Lyr Req: Round John

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Round John
From: Genie
Date: 24 Aug 01 - 08:04 PM

Thanks for the ""mondegreen," Matthew.

You probably have heard about the little girl who thought "The Lord's Prayer," went "...lead us not into temptation but deliver us some e-mail ... ."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Round John
From: Marymac90
Date: 23 Aug 01 - 03:57 PM

There's a line in "God Bless America" that kids often sing as "Through the night with a light from a bulb". (above)

Marymac

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Round John
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 23 Aug 01 - 03:55 PM

Hello Genie. These sorts of mis-hearings are pretty freqently discussed here; they are known as "mondegreens". If you enter mondegreen into the Digitrad and Forum Search box and hit "GO", you will find out why, and learn more examples than you really want to know. Happy hunting!

Subject: Round John Virgin et. al.
From: Genie
Date: 23 Aug 01 - 03:11 PM

This is sort of a lyric request thread and sort of a B.S. thread. Respond to it either way.

Maybelle Carter's words to Wildwood Flower contain a line that seems to make no sense and appears to be based upon an auditory errror. She sings "...and the pale and the leader and eyes look so blue...", where the original words were something like "...and the pale amanita and islip so blue..." (referring to flowers). (It may have originally been "aronatus," or "emilita," but the line could easily be heard as "...pale and the leader and eyes look..." --especially if one heard and learned it as a child!

We all know about the kid who thought the pledge of allegiance went, "... and to the republic for Richard Stands...," the one who thought there was a fat guy at the nativity of Jesus named "Round John Virgin," and the one who thought "the other reindeer's name was 'Olive."

I'm wondering what similar auditory errors you know of.

Here are a couple from my own experience:

When I was about seven, I lived near Brooklyn, NY, and rooted for the Dodgers. We had just got our first TV and, of course, were glued to the tube for the Dodgers' games. I had never paid any attention to the Star Spangled Banner before hearing it sung before each game. For months--probably until we were taught the words in some school music class--, I thought the words were "Oh, say, can you see by the Dodgerly light ...?"

A guy I heard singing the Eagles' song, "Take It Easy," was singing the line, "...lookin' for a lover who won't blow my brother ...". I asked him about it, thinking he was trying to be cute, but he said he thought that was the real line (which, of course, really is, "...who won't blow my cover...".

I'm wondering what other auditory confusion gems you 'catters have made, yourselves, as children or heard others make -- especially the ones that have made it into the commonly