In the
last Wisdom of the Oldies posting, guest columnist Jim Borgmann wrote that for
years, he had been singing the wrong lyrics to “What a Day for a Daydream” by
the Lovin’ Spoonful. He thought the lyrics were:
Tomorrow I’ll pay the dues for
dropping my load
And find me a place for being
asleep before dawn.
The
actual lyrics are quite different.
Tomorrow I’ll pay the dues for
dropping my load
A pie in the face for being a
sleepy bulldog.
I’d
venture that at some point or another, all of us have gotten a lyric wrong. I
remember my younger sister going around the house for months in 1966 singing
“Wild Thing, you make my heart stink.”
I was
surprised to learn there is actually a word for these mistakes: Mondegreen.
According
to Wikipedia, a mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase
in a way that gives it new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a
song; the listener, being unable to clearly hear a lyric, substitutes words
that sound similar, and make some kind of sense.
Probably
the best showcase for misunderstood lyrics was Wayne’s World on Saturday Night
Live. Their Top 10 screwed up songs included There’s a bathroom on the right instead of CCR’s There’s a bad moon on the rise. Also, from
“Benny and the Jets”, She’s got electric
boobs, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magazine. Party on Wayne and Garth!
Here are
a few mondegreens I love. Tell me about your favorites.
Hold me closer, Tony Danza. Count the
headlice on the highway. Tiny Dancer
–
Elton
John
Well since she put me down I’ve had owls pukin’ in my bed
Help
Me Rhonda
–
The Beach Boys
The ants are my friends, they’re blowin’
in the wind.
Blowing
in the Wind
–
Bob Dylan
Gross spiders in the sky…
Ghost
Riders in the Sky
– Sons of the Pioneers
She’s a good girl, loves her Mama
Loves Cheez-its and America, too.
Freefalling
– Tom Petty
This is the dawning of the age of
asparagus, age of asparagus.
Aquarius
– The Fifth Dimension
Like a virgin, touched for the
thirty-first time
Like
a Virgin
– Madonna
Rock the catbox, rock the catbox.
Rock
the Casbah
–
The Clash
Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with colitis goes by
Lucy
in the Sky with Diamonds
–
Elton John
Sugar fried honey butt, you know that I
love you
Can’t
Help Myself
–
The Four
Tops
Goin’ to the jack-o-lantern, gonna get
married.
Chapel
of Love
–
The Dixie
Cups
I think it’s so groovy now that people are finally getting together
I think it’s wonderful and how that
people are finally getting together
Freak out in the garden
And you may find a friend
Reach
out in the Darkness
–
Friend
and Lover
I’m not talkin’ bout Bolivia
And I don’t want to change your life
I’d Really Love to See you Tonight
–
England
Dan and John Ford Coley
We got the Flintstones microwave ovens…
Money
for Nothing
–
Dire Straits
I dig a French bikini on a wild
albatross
California
Girls
–
The Beach
Boys
And when he died, all he left us was a
lawn
Papa
was a Rolling Stone
–
The
Temptations
Baby come back, you can play Monopoly
Baby
Come Back
– Player
I wanna know, have you ever see
Lorraine?
Have you Ever Seen the Rain
– Creedence Clearwater Revival
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away
from you
There’s nothing that a hundred Men on
Mars could ever do
Africa
–
Toto
Muh, muh, muh, muh muh, mice aroma.
My
Sharona
– The Knack
And then
there’s Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away.”
I’ve been singing these lyrics since 1973:
Gimme the Beach Boys and free my
soul, I want to get lost in your rock and roll and drift away.
The
actual lyrics are:
Give me the beat, boys, and free
my soul…
I like
my version better.
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