Last week’s DYK idea came from my wondering about a couple of words I’d heard in a song. This week, I decided to stay with the song lyrics theme and look at the lyrics themselves.

 

The Definition . . . and Reason

Most of us like to sing to the radio but the lyrics we sing aren’t always correct. DYK that problem is called a mondegreen? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a mondegreen is “a word or phrase that results from a mishearing especially of something recited or sung.” In other words, it’s what happens when your brain tries to give meaning to what you’ve physically heard, only the interpretation isn’t always correct.

A search of the internet will net you dozens of articles about misheard song lyrics. It doesn’t matter the genre of music or the age of the listener, hearing and singing incorrect song lyrics happens frequently.

 

Singing It Wrong . . . The Most Misheard

The following are some examples of the most (and funniest) misheard lyrics.

Song: Tiny Dancer

Correct Lyrics: “Hold me closer, tiny dancer.”

People Incorrectly Hear: “Hold me closer, Tony Danza.” (Remember Tony, the actor from the TV show, Who’s the Boss?)

Song: Drift Away

Correct Lyrics: “Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul.”

What People Hear: “Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul.” (Beat or Beach Boys, both sound good to me.)

Song: I Can See Clearly Now

Correct Lyrics: “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.”

What People Hear: “I can see clearly now, Lorraine is gone.” (Who’s Lorraine?)

Song: Desperado

Correct Lyrics: “You’ve been out ridin’ fences for so long now.”

What People Hear: “You’ve been outright offensive for so long now.” (Offensive, really? Is that why Lorraine left?)

DYK a lot of misheard lyrics have to do with food? (I guess people have food on the brain.)

Song: We Built This City

Correct Lyrics: “We built this city on rock ‘n’ roll.”

What People Hear: “We built this city on sausage rolls.”

Song: Sweet Dreams (are made of this)

Correct Lyrics: “Sweet dreams are made of these.”

What People Hear: “Sweet dreams are made of cheese.”

Song: I Want to Hold Your Hand

Correct Lyrics: “I want to hold your hand.”

What People Hear: “I want to hold your ham.”

Song: Aquarius

Correct Lyrics: “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.”

What People Hear: “This is the dawning of the Age of Asparagus.”

And for those people who finally satisfied their food hunger…

Song: Bad Moon Rising

Correct Lyrics: “There is a bad moon on the rise.”

What People Hear: “There is a bathroom on the right.”

 

Personal Examples

I don’t know about you, but I’m not immune from this “sing the wrong lyrics” disorder. My favorite misheard and mis-sung lyric—which I continue to sing wrong, even though I know it’s wrong—is…

Song: Lucille

Correct Lyrics: “You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille
With four hungry children and a crop in the field.”

I Hear: “You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille
With four hundred children and a crop in the field.” (With four hundred children, I’d probably consider leaving, too!)

And for those Baptist reading this…Years ago, a co-worker shared a hymn her Catholic husband and his friend misheard.

Song: Bringing in the Sheaves

Correct Lyrics: “Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves;”

What They Heard (Because they had no idea what a “sheave” was): “Bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheep;”

 

Why?

We don’t know exactly why mondegreen happens. Maybe it’s auditory overload—all those instruments and background singers. Or maybe it’s due to a bad sound system or the singer’s poor enunciation. It could simply be the fact that many words and phrases sound alike. Whatever the reason, remember it’s your brain that’s deciphering what you’re hearing, and the lyrics you hear may tell you more about yourself than the song.