I've had a number of times in my life when the lyrics I've heard are not actually the lyrics being sung and when I've discovered the actual lyrics has changed the emphasis of a song. I wondered if its just me or if other people experience this too? The best example of this is a song called "Me & Bobby McGee". I know this as a Kris Kristofferson (who wrote it) song, although I think the most famous version is sung by Janis Joplin (which changes the female reference to a male)

What I thought the lyrics were

One day miscellaneous Lord, I let her slip away
She's lookin' for that home, and I hope she finds it

The actual lyrics are:

One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away
She's lookin' for that home, and I hope she finds it

Me & Bobby McGee

which changes the emphasis of the song from some vague, hazy recollection to something much more personal.

Does anyone else have any examples of lyrics they'd misheard?

8 years ago*

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8 years ago
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+1

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Nooooo! I wanted to make this thread lol xD Oh well, I never got around to it, just had the idea (and this song) in mind for some months. :P

Franz Ferdinand - Tell Her Tonight
It REALLY sounds like they are singing:

♪ Gonna have Nutella toniiight ♪ xD

But they are just singing:

Gonna have to tell her tonight

At least some of the YouTube comments agree, so it's not only me :D!

8 years ago
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I feel guilty now MilleW :(

8 years ago
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Nononononoo, don't! First come, first serve! =)

This way is fine! Then I don't feel obligated to reply to every single person! :P

8 years ago
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:)

And you're right - sounds like

Gonna have Nutella tonight

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This.. I don't know whether it's a song or not though
You can't unhear that, so beware xD

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Good one, but this one's a better parody of Skyrim imo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR8xhxZwqIs

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He definitely says

Pikachu's a virgin

;)

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View attached image.
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OK, that song is just never going to be the same again. Permission to smirk when I hear it next ..

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvl8AW9aOOA (some are a bit forced/not all of them are that obvious, but some of them are ...)

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Haha! I remember that one from Friends :)

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+1 xD

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What I thought they were singing:
Dirty deeds and the Dunder Chief

What they're actually singing:
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Didn't realize my mistake 'til last year, when I finally saw the title of the song written out. :p

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Even knowing the actual words, your misheard lyrics still sound right. ;)

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+1

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You don't know the pain when english isn't you mother language and you're hearing an english song. It's so hard to understand what they're actually saying. A fine example is Freestyler. I couldn't understand the lyrics at all. Actually, most Greeks couldn't understand them. We thought that instead of "rock the microphone", he was saying "waka maka fon". :P

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I can never actually understand most of what he's saying. I have to check the lyrics to understand.

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I can understand movie dialogues, if they do not have weird accents and they speak clearly. But in songs, almost nobody sings with a clear voice. And in Freestyler, it's impossible to understand the singer. XD

8 years ago
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+1 for waka maka fon :D

8 years ago
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I can't even understand any of its lyrics anyway. :B

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As a side note, here's a super-funny Indian video with subtitles of that it sounds like they're singing (look, he's the Indian George Michaels!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WO3oXSbGNk

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The guy who did these (Buffalax) is still kicking around, even though his original Youtube channel was axed for copyright reasons a long time ago. He mostly streams old NES games on Twitch these days, although he did the song from Hong Kong 97 last year.

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One of the funniest I've heard was from The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds where

A girl with kaleidoscope eyes

Was often mistaken for

A girl with colitis goes by

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This happens to me frequently.

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I used to listen to an oldies station that would do "sing for your song" weekends, where callers would have to sing a bar or two and then they'd play the song. When people would get the lyrics wrong, they'd use the clips in the promos. My favorite was instead of "There's a bad moon on the rise", someone sang "There's a bathroom on the right."

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Love it! :)

View attached image.
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Misfits - Death Comes Ripping.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqaZ-7kFmSk
@40 secs in - I thought he was saying "Can't Stop for Breakfast."
In my defense, they do have another song with the lyrics "Ripped up like shredded wheat."

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I have no idea what the real lyrics are but I definitely hear

Can't Stop for Breakfast

8 years ago
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lol - Thanks :)
I asked my gf what she thought it was (without any prompting from me) after I posted this and she said - "I dunno, can't stop ... something something." So I guess it isn't all that odd I misheard it after all. :)
He's actually saying the name of the song - "Death Comes Ripping" - Glenn Danzig was known for not singing into the microphone and mumbling though lyrics sometimes though.

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Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

I hear "I know that pizza goes with broccoli" instead of "I know that things are going wrong for me"

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OMG I've heard this a 100 times before and now can only hear

I know that pizza goes with broccoli

Crazy Train : I know that pizza goes with broccoli

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I got my first real sex dream
something something
Played it 'till my fingers bled
Was the summer of 69

Bryan Adams - Summer of '69

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Yep, that works :)

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Bought it at the five and dime

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Rishloo - Radio

This song has a line that to me sounds like:

Hey man, don't be afraid ever, I am on a rhino, on fire.

It is apparently actually supposed to be:

Hey man, don't be afraid ever, I am on the ride of my life.

Personally I prefer my version.

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Personally I prefer my version.

So do I :) And I can't actually hear the correct version, only yours ;)

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Taylor Swift songs come up often at the place I work. For the longest time when Blank Space was popular, I heard:

Got along with Starbucks lovers

when the actual line is:

Got a long list of ex lovers

Didn't help that my coworkers would sing it the wrong way too.. ; A ;

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Definitely

Starbucks lovers

:)

Blank Space : Starbucks lovers

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