What are the funniest misunderstood song lyrics you've ever heard?
A Q was asked on a 70s site “What lyrics did you hear wrong, but you sung it that way for years?”
Of course, every other one was “Wrapped up like a douche another rumor in the night.” Then along came Google and just ruined everything.
But the funniest one I read was “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille. 400 children that crap in the field.”
:D
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46 Answers
Lets startle Ryan! Instead of lets start a riot.
Not a misunderstanding, but to this day, I remain convinced that “It’s raining men” is a song about a girl who really likes bukkake.
It’s not one that I misunderstood. A male friend asked me if Merico was a birth control pill? I had no clue of what he was speaking so I asked for clarification. He said it was from a song “I believe in merico you sexy thing. Of course the word was “miracles” & it was the song “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate. I still get a good laugh out of that one
There is always the old ones:
Hold me closer Tony Danza Actually it’s Hold me closer tiny dancer by Elton John.
There’s a bathroom on the right. Actually it’s There’s a bad moon rising.
A newer one is Bacon n eggs. Actually it’s Thank you next by Arianna Grande.
For me (except for the entire Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress sound track) was “In the desert…you can’t remember your name cuz there ain’t no one for to give you no fame….” I spent the next 40 years thinking that was really profound.
Damn your eyes Google. >_<
Steve Miller, “Big Old Jet had a light on”. ( was Big Old Jet airliner).
Beatles, “...the girl with colitis goes bye…”
Michael Jackson: “The chair is not my son!”
Bring in the clouds…was really bring in the clowns. I loved listening to that .
Send in the Clowns
Judy Collins
Isn’t it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air,
Where are the clowns?
Isn’t it bliss?
Don’t you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can’t move,
Where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns?
Just when I’d stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours
Making my entrance again with my usual flair
Sure of my lines
No one is there
Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear
I thought that you’d want what I want
Sorry, my dear!
But where are the clowns
Send in the clowns
Don’t bother, they’re here
Isn’t it rich?
Isn’t it queer?
Losing my timing this late in my career
But where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns
Well, maybe next year
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Stephen Sondheim
Send in the Clowns lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
My girlfriend Snooks thought Guantanamera was one ton tomato and remember the distortion of CHATANOOGA CHOOCHOO “pardon me boy, is that the cat that chewed your new shoes”?
“Looking for a lover who won’t blow my brother
She’s so hard to find”
- ‘Take It Easy’ by the Eagles
“She’s got electric boobs, her mom has too”
-Benny and the Jets
There’s Jimi Hendrix who seemed to sing “excuse me while I kiss this guy” though it was actually “excuse me while I kiss the sky”.
Listening to Taylor Swift recently (what?! I like T-Swizzle), i thought I heard…
“I’ve got a dozen doughnut speeches I almost said to you.”
And, on another song…
“Got a list of Starbucks lovers…”
And I thought, ‘this girl is obsessed with breakfast.’ Turns out, they’re actually…
“I’ve got a dozen thrown out speeches I almost said to you.”
and
“Got a list of star crossed lovers…”
When I was a child the song Little Green Apples by Roger Miller was popular on the radio. They played it many times a day one summer, but whoever directed the choir who sang it was nuts!
This was supposed to be the refrain: God didn’t make the little green apples, And it don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summer time.
But that summer they pronounced Indianapolis “Indiana Polis”! It was sooo strange!
Powerwolf’s Amen and Attack becomes:
A tank! A tank!
A banana tank!
Once you’ve heard it, it becomes so perfectly clear in your head that you can’t unhear it. Every time you listen to it, you’re helpless to hear anything but “banana tank.”
@stanleybmanly Of course it’s not “one ton tomato”! That would be huge. Besides, it’s clearly “won ton tomato!”
Wide Open Spaces – Dixie Chicks
“...she knows the high stakes”
I always pretended she said
“...she goes to ‘Hio State” (Ohio State) :)
From ZZ Top: “Cruizin’ down the highway in a new Cadillac I had a fine foxy broad I had Guido in the back…”
“She’s got electric boobs, her mom has too” @anniereborn….I heard “Electric boots” (which was probably right) “and a mohair suit” (which probably wasn’t.)
@snowberry…so did they rerecord Little Green Apples?
“Broken Hearted Melody” by Sarah Vaughan, sounded like “Broken Farted Smellody”.
A mohair suit is correct?
A good one is from “Airplanes” by B.o.B where he says:
“And back when I was rappin’ for the hell of it
But nowadays we rappin’ to stay relevant”
I misheard “rappin’ for the hell of it” as “rappin’ for the elephant”.
And even today I will speak of doing things “for the elephant”, meaning just for shits and giggles.
Another is from “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry. She says “so you want to play with magic?” but I heard “so you want to play with my Jeep?” In another song she actually mentions her Jeep, so I thought this was a running theme with her.
My country’s national anthem.
This will need a lengthy explanation. At one point the song goes like this:
Đường vinh quang XÂY xác quân thù, (The path to glory is built by the bodies of our foes. Official translation btw)
And this is the version that stuck in my head for years: Đường vinh quang XAY xác quân thù, (rought translation: The path to glory is grinding the bodies of our foes to dust.)
As you can see, only one word was altered, because the two words are pretty easy to get mixed up. And the meaning changed completely.
For year I genuinely thought the second version was the right one, and always sang like that even in formal events. I was actually quite saddened to know the real lyrics. I still think the second version is superior, because grinding the enemies into dust sends a louder message than just piling their bodies up. It’s the national anthem so you really need something powerful to fire people up :)
And they say that “Deutschland über alles” was too much.
@Mimishu1995 I think you are a good person. And I value your contributions to Fluther.
Over the years I’ve given your AMA post and comments about Vietnam a wide berth (and even a few GAs despite disagreeing with them.)
But this response is a bit much. Please do not bring your communist propaganda here.
My grandfather was a high ranking communist official during the Vietnam War. And my dad flew with the US Air Force.
The Vietnam War was bloody civil war that tore families apart. It wasn’t just the north triumphing over evil foreigners.
The lyrics of your national anthem would be more correct if went “The path to glory is buillt on the bodies of our own countrymen.”
The fact that people are glorifying a bloody war is fucking nauseating.
Ha! Like our own national anthem doesn’t glorify war. Hell, is there any national anthem that doesn’t glorify war?
It’s one thing to sing about conquering foreigners. And another to sing about killing your own countrymen.
I don’t think it would fly if our national anthem were about grinding the bones of people from the south.
My aunt joined the nationalist party. That was the precursor to the communist party. In the beginning it was just a group of young idealists who wanted to change their country. What it ultimately became is something else.
She witnessed some horrible shit from the inside of the communist party. She saw them chop off fingers of a young child for stealing bread. So much for wanting to help the poor.
@raum I think your beef is with the authors of the national anthem and not with @Mimishu1995. She didn’t write the anthem and wasn’t even sure of its words. She was just giving an honest answer to the question.
Her answer was that she wishes the national anthem was about grinding bones instead of just piling up bodies. Smiley face.
Oh, well as long as it’s just foreigners we’re killing in bloody war then I guess it’s ok.
It’s not okay. But it’s pretty much the norm for national anthems, as you pointed out a few comments up.
I wouldn’t hold it against her for singing a national anthem that she didn’t write. But when you use the lyrics to answer a question about funny lyrics and punctuate it with a smiley face, yes, I am going to call her out on it.
Johnny, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Johnny, show the Hun
Who’s a son of a gun.
Hoist the flag and let her fly,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
Pack your little kit,
Show your grit, do your bit.
Yankee to the ranks,
From the towns and the tanks.
Make your mother proud of you,
And the old Red, White, and Blue!
@raum
Please, spare us the righteous indignation. You didn’t care about the lyrics, nor about what punctuation she used. You’re only bothered because of some personal connection you have to the country in question. Had it been the same lyrics, the same post, the same smiley but a different country you would not have minded in the least.
I had family on both sides of the war. I know both sides were just fighting for what they personally believed was right.
If my dad were laughing about grinding the bones of my grandfather, yeah, I would call him out on that too.
I have friends in the US with family on both sides of the war. No one is fucking laughing about it.
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@raum as a matter of fact, that song was written during the heat of the French invasion, and unlike the other Vietnam war which was a tug-of-war on which party to join, the goal of that war was to free the people from the French. Sure, there was communism in it, but it was simply a tool to get people to fight back the French, not a brainwashing tool that it later evolved into. The entire country was fighting together, and the enemy was the French and only the French.
Nevertheless, I acknowledge your discomfort on how I prefer the grind version to the building version and I apologize for that. I know not many people want to discuss wars and I don’t think the war with the US was necessary either. My original intention was to point out how one word can change the entire meaning of a song drastically, and how I prefer the sound of my version. There was no attraction to the communism when I wrote that. I also appreciate that you acknowledge my contribution here.
Thanks, @Mimishu1995.
I really appreciate your response. Thank you for not taking it personally and acknowledging the impact of your words. I’m glad that my initial impression of you as a kind and open-minded person isn’t wrong. And I’m glad you’re here on Fluther.
I was considering trying to be a preemptive peacemaker, but the above result is far better than if I had acted on my inclination. I’m sure I could not have composed such an excellent answer as @Mimishu1995‘s even now, let alone when I was 24.
Elastic heart by Sia… I always thought she was saying “I’m still farting my beans” but it turned out to be “I’m still fighting for peace”.
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