c4countdown

Anyone got any favourite mondegreens? Preferably your own misconceptions.

I only ask now because:

a) I'm bored
b) The Stone Roses are on the radio with their hit "I Wanna Be A Door"

One that I always sing wrong is from The Beatles' 'Across the Universe'. I sing "Jackaroo Dave" when it should be "Jai Guru Deva".

Ryan Taylor wrote:One that I always sing wrong is from The Beatles' 'Across the Universe'. I sing "Jackaroo Dave" when it should be "Jai Guru Deva".

That lyric is one I always fudge with a vague succession of vowel sounds when I sing it. A long (and unconsidered) mystery solved!

We did this thread on f365 once, and someone said their girlfriend thought U2 sang about "Shamu, The Mysterious Whale", although Googling that now returns a shitload of hits, fan pages, entire parody songs, etc. which it seems unlikely spawned from that thread. So they were probably lying.

Once had a book called "The ants are my friends". Unlike so many, it actually makes sense.

Blur, Song Two. I used to think he'd had his hair cut by Ed Jamojie, rather than a jumbo jet. True.

Matt Morrison wrote:Blur, Song Two. I used to think he'd had his hair cut by Ed Jamojie, rather than a jumbo jet. True.

Mental, I had no idea that's what it was. I thought it was "H M Bowchay", and had always assumed that was some famous hairdresser (like Vidal Sassoon).

Michael Wallace wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:Blur, Song Two. I used to think he'd had his hair cut by Ed Jamojie, rather than a jumbo jet. True.

Mental, I had no idea that's what it was. I thought it was "H M Bowchay", and had always assumed that was some famous hairdresser (like Vidal Sassoon).

Isn't it "head checked by a jumbo jet"? (I remember spending hours listening to that when it first came out, trying to figure out the lyrics. Was quite surprised when I just Googled it and I was actually right, although I was wrong about the most of the rest of the song.)

Michael Wallace wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:Blur, Song Two. I used to think he'd had his hair cut by Ed Jamojie, rather than a jumbo jet. True.

Mental, I had no idea that's what it was. I thought it was "H M Bowchay", and had always assumed that was some famous hairdresser (like Vidal Sassoon).

Yeah I never knew the proper lyrics to this until about a year ago and I sang something about "aitch and bone checked" I didn't ever really think about it being a hairdresser since the first line is "I got my head checked". So "I got my head checked/My aitch and bone checked" made reasonable sense for a bit.

One that I still aren't convinced by is Q Lazzarus' 'Goodbye Horses' (probably most famous as being that song that's played in Silence of the Lambs). I never know if it's "flying" "lying", "dying", or "crying" over you. So I just sing whichever one I feel like at the time.

And another one that I thought I must be mishearing was "hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque" from Prefab Sprout's 'King of Rock and Roll'. When I looked it up and realised it was indeed saying that my mind was blown.

Edit: Yeah Charlie pointed it out to you numskulls that it's "head checked". It doesn't even sound like haircut.

I wasn't doing it off listening, obviously, it was just from vague memory. I thought about checking it before I posted because this forum is full of fiddly ginger bastards, but I didn't. Never again.

O rite. I thought it was 'head shaved', not 'hair cut', what sort of retard think it sounded like 'hair cut'?

Michael Wallace wrote:O rite. I thought it was 'head shaved', not 'hair cut', what sort of retard think it sounded like 'hair cut'?

I'm with you here, although 'head checked' was my other option. I think half the problem is that it makes bollocks-all sense.

Matt Morrison wrote:I wasn't doing it off listening, obviously, it was just from vague memory. I thought about checking it before I posted because this forum is full of fiddly ginger bastards, but I didn't. Never again.

Love you really!

Ryan Taylor wrote:One that I still aren't convinced by is Q Lazzarus' 'Goodbye Horses' (probably most famous as being that song that's played in Silence of the Lambs). I never know if it's "flying" "lying", "dying", or "crying" over you. So I just sing whichever one I feel like at the time.

Oh good work, I never bothered to find out what that song was. So creepy.

In Radiohead's fake plastic trees I thought she used to do surgery for the girls in the A Team.

Billy Connolly used to tell the story about the woman he knew who thought there was a teddy bear called Gladly in heaven with an eye problem cause they would sing in church "Gladly, the Cross I'd Bear".

In Everything in its Right Place (the best song ever) I thought he was singing 'Yesterday I woke up sucking on my mum' instead of a lemon. Changed the song a bit for me when I found that out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRk9ugM_ ... re=related

There seems to be tons of these reinterpreted lyrics videos on youtube. This is my favourite so far.

what are mondegreens?

Soph K wrote:what are mondegreens?

Do what I did and fricking Google it. You've been told before.

Ryan Taylor wrote:

Soph K wrote:what are mondegreens?

Do what I did and fricking Google it. You've been told before.

Sometimes I think it's reasonable to say it like "What the fuck are mondegreens?" to make a point.

What the fuck are mondegreens?

Soph K wrote:what are mondegreens?

The last time someone suggested you look things up for yourself you said "I can't be bothered", which only makes you lazy and annoying. The thing that makes you lazy and annoying and also really, really stupid is that it's surely more effort to type "what are mondegreens?" into c4c than it is just to type "mondegreens" into Google. Especially as, having asked the question, you almost certainly won't bother to read any of the replies.

She doesn't even have to use google. I didn't know what a mondegreen was when I first saw the thread title but as soon as I read the first post I could figure out what it was.

I can only assume SK is now posting ironically, and we've all fallen for it. Time to ignore, methinks, and get on with considering finer philosophical points.

Oh, BTW, from Handel's Messiah "Oh we like sheep". From the Okehampton version, I think. The real words are "All we like sheep have gone astray."

Surely if we found everything we need from Google, it would reduce the amount of interraction we have with each other.
No need to converse or chat to discover things - just ask Google, sounds rather dull and eliminates the delight of talking to others.

Ralph Gillions wrote:Surely if we found everything we need from Google, it would reduce the amount of interraction we have with each other.
No need to converse or chat to discover things - just ask Google, sounds rather dull and eliminates the delight of talking to others.

I see where you're coming from Ralph but imagine having a conversation with someone and every few minutes that person has to ask what a particular word you have just used means. You would probably get annoyed and tell them to go away and learn some things before they try to engage you in conversation in the future.

Mark James wrote:

Ralph Gillions wrote:Surely if we found everything we need from Google, it would reduce the amount of interraction we have with each other.
No need to converse or chat to discover things - just ask Google, sounds rather dull and eliminates the delight of talking to others.

I see where you're coming from Ralph but imagine having a conversation with someone and every few minutes that person has to ask what a particular word you have just used means. You would probably get annoyed and tell them to go away and learn some things before they try to engage you in conversation in the future.

In fact, let's take it a step further. Imagine having a conversation with someone who knows what you're on about, but a third party keeps interrupting you're conversation to ask what you're on about and then doesn't even listen to the explanation or take advice on how they could figure out what you were on about for themselves.

Mark James wrote:

Mark James wrote:I see where you're coming from Ralph but imagine having a conversation with someone and every few minutes that person has to ask what a particular word you have just used means. You would probably get annoyed and tell them to go away and learn some things before they try to engage you in conversation in the future.

In fact, let's take it a step further. Imagine having a conversation with someone who knows what you're on about, but a third party keeps interrupting your conversation to ask what you're on about and then doesn't even listen to the explanation or take advice on how they could figure out what you were on about for themselves.

Like
(& FIFY)

Ralph Gillions wrote:Surely if we found everything we need from Google, it would reduce the amount of interraction we have with each other.
No need to converse or chat to discover things - just ask Google, sounds rather dull and eliminates the delight of talking to others.

I don't know about you but my conversations tend to be more than just an exchange of factual points that the Internet could answer in five seconds.

Ralph Gillions wrote:Surely if we found everything we need from Google, it would reduce the amount of interraction we have with each other.
No need to converse or chat to discover things - just ask Google, sounds rather dull and eliminates the delight of talking to others.

Finding out stuff from Google hasn't made anything more dull for me, and I don't talk to people any less.

Lesley Hines wrote: Like
(& FIFY)

Thanks Lesley. By the way, I had no idea what FIFY stood for. Guess what I did? I'll give you a clue. It's starts with a G and ends in oogle.

Mark James wrote:By the way, I had no idea what FIFY stood for. Guess what I did? I'll give you a clue. It's starts with a G and ends in oogle.

What is a Gandisoogle?

Brian Moore wrote:

Mark James wrote:By the way, I had no idea what FIFY stood for. Guess what I did? I'll give you a clue. It's starts with a G and ends in oogle.

What is a Gandisoogle?

One of the other search engines available (there's more to life than Internet Explorer, you know). This list is not comprehensive, but also includes Safari, Opera, Chrome, Maxthon, AOL, Excite, and Yahoo!

Any other technical advice you need just ask

I always thought Green Day's song 'Armitage Shanks' had the lyric "I'm a loner in a crowded shopping line", which i still prefer to the real lyric, "I'm a loner in a catastrophic mind"

'New blood joins this world, and quickly he's a dude'

'The soda straw has been pulled for you'

Metallica have more than their fare share of these.

Ben Wilson wrote:'New blood joins this world, and quickly he's a dude'

'The soda straw has been pulled for you'

Metallica have more than their fare share of these.

Which song's the first one from? Unforgiven?

Ian Volante wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:'New blood joins this world, and quickly he's a dude'

'The soda straw has been pulled for you'

Metallica have more than their fare share of these.

Which song's the first one from? Unforgiven?

Yep.

Ben Wilson wrote:

Ian Volante wrote:

Ben Wilson wrote:'New blood joins this world, and quickly he's a dude'

'The soda straw has been pulled for you'

Metallica have more than their fare share of these.

Which song's the first one from? Unforgiven?

Yep.

Going to have to dig that one out later!

In other news, I wondered for years wtf they were singing about in 'Blinded By The Light': "Wrapped up like a dooshon of a runner in the night", or something. I suppose foreign slang is always going to cause trouble.

^Kewl - the Black album & G'n'R Appetite for Destruction were my first two rock albums. Much more admissible than my first 45

For years I thought the 'warm smell of Carlitos rising up through the air' was a reference to personal hygiene.

Lesley Hines wrote:^Kewl - the Black album & G'n'R Appetite for Destruction were my first two rock albums. Much more admissible than my first 45

For years I thought the 'warm smell of Carlitos rising up through the air' was a reference to personal hygiene.

Oh, so it's not Doritos!

Today's mystery:

In the lyrical bridge after the second verse, the lines sound very much like "don't you crank the sky, don't you wee on the pitch". In the vaguely cricket-related content of this song, this sounds sensible, but I'm sure it can't be that!

EDIT: Of course, I'm referring to Dreadlock Holiday (10cc) if that wasn't obvious from your psychic powers.

I always thought in the Amarillo song that it was "Jimmy dreams of Amarillo" and I always got confused about who the hell Jimmy was. When I realisedit was "Dreaming dreams" then it made a lot more sense.

Where can you weigh a pie?

Somewhere over the rainbow.

Queen's Headlong: "Now you've got soup in the laundry bag".

I thought the line "you know I like to keep my cheeks dry today" in Blind Melon's no rain was "you know I like to keep my cheating strategy". Also in the Clash's Rock the Casbah I used to think Sharlene didn't like it.

Looked up this song because I'd believed for years that the line "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow" couldn't possibly be right and this was a good example of a mondegreen. Turns out I'd actually got it right for once. One that I did get wrong was the line "now my poor heart breaks" from "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, which I always heard as " I'm a pool-hall ace" (yes, I know it makes no sense). A famous mondegreen of theirs was " So Lonely", which a lot of people thought was actually Sue Lawley.

Mark James wrote:Also in the Clash's Rock the Casbah I used to think Sharlene didn't like it.

Then what should it be?

Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams: "When the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I wore cologne"

Kai Laddiman wrote:Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams: "When the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I wore cologne"

Haha that's a good one, made me giggle. You didn't actually think that was right though?

Nice one Kai. I always found this one doubly confusing, because I used to think that What's My Age Again by Blink 182 went "I walk alone, to get the feeling right", when that actually is "I wore cologne"!

Bob De Caux wrote:I used to think that What's My Age Again by Blink 182 went "I walk alone, to get the feeling right", when that actually is "I wore cologne"!

Seriously, is it? I've always thought it was "walk alone"! I'm going to have to think of some others, I constantly mishear lyrics. I think my brain just fills in the blanks with any old shit. I used to think that the robot voice bit in 'Intergalactic' by the Beastie Boys was saying "Intergalactic, kill the children, kill the children, intergalactic" but I listened to it again the other day and couldn't understand why I thought so in the first place, it sounds nothing like that

I think so, Jim! Makes more sense in the context of the song.

For some reason, I always thought Freddie Mercury sang "I don't have no time for no-one, kick his ass" in Living on my Own.

Kai Laddiman wrote:Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams: "When the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I wore cologne"

Posh boys - it's aftershave in our house Still, relevant:My favourite mash-up

I googled the Rock the Casbah lyrics and no-one seems to be able to agree on it - I think "Sharif"'s the best interpretation, rather than "Sharia", but it sure ain't Sharlene

Cos you're my Number 1
I'm like a dog to get you
I want it up the bum
I'm like a dog to get you

Goldfrapp - Number 1

Mark James wrote:Also in the Clash's Rock the Casbah I used to think Sharlene didn't like it.

Me too. Seems we're not alone. Which reminds me of the first time I heard The Clash doing "White Riot" on the John Peel show when I was about 16. I remember thinking, "Wow, great song. Some of this new punk stuff's awesome." Alas, before too long they became even more boring than the bands punk was supposed to replace, culminating in the truly dire 'Sandinista', which is far worse than the much loathed (by punks at the time) 'Tales of Topographic Oceans' etc IMO.

Anyway, Bohemian Rhapsody came up on my iPod today, and there's a line which has always sounded to me like, "Spare him his life from his pork sausages".
Just googled it and apparently it's, "Spare him his life from this monstrosity"

I find "raking the lawn" for Judas Priest's "breaking the law" to be impossible to unhear.

Charlie Reams wrote:I find "raking the lawn" for Judas Priest's "breaking the law" to be impossible to unhear.

Ha! Now you've broken it for me too.

On Eiffel 65's Blue it sounds like he's saying "I'm blue, I'm in need of a diet, I'm in need of a guy, I'm in need of a diet".

It wasn't quite a misheard lyric more of a reinterpretation but there was an ad on Irish radio for a band's up coming gig sung to the tune of Motorhead's "The Ace of Spades" telling us the gig would be on on the "8th of May". Made me laugh anyway.

I thought Alex Winston was singing "but you don't breed, so you can leave" in the song "Velvet Elvis". I figured she was singing about being paranoid that her fella didn't want to commit. Unfortunately, on checking the lyrics and trying to find out what the term "Velvet Elvis" meant and where it originated, it seems it's simply a painting of Elvis on Velvet, and she's actually singing "you don't breathe, so you can't leave", and all the lyrics just seem quite literal now. Disappointing, as I thought my lyrics and meaning were better. Have you ever found out the real lyrics to songs and thought your misinterpretations were better? I wonder how people who actually write songs decide when to draw the line and say "that's it, I'm not tinkering with that anymore" - surely they must constantly think of improvements?

Just had SOAD's Darts pop up on shuffle and it reminded me how I thought for quite a while it said "Life threatening lifestyles: a hitman, a nun, florist."