I was overwhelmed with responses to my blog of Jan 19 Singing All By Myself! Apparently, I am not the only person that mishears or misunderstands lyrics. I guess there is some sort of comfort knowing I am not the only one out there.
I'll start with one from my own collection. In the mid 70's there was a song Black Betty by Ram Jam. Black Betty lyrics were "Oh Black Betty bam ba lam." My brother would sing "Come back Betty in a scramble van." A scrambler van, to the unwise, is a vehicle owned by the Barbie. I kind of prefer that version!
Several mentioned mishearing Jimi Hendrix say "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" instead of "Excuse me while I kiss the sky" in Purple Haze. It was the 60's.....could go either way!
A Chicago fan mentioned singing "You're my motel lover" instead of " no tell lover." She claimed she didn't know what a "No Tell Lover" was when the song first came out. I have to admit I wasn't familliar with the term either, but I had also never heard of a Motel Lover!
Many readers swear the words to Elton John's Benny and Jets are "She's got electric boobs" instead of "electric boots." I could go either way - because I'm not sure of what electric boobs or boots are.
Don't bring me down by ELO has it's own fun fact. The original lyrics are "Don't bring me down, Groos." According to author Jeff Lynne, he used "groos" as a filler to add lyrics. He later learned that "groos" means "greetings," and he left it in. But so many fans would sing along and say "Bruce" instead of "Groos" that Lynne changed the lyrics for live shows. My hat is off to Lynne doing that! Bruce it is!
I don't blame anyone for not knowing the words to Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Nobody had optional lyrics - but several just mumbled something to "really really really wanna zigazig ah!
A very popular misheard lyric was Carly Simon's You're so Vein. Readers hear "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself go by." This makes perfect sence until you add all the pieces of the song together. The actual lyric is "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte." A gavotte is a French dance popular a few centuries ago. And, bonus, it rhymes with yacht and apricot! Here is a link if you would like to see someone gavotte. I would love to see someone do this at a party! Complete in costume!
I would have thought the band Survivor ranked as ok enunciators until I heard from Shaman25! Instead of "And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night" they heard "And the last known survivor stocks his bread in the night." Maybe he does both?
Even 70's soft rock can be misheard. In Sharing the Night Together by Dr Hook, unalert listener MollyB should have heard "Ah yeah, alright. Cause I like feeling like I do and I can see in your that youre feeling it, ah yeah, alright. But, she heard "And I can see in your eyes I'm wrapped in a joke!" All I can say is, ah yeah, alright!
A reader misheard a newer song - Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake. Correct lyrics are "Go ahead, be gone with it." Tibsnfibs feels she can't be the only one that hears "Go hippie, go hippie, go with it." I'm going with Tibsnfibs on this one!
I saved my own for last as many people reminded me that I had no idea what I was singing back in high school. While the rest of the world was singing "I wan't to kiss you all over" by Exile, I was in my own world singing "I want to kiss you on the floor." I still think that is what they are saying.
Do you ever misundertand lyrics? Let me know! We'll add the to the list!
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