I said he beat me by 18 minutes. The thread about misheard lyrics went 14 years before anyone mentioned mondegeens, then two peoplein 18 minutes introduced the term to the discussion.
I said he beat me by 18 minutes. The thread about misheard lyrics went 14 years before anyone mentioned mondegeens, then two peoplein 18 minutes introduced the term to the discussion.
Those of us who read the San Francisco Chronicle learned about Mondegreens from their columnist Jon Carroll, who published his favorites and ones readers sent in for many years. He was so in love with them that he once said that if his house was on fire and he only had time to grab one thing, it would be his mondegreen files...
Sorry, Jim Yates, but you have to get up pretty early in the morning to out pace a school teacher...
Years ago I worked in a shop where the staff would play their own CDs as background music. It did mean I was exposed to music I might ordinarily have missed, which is good, but given the musical tastes of my colleagues there was a lot which could at best be endured.
One such was on a Red Hot Chilli Peppers album, which seemed to get endless replays. Never worked out what was being sung for most of it, except for the very strange line “With a purple shed it’s a lawn we view”. Reminded of it a while ago I eventually traced it to a song called Scar Tissue, the actual line being “With the birds I'll share this lonely viewin'”.
Those of us who read the San Francisco Chronicle learned about Mondegreens from their columnist Jon Carroll, who published his favorites and ones readers sent in for many years. He was so in love with them that he once said that if his house was on fire and he only had time to grab one thing, it would be his mondegreen files...
Sorry, Jim Yates, but you have to get up pretty early in the morning to out pace a school teacher...
I have a brother who was a teacher and a son who is a music teacher. Dad built houses and Mom worked in a university book store, so it's not inherited.
Never understood where people got "s'cuse me while I kiss this guy", given the subject of the song. Methinks that must have come a decade or two later. Likewise "there's a bathroom on the right" in Bad Moon Rising.
And I thought that line in Mr. Bojangles was "as the smoke ran out" also, right up until a few minutes ago. That's what, 60 years of misapprehension?
(ok looked it up, FIFTY SIX years of misapprehension)
I had my son convinced that Jimmy Buffet was singing "Why don't we get drunk and spew" for years. He was really mad when he found out. I ask you, what was I to do? Have an 8 year old running around singing the actual lyric?
When I was a kid...8 or 9, I always thought Whole Lotta Love by Zeppelin said "Baby You Need Cool-Aid"...I really thought that was the stupidest song in the world, because, why would someone NEED Cool-Aid? Didn't figure it out 'til I was 12 or 13, when I started playing it on guitar. Had to learn the lyrics to sing it, and found out the truth. But in the back of my mind, to this day...