Funniest Misheard Lyrics

For as long as there has been music, there have been people mis-hearing lyrics. The popular name for misheard lyrics is Mondegreens. This term was started by the American writer Sylvia Wright, who misheard final line of the first stanza from the 17th-century ballad "The Bonnie Earl O'Murray" when she was a child. The line was, "and laid him on the green." Sylvia Wright thought the line read "Lady Mondegreen", and a new word was born. To me, there is something highly entertaining about people confessing their misheard lyrics,and so I present you with a list of my favourites!

1.Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix - This is probably the most famous of all misheard lyrics. During this song, Jimi Hendrix sings "Excuse me while I kiss the sky." This has commonly been misheard as "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" which gives a whole new meaning to the song!

2. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles - I first read this Mondegreen in a children's book when I was younger and although I had never heard the song, the misinterpretation made me laugh. "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes" was heard as "The girl with colitis goes by". The author of the book was not the only one to make this mistake.

3.My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion - This is one I never noticed myself until someone pointed it out to me. It's very subtle but as soon as you've heard it once, it will stay with you forever! Celine Dion is obviously singing "I believe that the heart does go on" but if you listen very carefully, it sounds alarmingly like, "I believe that the hotdogs go on." Listen to it again, I dare you!

4.Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush - As misheard lyrics go, it's a little bit ridiculous but it came in tenth in a poll of the most commonly misheard songs a few years ago. The original line is, "Heathcliff, it's me it's Kathy I've come home". Apparently, many people hear the words as "Heathcliff, it's me I'm a tree I'm wombat". I am not one of those people.

5.Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival - This was misheard by one of my friends, much to my amusement! She claims that instead of "There's a bad moon on the rise", the words are, "There's a bathroom on the right". I almost prefer the misheard lyrics to the real ones.

6.Flashdance by Irene Cara - This is another of the more common Mondegreens. This song is about striving for what you want, and there is inspiration in the lyrics "Take your passion and make it happen". It becomes far less inspiring when misunderstood as "Take your pants off and make it happen".

7.This Ain't A Scene (It's An Arms Race) by Fall Out Boy - One of my favourite misheard lyrics of all time, from the band who seem to have some serious problems with enunciating. "This ain't a scene it's a God damn arms race" is often heard as "this ain't a scene it's a God damn arse face."

8. You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette - Angry rock chick music at its best, but with this small misinterpretation, angry rock chick sounds a little bit more like a sulky teenager. The correct lyric is "it's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me" however it really sounds a lot like "it's not fair to deny me of the cross eyed bear that you gave to me".

9. How You Remind Me by Nickelback - If you aren't quite paying attention to this song, it might sound like Nickelback have an aversion to Louise May Alcott. While it may sound like "Little Women must have damn near killed you" the words are actually "living with me must have damn near killed you." Again, I quite like the misheard version.

10. Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi - A classic rock song, but another one with commonly misheard lyrics. Anyone who has ever been drunk in a karaoke bar will have belted this out at full volume, but did you get the words right? "We've gotta hold on to what we've got,it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not". That would be correct. But I did once hear someone singing "it doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not". Wrong, but good for a giggle.

Check out part two of my Funniest Misheard Lyrics articles here.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7574541.stm