my earliest posts at Mudcat was about it -- but Maybelle Carter also either initiated or at least perpetuated some major mondegreens in the song Wildwood Flower.

The line that was once "I will twine and I'll mingle my raven-black hair with the roses so red and the lilies so fair" morphed, in the Carter Family version, into
"I will twine with my mingles of raven-black hair the roses ...    ."   
(What the heck is a mingle of hair, anyway?)

And the line that was, earlier on, something like "The myrtle so bright with its emerald hue
And the pale emelita and islip so blue"
became "The myrtle so bright with its emerald dew
And the pale and the leader and eyes look so blue."

Emelita and islip are flowers.   Mother Maybelle's mondegreen never has made much sense to me, but it gets passed on via recordings (e.g., Joah Baez) and folk song books (also Joan Baez, among others).

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Genie
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 02:15 AM

Riverman, my cousin Marsha, who in her teens was the queen of the mondegreen, also heard Winter Wonderland that way.   She would sing "Later on we'll perspire as we sit by the fire
And face unafraid the friends that we made ...    ."


Of course, she also sang a standard from "My Fair Lady" as "Oh, the streets of town
Never let you down."

(That was supposed to be "On The Street Where You Live.")

§;-D

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:52 PM

The biggest mistake I ever made When listening to a song was proposing to...what's her name again?

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: oldhippie
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:40 PM

MatthewB - I always thought the John Ford Coley line was "I'm not talking about believin'"

And, does anyone else hear Sheryl Crow sing: "All I wanna do, get hooked on phonics"?????

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Uncle Fred
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 12:08 PM

The great musicians of the world also creatd mondegreens.
When A.P. Carter heard the Wabash Cannonball he didn't have his pencil, unusual for him. What he heard was, "The boes' acommodations on the Wabash Cannonball" In other words, the hobos means of transportation. He interpreted it as "Modern Combination..." and that's what people remember. But there is a wonderfully composed version that was recorded by the great ethnomusicologist John Greenway. Imagine a boxcar with the name "Wabash Line" painted on the side. The train itself could not go to all the places in the song, but the single boxcar could go anywhere there were tracks; just like a luxurious private car that the rich traveled in.
"Hear her engine whistle and the lonesome hobos call
As they ride the rods and brakebeams on the Wabash Cannonball".

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Scrump
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 11:25 AM

...there was nothing particularly romantic (or logical) about sitting by a fire sweating horribly with your dearest loved one next to you doing the same thing. You could, after all, take your pullover off...

I thought that was the idea - making the room hot so you'd both have to disrobe... :-)

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Riverman
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 10:52 AM

Not very folky, but my wife, it turns out, had for years and years misheard the following line from Winter Wonderland: 'Later on we'll conspire/as we dream by the fire'. She heard it as 'Later on we'll perspire....' etc.

When put right, reason did insist to her that there was nothing particularly romantic (or logical) about sitting by a fire sweating horribly with your dearest loved one next to you doing the same thing. You could, after all, take your pullover off or move to a seat further away to carry on dreaming.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 07:33 AM

As a boy my parents would take me to church socials, and very often at the end of the evening people would stand in a circle, cross arms and hold their neighbours hand to sing Auld Lang Syne.

I had idea what this was about and so would sing my very hearty and very loud version of "for the sake of Old Mans Arm". It sounded right to me.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Scrump
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 07:07 AM

Oops. I just saw ib48's post above. Sorry for the repetition.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Scrump
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 06:57 AM

I once made the mistake of wearing earplugs when listening to songs. I couldn't hear a feckin' thing. I learnt from that error and have scrupulously avoided earplugs when listening to songs ever since :-)

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Mo the caller
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 06:52 AM

My children laughed at me when I heard the Pop song "Chicken on the Loose Tonight" but I still think it makes more sense than whatever it really was.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,ib48
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 01:38 PM

listening with ear plugs in,what a silly billy i am.And i once listened while under water,couldnt hear a thing.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Lady Nancy
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 01:22 PM

I took the words to Molly Brannigan down in shorthand - many years ago when it was fashionable - and when I came to transcribe them,one of the outlines made no sense at all, so for years I sang "He's as hot and as bothered as a life's a lemon durmadon" and no-one seemed to notice. Then I picked up a book in a chrity shop with the words in it and it actually says "He's as hot and as bothered as a live salamander man" How I - and my mates in the know - laughed! I still sing Lemon Durmadon for the hell of it!

LN

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Bardan
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 06:46 AM

In farewell farewell by Sandy Denny I always used to hear "farewell, farewell to you who adhere" in stead of would hear. I think adhere is perfectly good.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Peace
Date: 08 Jul 05 - 11:33 PM

LOL

Once heard the song, "Yooouuuuu ooo ooo ooo send me .... honest you do ....

as

"Yooouuuuu ooo ooo ooo send me .... on a skidoo ....

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: ranger1
Date: 08 Jul 05 - 10:34 PM

My SO for years thought that Bruce Springsteen was singing about a "dead devil in the freezer." It certainly makes more sense than a 10th avenue freezeout.

There was a song in the 80s with a line that I heard the first time as: "I'm just dying in your arms tonight, it must have been something I ate." The actual line is "I'm just dying in your arms tonight, it must have been some kind of kiss."

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Genie
Date: 08 Jul 05 - 09:09 PM

Jaze, not to worry. "Jose" is Spanish, not French. You don't need no steenkin' accent mark over the "e." §;-D

Genie

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Peace
Date: 08 Jul 05 - 08:08 PM

Knew someone who commented that it was no wonder Lucille left. From the Kenny Rogers song she heard

"You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille,
With four hungry children and a crop in the field"

as

"You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille,
With four hundred children . . . ".

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: jaze
Date: 08 Jul 05 - 07:53 PM

I always thought the national anthem began... Jose, can you see. Wondered for years who Jose was.(sorry, can't do that accent mark)

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Mark Clark
Date: 25 Mar 03 - 08:14 PM

I'm on my way back to the old home
That rolls by it's own up the hill…

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Snuffy
Date: 25 Mar 03 - 06:45 PM

Now the year has passed away
Cast away your sins
There's lots of lovely new ones as
Another year begins

(Kipper Family)

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Sam L
Date: 25 Mar 03 - 03:10 PM

It's hard to come up with an Original Sin, most are so, like, last year.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Cool Beans
Date: 25 Mar 03 - 12:58 PM

And speaking of Olive, the other reindeer, from about 50 messages back, I always thought there was another one, a reindeer by the name of Howe, who late in the game declared his affection for Rudolph', to wit: "Then Howe the Reindeer loved him.''

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Mar 03 - 12:22 PM

I went to a 'sinaround' once, but by the time my turn came, all the good sins had been taken.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: BUTTERFLY
Date: 24 Mar 03 - 01:46 PM

Mr. Happy talks about a man who is a siner/songwriter who comes to a local "sinaround"; now that sounds interesting!

Obviously this is a mistake, there should be an extra "n".

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 05:46 AM

Not exactly a mistake, but I recently heard Johnny Cash's version of One, by U2.

I was stymied by the fact that he sang the line: "We *get* to carry each other", whereas I was sure that U2 sang: "We've *got* to carry each other" - a very different proposition, and much more likely from their puritan Irish background!

Doing a quick Google on it, I find that all American sites with the lyrics give them as "we get to carry each other" - that is, "we are allowed to carry, have the privilege of carrying, each other", whereas all Irish sites give "we've got to carry each other" - that is, "we are under an obligation to, we must, carry each other". Hmmm.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Mr Happy
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 05:37 AM

there's a bloke comes to local sinarounds who is a siner/songwriter but he also does other stuff too.

a line in one of his own songs goes; 'flying away, high above the pyrenees' followed by the next line which for a long time heard as; 'homeward am i bound to go, can't hide my sunburnt knees!!'

this is part of the chorus, & he'd noticed me joining in wrong, told me its actually 'can't hide my summer tears!'

privately i thought my perceived lyric maybe more appropriate!

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 05:22 AM

I thought it was "But I'm jealous of my son"
oops

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Callie
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 04:58 AM

Then there's always that Michael Jackson song -

Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the chair is not my son

I swear that's what he sings

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Frankham
Date: 05 Mar 03 - 06:18 PM

Spaw that puts me in mind of the famous Southern expression down here..
"Anjy". I asked someone here who was "Anjy"? He said, "Well you know anjy means you mama anjy daddy."

Frank

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Genie
Date: 05 Mar 03 - 03:51 PM

Oh, Franny! That "West Virginia" Bulgarian mondegreen is priceless!

You know, even though I now know what the line really is, when I hear NGDB's recording of "Mr. Bojangles," it STILL sounds like the lead singer is singing:

"...He looked to me to be the eyes of Ish*
As the smoke ran out."

Genie

*When I first heard it, all it conjured up was an image of a large statue to some South Sea Island god, with smoke and flames coming from the eyes of the statue.

The real line, for the few folks who don't know, is "He looked to me to be the eyes of age, as he spoke right out."

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Just Amy
Date: 04 Mar 03 - 08:50 PM

I am laughing so hard!

Tim Jaques - it is "Sweet Loretta MARTIN" (my college roommate was nicknamed Loretta Martin and we still call her that).

Matthew B - It is definitely "movin' in"

My biggest faux pas was that for 10 years or more I thought that line in the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Kodachrome" was "Momma, don't take my colored phone away." Duh to me.

I had a friend who had recently arrived from Syrian (actually Armenian) without much English. He was singing with an American band and thought the song "Night moves" was actually "Night Moose!"

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: JJ
Date: 04 Mar 03 - 08:22 PM

The Bulgarian error mentioned by Guest Franny B above was a deliberate substitution in the lyrics of the West Virginia University Fight Song made by a friend of mine and his inamorata while undergrads there. The lyrics follow, so that you may make your own substitutions:

It's West Virginia, it's West Virginia,
The pride of every Mountaineer,
Come on you old grads, join with us young lads.
It's West Virginia now we cheer!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Now is the time boys to make a big noise.
No matter what the people say,
For there is naught to fear, the gang's all here,
So hail West Virginia, hail.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Mar 03 - 02:31 PM

Kris... I would dearly love to meet your mum.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Cool Beans
Date: 04 Mar 03 - 01:30 PM

My daughters used to think that Davy Crockett acquired carpentry skills at an early age because he'd built him a bar when he was only three. I guess that would be pretty impressive.

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Mar 03 - 01:05 PM

Family lore has it that in the country song that goes

'My heart is withered like the petal
of a rose I saw dying today...' a cousin of mine sang:

My heart is withered like a banjo, etc. We younger ones laughed at that for years.

Only recently did I realize that in all likelihood she had gotten mixed up from an earlier mondegreen, that she had first heard it as

My heart is withered like a fiddle, etc

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: GUEST,Franny B
Date: 04 Mar 03 - 08:16 AM

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to making this thread the best read I've had in ages.

I have to share one sublime experience of a Mondegreen with you. My husband and I were eating an indifferent (and unidentifiable) meal in a downmarket restaurant in Varna, Bulgaria, to the accompaniment of a live band. Although the band was performing covers of well-known songs (Beatles and such like), it was obvious that none of them actually understood a word of what they were singing, and hence the performance was littered with Mondegreens. The best one, though, occured in 'Take Me Home Country Roads' when instead of extolling the virtues of 'West Virginia', they were singing the praises of 'Wet Vagina'.

F. x

Subject: RE: Mistakes I Have Made When Listening To Songs
From: mike the knife
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 02:51 PM

I wish I had the copy of a thing a friend sent to me with the results of his trying to use Voice Recognition Software. It was to be a paper for a MBA program, & thus full of businness-speak. The results were surreal. Interspersed w/ the jargon was the most sublime gibberish. One passage read "Blood blood blood". I laughed Very Hard for a good hour.