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?

7 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

+1

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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!

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I feel guilty now MilleW :(

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

:)

And you're right - sounds like

Gonna have Nutella tonight

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

He definitely says

Pikachu's a virgin

;)

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

View attached image.
7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Haha! I remember that one from Friends :)

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

+1 xD

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

+1

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 7 years ago.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

+1 for waka maka fon :D

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

This happens to me frequently.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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."

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Love it! :)

View attached image.
7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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."

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

Can't Stop for Breakfast

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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

7 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yep, that works :)

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bought it at the five and dime

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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.

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Personally I prefer my version.

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

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

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 ;

7 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Definitely

Starbucks lovers

:)

Blank Space : Starbucks lovers

7 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sign in through Steam to add a comment.