What's Your Funniest Misunderstood Song Lyric?

[LeafErikson]

Moved to General Discussion. Good thread!

For years I thought the first line in Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville was "Livin' on sponge cake." as opposed to "Nibblin' on sponge cake."

I remember in the early 2000s Avril Lavigne had a few hit songs on the radio and one of them was a song entitled "Sk8er Boi". I heard my mom singing it to herself one day, but was confused as she kept saying "He was a skinny boy, she said see ya later boy." We laughed so hard when she realized what the real lyrics were.

 

[huntertrw]

This line from Elton John's Benny and the Jets:

"She's got electric boobs, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magazine..."

 

[AJL67]

Yellow Brick Road

Real line:
I bet they'll shoot down the plane
It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again

What I thought the line was for most of my life, I thought it was about ruining breakfast:

My breakfast she's down the drain
It will take you a couple of accurate timings to get your on your feet again.

 

[Cracklin' Tobaccy]

It's not mine but years ago I worked with a bartender. He told me when he was a boy he thought the song 'Born To Be Wild' was a song about a guy named Barnaby Wilde.

 

[huntertrw]

Madonna sang a song titled La Isla Bonita, the first verse of which is:

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
A young girl with eyes like the desert

For years I heard that last line as, "A young girl with eyes like potatoes."

 

[huntertrw]

The third verse of the Pretenders song Brass in Pocket is:

Gonna use my arms, gonna use my legs
Gonna use my style, gonna use my sidestep
Gonna use my fingers, gonna use my, my, my
Imagination

Again, for years I heard that second line as. "Gonna use my style, gonna use my sausage."

 

[warren99]

“Ride, Captain Ride” by Blues Image (1970):

The opening lyric, “73 men sailed up from the San Francisco Bay,” sounded like “70 freaks met Zelda from the San Francisco Bay.”

 

[LotusEater]

“wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night” the lyrics are actually “Revved up like a Deuce another runner in the night”
Deuce referring to a 1932 Ford.

Also when I hear the knack’s “my Sharona”
I always hear Cheech & Chong’s lyrics “my scrotum” pronounce scarotum

 

[AcesAndEights]

CCR
“There’s a bathroom on the right”

 

[makhorkasmoker]

My dad used to listen to the Linda ronstadt version of the Gershwin song “I’ve got a crush on you.”

When she came to the line “I’ve got a crush, my baby, on you”, my brother, who preferred Guns N’ Roses, white snake, Van Halen , etc. would refuse to recognize the commas, and ask, “she’s gonna crush her baby on somebody?”

 

[Servant King]

The Rascals - Groovin'

"You and me endlessly." Always thought it was "You and me and Leslie," until I realized that such an overt reference to a threesome would never have made it past the radio content screeners.

 

[OzPiper]

“It’s a hard egg” instead of “It’s a heartache”

 

[captainsousie]

Not mine but my ex wife thought the line in Big Yellow Taxi, which goes "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot", was "they paved paradise and put up a fucking light.".

Several "misheard" lyrics that I read about seem pretty improbable. Makes me wonder if people really do hear words with completely different numbers of syllables and phonetic sounds in songs.

 

[jpmcwjr]

CCR
“There’s a bathroom on the right”

Hah! That's mine, too!

 

[username]

"Excuse me while I kiss this guy"

 

[VDL_Piper]

It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll............ACDC

 

[TakeThisCobAndStuffIt]

I'm not talkin 'bout the linen...

 

[Sidehatch]

Elton John Tiny Dancer
I always sang it:
”hold me closer Tony Danza”

 

[ThomasS]

And of course, Elton John...

Hold me closer, Tony Danza

Argh... I've been ninja-posted by a sidehatch :D

 

[renfield]

My old college roommate misheard many lyrics.

One was Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”. He thought it was “Night Moose”.

I asked him what the hell a Night Moose was. He thought it was just nonsense lyrics. To this day I can’t hear the lyrics correctly.

He was also one of those who thought Hendrix was singing “ ‘scuse me while I kiss this guy”.