What is a song lyric that you misheard completely?

I heard this song for the first time, and I kept hearing

My lover’s got no money, he’s got his thrombolyse

Turns out it was "strong beliefs", and not a medical term

Have a listen: https://song.link/t/70681623

113 points · 116 comments · view on lemmy.world

116 Comments

Zombiepirate@lemmy.world · 45 pts · 1y (4 replies)

I used to think the Kiss song went "I wanna rock and roll all night... and part of every day."

Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works · 26 pts · 1y

Moderation is key for everything, after all.

nailingjello@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 1y

We found Lois Griffin

captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 1y

I mean, partying every day just results in Slurms McKenzie.

tal@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 1y
confusedpuppy@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 45 pts · 1y (1 reply)

It wasn't until my first job at a grocery store during Christmas time that I learned it was "Feliz Navidad" being sung.

Before that, I couldn't figure out why the cheerful song that only appeared around Christmas time was saying "Police shot my dad"

BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz · 12 pts · 1y

Best laugh I had in a long time 🤣😭

eth0slash0@sh.itjust.works · 26 pts · 1y (3 replies)

Don't go, Jason waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to.

sawdustprophet@midwest.social · 8 pts · 1y

hakunawazo@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

tal@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 1y

https://genius.com/Tlc-waterfalls-lyrics

Don't go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WEtxJ4-sh4&t=116

buycurious@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 1y (7 replies)

“Blinded by the light.

Revved up like a douche, another runner in the night.”

Turns out is actually deuce.

reddig33@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y (4 replies)

That actually makes even less sense.

Tujio@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y (2 replies)

It's referring to a two-stroke engine.

shalafi@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Generally it's a 2-door car, specifically a 1932 Ford.

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y

Not a motorcycle?!?!

This seemed like such a motorcycle song!

jewbacca117@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
[ removed ]
shalafi@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y

I always heard "wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night" and happily sung that in bars.

tal@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y
GreyShuck@feddit.uk · 23 pts · 1y (4 replies)

I always heard it as trombeleese, which I imagined to be some exotic musical instrument like this:

KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today · 17 pts · 1y (2 replies)

That thing looks like a Fremen sandworm saxophone

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"It's him. It's Kenny Al G!"

KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 1y

This made me laugh pretty good. Delightful!

SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 1y

I wonder what that sounds like.

Quazatron@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 1y (4 replies)

"Dirty deeds, dunder chiefs!"

I always wondered what a dunder chief is.

BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz · 8 pts · 1y

I always wondered what a dunder chief is.

Michael Scott I guess ?

2piradians@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

It was Thunder Chief for me. I figured he must be bad juju.

tal@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 1y
MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y

You're not alone, kindred spirit! Even when I knew the correct lyrics, I still hear it.

And when I learned about "dunder" or "double underscore" methods in Python, my first thoughts were:

__Chief__()

__Mifflin__()

Pandantic@midwest.social · 18 pts · 1y (8 replies)

I used to sing Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong as “Pyramids, pyramids, pyramids, pyramids can’t be wrong”.

Also, in Africa, I definitely thought they said “rises like a lepress (like a female leopard) above the Serengeti”. The real lyric is “Olympus”.

abbadon420@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Untill this day, I thought it was lepress too.

FenrirIII@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

It makes more sense as the mountain isn't even located there to begin with

captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y (2 replies)

I love that lyric, it's so supid.

I know that I must do what's right, sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti.

Mount Olympus (assuming we're talking the one in Greece and not the one on Mars) is like 3,000 feet tall, Kilimanjaro is 7,000 feet tall. Kilimanjaro would put Olympus to shame, except Olympus is whiter than Kilimanjaro.

Also, you can't see Kilimanjaro from the Serengeti. There's a small area where the summit is above the horizon but the air is too hazy.

Pandantic@midwest.social · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Even more reason why it should have been a lepress!

Also, if he knows he must do what’s right “as sure as Kilimanjaro rises… above the Serengetil”, and it doesn’t, I guess that means that he must not do what’s right? Or only a little bit, and it’s a bit hazy… 😋

Thanks for the great info!

captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y

I think I've read that it was either intentionally written kind of dumb, like it sounds poetic but it's the kind of thing a white guy who has never been to Africa would say.

AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 1y (1 reply)

With Little Miss Can't Be Wrong I used to hear "ain't nobody gonna come when your sound is gone" instead of "when you sound your gong".

Pandantic@midwest.social · 2 pts · 1y

Yes, me too for that part too.

tal@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y
Canopyflyer@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Manfred Mann's cover of Blinded by the Light has entered the chat. Probably the most misheard lyrics in the entire history of modern music.

It's "Revved up like a deuce."

Wait... Manfred Mann's version is a cover? Yep, Blinded by the Light was originally performed Bruce Springsteen.

KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 1y

Speaking of blinding, my honey used to think a different song went "she blinded me with oven mitts, it opened up my eyes"

sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y

And the Springsteen version very clearly says deuce which means Manfred Mann had to deliberately change it.

captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Annie are you walking? Annie are you walking? Are you walking, Annie?

spearz@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 1y (3 replies)

“I set fire, to Lorraine” by Adele (set fire to the rain). “Parrot, parrot, parrot eyes” by Coldplay (Paradise)

tal@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 1y
tgirlschierke@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Paradise is the song with the weird elephant music video, right?

Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

I thought it was monkeys

eth0slash0@sh.itjust.works · 13 pts · 1y

Excuse me, while I kiss this guy.

devbo@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Hoobastank, the Reason.

Real lyric: "a reason to start over new".

What i heard as a child: "the reason tostadas are new"

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Kings of Leon, Use Somebody. I always thought that he said "You know I wanna eat somebody. Someone like you!"

tal@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I'm not absolutely sure if this is the right snippet of the song, but I don't see a more-likely bit:

https://genius.com/Kings-of-leon-use-somebody-lyrics

You know that I could use somebody
Someone like you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnhXHvRoUd0&t=75

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

That's it. I still can't hear "use" even though I now know it's the name of the song.

JPSound@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Blink 182 "the state looks down on side of me"

If you know, you know.

tal@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 1y (1 reply)
JPSound@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

I was a huge blink182 fan back in 99-02. I didn't understand what the prank in that prank call was. It wasn't until much much later that I started going through their albums again that I realized what Mark was actually saying. Looked up the lyrics and my jaw hit the floor. I remember sitting in front of my computer laughing until I was sweating at not only how that's a legit good prank call but I'd been singing it wrong for the better part to two decades.

agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y (1 reply)

At one point in Another One Bites the Dust, Freddie says "Bite the dust, yeah" which for years I could not hear as anything but "I'm adopted". Seemed like a weird way to share that information.

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 8 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"Excuse me, while I kiss this guy!" - Jimmi Hendrix

LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

I have an auditory processing disorder sooo all of them lol

RBWells@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Oh I was singing loudly along with Elton John one day, "Love, I feel it in my hands, I can tell by the things I would do with another maaaan" as I had done every time I heard the song when I suddenly realized that probably wasn't something someone would sing in the 1970s, looked it up and the NAME of the song is Love Lies Bleeding.

tal@lemmy.today · 7 pts · 1y

https://genius.com/Elton-john-funeral-for-a-friend-love-lies-bleeding-lyrics

And love lies bleedin' in my hands
Oh, it kills me to think of you with another man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REfKNbNndzo&t=377

Lizardking13@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Owner of a lonely horse...

Real lyric: owner of a lonely heart.

I never understood why there'd be a song about a lonely horse.

Almacca@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 1y

I can't think of any off the top of my head, but this bit by Peter Kay always has me in tears.

Also, the technical term is 'Mondegreen'

Edit: I'm also reminded of a Colin Hay one man show I went to years ago where he told a story about a bloke that requested the 'song about the goats' at a gig. Turns out it was Overkill - "Goats appear and fade away". He then went on to tell a long story about a sharehouse he lived in in his youth that decided to get a goat to keep the lawn down. Man that was a good show.

theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

For like a decade+ I thought Umbrella by Rihanna went "under my arms forever"

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

If anybody remembers this from Del Amitri: https://youtu.be/K_s44LilaYM

I always heard "The wrong guy, the wrong situation. The right time the wrong week.

lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 1y (4 replies)

For a long time, I thought in the song Inagadadavida, the lyrics went '"doncha know that I love you", but it turns out, they say "l'm lovin' you".

abbadon420@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 1y (2 replies)

That's not really a fair song to enter in a misheard lyrics thread.

lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org · 2 pts · 1y

But, there's so few lyrics in that song, and they say it repeatedly. When I first learned they say lovin' and not love, all I could think was the McLovin from Superbad. I'm mclovin youuuu....

shalafi@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

As bad as Louis, Louis.

tal@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 1y
dangercake@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 1y

Nice beaver by the beegees is high on my list https://youtu.be/Otmq80677V0

BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 1y
SuperCub@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Nirvana, On a Plain "The finest day, I ever had, was when I learned to cry like a man."

It's supposedly "cry on command."

JimVanDeventer@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y (5 replies)

That Land Down Under song. I still have no idea what the women or men do but I can hear the thunder.

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y (4 replies)

The women glow, and men plunder! :D

Scrollone@feddit.it · 2 pts · 1y (3 replies)

What does it even mean? I mean the "glow" part.

Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

You know what they say... you never shine if you don't glow

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 1y

Hey now!

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 1y

What does it even mean? I mean the "glow" part.

I think it simply means they're pretty, radiant, stunning. :)

...or have absorbed a crazy amount of radiation ☢️.

Lol but yeah, the song seems to mainly be about the splendor of Australia, its abundance, and warm friendliness to outsiders, as the singer's perspective seems to be.

tatterdemalion@programming.dev · 4 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Pump Up the Jam - Technotronic

At first I heard, "I want, a player Tuesday."

Then I heard, "I want, a player to stay."

Apparently it's actually, "Awa, a place to stay."

That whole time I thought she was looking for a man (on a Tuesday), but she just wanted everyone to dance together.

Apeman42@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I still say it makes slightly more sense in Otherside if he's saying "the cemetery where I married a thief".

Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

It definitely sounds like it

sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I thought that Controversy by Prince was actually called Electric Pussy. Which, for Prince, actually tracks.

Rivalarrival@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"You know I'd like to keep my cheating strategy"

Actual lyrics: "You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today"

Blind Melon, "No Rain"

spearz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

“Every time you go away, you take a piece of meat, with you” - Paul Young

TBi@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I always thought she said trampoline

“My lovers got no money, he’s got his trampoline!”

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 1y

He's always bouncing!

. . .and so are his checks. ._.

Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Southern Cross

"Who knows love can endure" --> "Who knows love Ganondorf"

Obviously not the correct lyric but they clearly end "endure" with an F sound somehow


Elton John - Your Song

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in the words
How wonderful life is
While you're in the world

I misheard the "world" as "woods", as in, someplace far away, which changes the entire point of the song. The lyrics in this part starting with "I hope you don't mind that I put down in the words" imply a change of tone to something regretful, so a line to recontextualize that that the PoV character doesn't actually feel close to their supposed love would fit; but I guess that wasn't the intention.

STUNT_GRANNY@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"She got too close, so I farted."

Zac Brown Band, "Knee Deep"

FenrirIII@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"Take off for nowhere" rather than "Take my breath away"

WellroundedKi@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (2 replies)

We like to joke about non Spanish lyrics that sounds like Spanish. I love Apolocatv channel for that and 🐱 costumes.

RBWells@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

In yoga, they have us sit in "sucasana" (also known as criss-cross applesauce) and I always t hear it as the polite form of tu casana, and Namaste also sounds like a Spanish word to me, every time. Tu Namaste tambien!

WellroundedKi@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Yeah, the su/tú (you) form is easy and tricky to learn: su/vuestro(a)/su mercé are polite forms; tú/vos are informal forms. Our brains trick us with the easy/most used path to identify patterns and meanings.

Sukhasana (from Sanskrit) sounds like a mix of su (Spanish) Casana (from Italian/Trukish) =)

I think you heard from some novela the phrase: ¿(tú) me amas(te) también? Good to know that I'm not the one that fights with my brain mixing words in 4-5 languages.

ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

Dwight Yoakam - A Thousand Miles from Nowhere

For a chunk of my childhood, I always heard, "I've got heartaches in my pocket, I've got pickles in my head," rather than "echoes in my head." To this day, it's hard to unhear it.

Timestamp link to relevant part.

dan1101@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Instead of the Go Go's saying "Our lips are sealed" I thought they were saying "Honest, Lucille."

LovableSidekick@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"It's a corned beef sky... alright, is it some other guy..." - The Cars, Bye Bye Love

Krudler@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I'm here to say that I figured out "stomp on the stoop when you hear the funk loop". It took me 30 years.

Hadriscus@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 1y

I always thought Gala said Stromboli (he's got his Stromboli...) which would make half sense since she is italian

chunes@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
[ removed ]
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Heard this the other day, the background vocals "who likes tacos"

xylogx@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Mice Roller

Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

some daughtry song about Tijuana.

BagOfHeavyStones@piefed.social · 1 pts · 1y

Don't tell your friends about the tour bus.

Speculater@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y

Roomba Roomba Roomba, let me be your Roomba.

https://youtu.be/2V_uAAAH-_Q

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