Miss-heard lyrics you only recently realised were wrong?
Posted by _Maui_@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 144 comments
I was listening to the song “Tomorrow” from Annie today and mentioned to my wife I thought it was such an odd song, as she’s singing that “I’ll love you tomorrow”, so what, she doesn’t love them today? My wife looked at me odd and told me to Google the lyrics.
“I love ya, tomorrow”. As in she loves the concept of tomorrow 🤦♂️
And it was only last month I realised the line in the song Black Fingernails, Red Wine by Eskimo Joe is:
“All of us stand and point our fingers”
And not:
“I don’t understand the point of fingers”.
2099AD@reddit
It's a minor one, but right at the start of Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do," she sings about a man next to me, "Out Of Nowhere."
I totally heard, "There's a man next to me, I don't know where."
Also:
The Verve Pipe's Freshman, the actual lyrics are "We'd never die for these sins, we were only freshmen..."
Totally thought it was "We'd never dial forty cents," and he was randomly talking about using a payphone.
djbigtv@reddit
Wrapped up like a douche in the morning of the night.
yeltrah79@reddit
https://youtu.be/U9_3nQFNy-w?si=j2KkwJgjECqeZGVf
djbigtv@reddit
Sums it up.
retepoteil@reddit
Liberate bananas!!!!!!!
Lcky22@reddit
I didn’t listen the words to “hook” by blues traveler until pretty recently; always sang “the heart brings you back” before
Evil_Dry_frog@reddit
Doesn’t matter what he says.
BijouWilliams@reddit
I had no idea that I couldn't understand some lyrics to Loser because Beck is speaking in Spanish.
Ebice42@reddit
I was shocked when I learned it wasn't "soiled, head to toe"
KingKevin19@reddit
I grew up listening to “oldies”, and I know that is subjective, but I was born in ‘82, so I am talking about original “Kool 108” in the Twin Cities in MN, that back when I was a kid played ‘50s and ‘60s.
We went to our cabin almost every weekend that the lake wasn’t frozen which was a 4 hour drive, so I spent a lot of time in the car with my fam.
My dad loves to mis-sing songs on purpose by adding an L to some words, like “Let’s go Slurfin” or “Let it Blee, let it Blee”, etc.
It was LAST year that I realized the song really was was “Hang on Sloopy” and not “Hang on Soupy”. I always just assumed my dad was adding the L…
TragicHedgehog@reddit
So, I was quickly corrected when I was young but my dad had to point out Pink Floyd was not forbidding “duck orgasms in the classroom” in The Wall when he heard me singing along circa 1985.
MexicanVanilla22@reddit
So I just found out about an Audio Processing Disorder. It basically means I can physically hear the sound. But my brain has to buffer it. So I ask "what" and just as you begin to repeat the question my subtitles finally kick in and I realize what you were asking and I answer while you're still replying. Turns out my ears work just fine. Its a brain problem. : /
Sweet_Deeznuts@reddit
Same. I can’t hear without my subtitles 🤣
RaphaelSolo@reddit
I wish there was accurate subtitles for reality.
Dry_Inspection_4583@reddit
This is a standard tactic most people use to process, it takes about the length of repetition to get it in gear.
MexicanVanilla22@reddit
'Tactic' kind of implies planned and I most certainly do not wish to engage in this behaviour! The initial "what?" is pure confusion as I try to decipher the sounds. My brain literally rewinds the audio then replays it. The sounds morph from Charlie-Brown-teacher-garble into real words that I can suddenly understand. It comes off as me being mentally deficient or even manipulative. It sucks hard.
Dry_Inspection_4583@reddit
This is called a hesitation marker, and in language referred to as speech disfluency.
It's confusing for me as well, as I certainly do this.
Slammogram@reddit
I have this as well. Fyi, it’s often Comorbid with ADHD.
ThisIsADaydream@reddit
I have that!
Okra_Tomatoes@reddit
Yep! I’m constantly saying “pardon?” But then realize what they said right after. My brain has to defrag it first.
lolthai@reddit
ADD causes this too
VWBug5000@reddit
Auditory Processing Disorder is a common comorbidity with ADHD, it isn’t actually part of ADHD.
lolthai@reddit
Fair point. That said, it was said issue that lead to my diagnosis.
Sure_Ad_7252@reddit
That sounds exactly how my brain works. I’ll hear the words coming in and start to say ‘what’ as I’m processing the incoming info too…. I wonder if I have that!?! How were you diagnosed?
Redneck-ginger@reddit
Its actually called auditory processing disorder. You can go to an audiologist and/or speech therapist for diagnosis. A speech therapist can absolutely help you learn how to better manage your symptoms.
MexicanVanilla22@reddit
Self diagnosed lol. Doesn't make it any less valid or true in my book though. Not like there's any disability/ benefit to be claimed outside of self discovery. Now I am just kinder to myself. There is finally a label that I identify with that isn't 'deaf' or 'stupid.'
TheTruthFairy00@reddit
Blinded by the light..wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night…. Like whaaaah?! And then when it was clarified the word was “deuce“ I still don’t get it 😂
yeltrah79@reddit
https://youtu.be/U9_3nQFNy-w?si=j2KkwJgjECqeZGVf
CuCullen@reddit
Revved up like a Duese…. Meaning Duesenburg a no longer with us automobile company.
gnomequeen2020@reddit
I know these are supposed to be the lyrics, but he absolutely doesn't say "revved."
I also didn't know what they meant by "Duese," so thank you for teaching me that.
Slammogram@reddit
Yeah, he was supposed to say that. But he was prolly high or something.
_Internet_Hugs_@reddit
No, it's Deuce. Like the Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe. A 1932 Ford turned hot rod.
Slammogram@reddit
It’s a car. Revved up like a deuce
fumbs@reddit
Deuce is a 2 card but I don't understand how it's wrapped up lol. It is the lowest value card in most versions of solitaire and poker but this knowledge does not clarify the symbolism.
nichewilly@reddit
The correct lyrics are wrapped up like a douche, another boner in the night
SnicckleFrittz420@reddit
Blinded by the light...
yeltrah79@reddit
For the longest time I had no idea what the one line in the Blind Melon song “No Rain” was, I’d just kind of mumble along. It wasn’t until I was able to look up the lyrics that I discovered its “You know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today”
rinarinabobina@reddit
I always sang it as "you know I'd like to keep my cheating strategy" lol
yeltrah79@reddit
I wasn’t sure if he was saying something about cheese or what
burnednotdestroyed@reddit
Thank god it's not just me
joshhupp@reddit
Wait, it's not? I sing cheating strategy too
MonchichiSalt@reddit
You know I'd like to keep my cheating strides at bay
bellarivolta@reddit
Apparently it's not "keep my jeans dry today" either. I thought for over a decade that he had a pants-wetting problem 😬😅
SnicckleFrittz420@reddit
U used to sing "all I can do... is just pull some teeth or two..."🤷
instant_ramen_chef@reddit
I just recently learned that there are actual lyrics to Yellow ledbetter. It's not just him saying random words and vocalizations.
Jonestown_Juice@reddit
Unsealed, on the porch a letter lay
Then you said, "I wanna leave it unsaid."
When she saw him on the beach the widow said, "Don't you see? I won't leave him again."
All the reasons I wanna wish it all away, yeah,
And I called and I said, "Yeah I know what I said."
Am I cold-hearted? (yeah)
Uninterested. Gonna leave- don't call back, no.
I said, "I don't know whether I'm the boxer or the bag."
Aw yeah, can you see them? Out on the porch.
Yeah. But they don't wave.
Yeah I see them. 'Round the front way, yeah,
And I know, and I know,I don't wanna stay (let me cry)
Ooh, I see
But I don't know whether it's something else.
On the car ride, on the way
I said, "I don't, I don't know whether I'm the boxer or the bag."
Aw yeah, can you see them? Out on the porch.
Yeah. But they don't wave.
Yeah I see them. 'Round the front way, yeah,
And I know, and I know,I don't wanna stay, oh no.
I don't wanna stay...
gooch_norris_@reddit
On a ceiling, on a boys piñata, vagisil, I wanna wee wee again
Slammogram@reddit
Lol!!!!
instant_ramen_chef@reddit
"Make me fries"
Thecp015@reddit
“I don’t want a whale in a box or-or a bag!”
TurdPhurtis@reddit
Except every time I saw him live and sing it he was a bit intoxicated and just mumbled a bunch of nonsense. I am convinced even he doesn’t know the words, lol.
OkPie8905@reddit
It’s about a widow getting news of her loved one dying in war by soldiers at her door
Spirited_Storage3956@reddit
It's about a veteran being treated poorly in his town
nichewilly@reddit
I’m still not convinced Eddie Vedder uses actual words in any of his songs
ApatheistHeretic@reddit
Eddie Vedder was not convinced that Eddie Vedder used actual words in Yellow Ledbetter.
One-Earth9294@reddit
Dirty deeds and the thunder chief
BlondeFI@reddit
I thought this was some obscure gun reference!
Slammogram@reddit
I totally thought it was thunder jeep as a kid. But like- I was told young what they actually said.
One-Earth9294@reddit
I still like Thunder Chief better lol the real version is sleazy hard rock the version in my head when I was a little kid was silly and fun like a Frank Zappa song lol. I was like 'this is kinda like Nanook of the North' hehe.
bugwitch@reddit
Where I grew up was a classic rock station that would do parodies. I'm pretty sure their version was the first I heard. And I still like it and instinctively think of those lyrics.
Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep
thelexpeia@reddit
Better than “Dirty deeds, done to sheep.”
One-Earth9294@reddit
Yeah they're from Australia, not New Zealand ;)
frauziller@reddit
Taking my 6-year-old to school one morning and this came on the radio. He sang the chorus "Dirty cheese, goddamn cheap" 🤣 Still my preferred version, almost 9 years later!
kak-47@reddit
For any country fans….. Dixieland Delight by Alabama, my friend was singing Dixie Dandelion his entire life🤣🤣
heyokaj@reddit
And I'm still convinced TS had Starbucks lovers.
Medellia23@reddit
I only learned last year it wasn’t Starbucks Lovers.
heyokaj@reddit
The amount of time I spent belting out Starbucks lovers, so sure of myself...
sanedragon@reddit
TIL
AbbreviationsGlad833@reddit
Bobby Magee. By Janis Joplin. Windshield wipers turpentine.. is actually windshield wipers turning in time..
BEniceBAGECKA@reddit
I took her out. It was a Friday night. I wore COLOGNE to get the feeling right.
I sang “I walk alone” for like 20 years.
_Maui_@reddit (OP)
And then in *Boulevard of broken dreams” by Greenday it’s the other way around.
No… he was walking alone.
Slammogram@reddit
Lol everytime someone says that’s what they thought he said, I just imagine them thinking he says “walk” with an Aussie accent.
Slammogram@reddit
My cousin, until recently, when I corrected her, thought it was “I went to the danger zone.”
_Maui_@reddit (OP)
Me reading your comment: *But those ARE the lyrics *
Googles it.
Oh…. “Highway to the Danger Zone”
Slammogram@reddit
Lmao.
Coderado@reddit
A few weeks ago I had to tell my wife it is "Rock the casbah" not "at the dance bar"
_Maui_@reddit (OP)
I thought it was “Rock the Cash Bar” for a while.
Uhh_JustADude@reddit
“Who’s that casting DV of stairs in my direction?”
Took me so many years to hear “devious.”
js4873@reddit
Intergalactic planetary by beastie boys when the robot says “another dimension” I was told it was “I have an erection”
GreenKiss73@reddit
I thought Hey, Jealousy was Hey, Chelsea until this decade.
Slammogram@reddit
As a kid when Heart Shaped Box would play I thought he says “Hey WAYANE, I got a new complaint.”
BillBrasky1179@reddit
Secret Asian Man
Slammogram@reddit
Lmao! I used to say this! But jokingly. I knew it was secrete agent man.
themunkysays@reddit
“I walked alone.. to get the feeling right.”
Slammogram@reddit
Are people having him pronounce ‘walk’ like an Aussie? Cause there’s definitely an R sound when he says it.
Slammogram@reddit
He supposed to say “revved up.”
And Deuse.
But yeah, it’s not what it sounds like he says.
Turbulent-Mind3120@reddit
I want to dance with some bagelllls
Over-Sun8372@reddit
I didn’t mishear it this way but I kinda wish I had
Over-Sun8372@reddit
Jem! Julia Gages, Julie Julie Julia Gages 👩🏻🎤 (to be fair, I had realized my error by the 90s)
SleestakSamurai@reddit
Carry a laser down the road that I must travel
bugwitch@reddit
For years I heard the word "body" instead of "party" in Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo. I still choose to sing it with body. Who could ask for more?
garnett21mn@reddit
Tracy Lawrence, If the world had a Front Porch: “treating your neighbor like he’s your Mexican”
Hilandr234@reddit
KC & the Sunshine Bands “Keep it Coming Love” I hear as “Keep it Common Law” which I always thought was a strange topic for a song until I finally discovered what it’s supposed to be after mentioning it to someone a couple years ago 😂
ScuderiaSteve@reddit
I had a coworker that was absolutely convinced that Sad But True by Metallica was actually Sad Patrol now I can't un-hear it whenever it comes on
TraditionalMood277@reddit
Informer by Snow.....all of them
Jacgaur@reddit
Uptown Funk- I thought he said "masterbate" and my husband politely informed me that he was saying "Masterpieces".
This makes much more sense, but I originally interpreted the mishearing as if they were so good that he would masterbate as a compliment and to accentuate how hot they were.
CheezeLoueez08@reddit
All the little kids just learning to talk were singing “uptown fuck” 😂
nekkid_farts@reddit
I just recently found out they didn't "leave the ketchup on the table" cause they "wanted to"
Ethel_Marie@reddit
I thought it was "leave the kids on the table".
BriefAddiction24-7@reddit
That lyric would change everything😂 It just hits a little different
DeadpoolAndFriends@reddit
... So it not "I'll love you tomorrow"?! 🤯
CheezeLoueez08@reddit
I, too, am floored
Booger_Picnic@reddit
Me also 🤯
Croaker715@reddit
I still have no idea what Rod is saying in If You Were Gay from Avenue Q. It sounds like "I'm a juice, pals Joey" and that makes absolutely no sense.
AdelleDeWitt@reddit
Nirvana:
It's "choking on the ashes of her enemies", not "choking on the ashes of a memory."
50 Cent:
"I want them to love me like they love Pac," not "I want them to love me like they love pot."
emberrambo@reddit
A few months ago I realized the opening line to Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade” wasn’t “Quit it now”
rinarinabobina@reddit
Wait, so what is it?
emberrambo@reddit
Come wit’ it now!
mr_tomorrow@reddit
Wow! I've been hearing it wrong. Quit it now! Has been my in head battle cry for years. TIL.
KharnalBloodlust@reddit
So this wasn't a recent realization -- more like ten years ago -- but I still went around for 20 years thinking "the cross I bear that you gave to me" in "You Outta Know" was actually "the cross-eyed bear..." So there's that.
CommentMundane@reddit
Wow, I am just learning this right now. So much so I had to read your comment multiple times before it sunk in that I've been singing it wrong for 30 years!
new_account_5009@reddit
This one always makes me chuckle. I'm just picturing that he gave her a shitty dollar store stuffed bear for Valentine's Day or something, and that was the one of the major grievances that led to the angry song about him.
KharnalBloodlust@reddit
This is the most plausible answer that I shall now adopt as headcanon. Thanks for sharing your chuckle!
ShelleyTambo@reddit
That song was playing recently and I innocently asked my SO why someone would give someone else a cross eyed bear. Now that's all he hears.
wschooley83@reddit
My wife just admitted this one a few months ago. Thought she had to be the only one then found out how common it is. Memes and all lol
joshhupp@reddit
I saw a TikTok of a guy covering Head over Heels by Tears for Fears just last month and the lyrics showed up as "It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand."
I always thought it was "...When there's a girl in your head."
Careless_Ad_9665@reddit
My ex thought I would die for you was yabba dabba do. Thought it was about the flint stones.
DebiMoonfae@reddit
Boyz II Men - On bended knee
Where he says “ I’m gonna swallow my pride, say I’m sorry” I always thought it was. “Swirl on my grave ….“or “swear on my grave…. take it slowly” which makes no sense.
DebiMoonfae@reddit
I spent a lot of time thinking it was “ I’ll love ya, tomorrow” aswell. I sometimes still sing it that was from habit.
djblackprince@reddit
Fatboy Slim - The Rockefeller Skank
I always thought the lyric was "the funk so rubber" but is not, it's "the funk soul brother".
Much-Log3357@reddit
A friend told me to put that Jimi Hendrix track on.
Horse Drawn Traffic.
maceocat@reddit
Back when Paradise City by Guns and Roses came out there was a short lived show on the air called Rags to Riches. I thought Axl was saying “Rags to Riches on Sundays at eight” instead of “rags to riches or so they say” I thought he just liked musical shows about orphans
Eastern_Reality_9438@reddit
The very first line of Jackson Browne's Pretender, I thought it was "I'm gonna rid myself of health, in the shade of the freeway". Turns out, it's "I'm gonna rent myself a house".
x7leafcloverx@reddit
Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. My gf and I were watching Netflix the other day and that song came one and we always use sub titles and noisy proclaimed “I always thought he said ‘creatures of space!”
Oraistesu@reddit
I still swear that Eiffel 65's Blue is "without the beat I would die" rather than dabba dee dabba di
eatshitandliv@reddit
"If I was green I would die"
BaFungul@reddit
In We Didn’t Start The Fire, I thought there was “Trouble in the Sewers”, like Alligators and stuff. My wife recently informed me it’s Suez.
lolthai@reddit
I was always confused about the youth in Asia.
Robosl0b@reddit
Oh, it isn't an ode to Tomorrow? I, too, thought it was "I love ya, Tomorrow!" as the song was a love letter to the potential of the next day. 🤷♀️
BriefAddiction24-7@reddit
Where's my spouse at? Pick literally any song he's ever heard! 😂😂 My favorite is his translation of "How bizarre" to " How was I." That doesn't even mean anything. Love you, you lyrically-challenged MFer.
Thecp015@reddit
“How was I? How was I?”
“Oooo baby, it’s making me crazyyyy!”
BriefAddiction24-7@reddit
Babe, is that you?? 😂😂😂
Quixote511@reddit
Self Esteem by the Off Spring:
I thought the line went, “I wrote her off as the catch of the day “
I was watching music videos with my students this week and saw the line is “10th time today “. Literally on Friday
Thecp015@reddit
I have to tell on myself for this one. It’s a more recent song.. “some things never change” from frozen 2, iirc. There’s a very poorly worded line about “but I’m really bad at planning these things out, like candle light and pulling of rings out”
The first time I heard it was at like 3 am as I’m trying to put a small child back to bed. I swear I thought he sang “by candle light I’m blowing my brains out”
Trevor-Slattery@reddit
Not a very well known song, but in "Beeswax" by Nirvana, I always heard "I got my dilly spanked"
It's apparently "I got my do this way". Gotta love Kurt's enunciation.
heyokaj@reddit
I don't know about you, but I miss the plains down in Africa.
WyntersVix@reddit
I miss the rains - I for sure don’t bless them (man that fucked me up when I learned the real lyrics)
Spirited_Storage3956@reddit
I always hear I guess it rains
jarjarfell@reddit
One of my favourite songs! But the lyrics are absolute nonsense
No_Interest1616@reddit
Not misheard, but the whole Justin Timberlake "It's gonna be May" meme flew right over my head for 20 years. I thought it was a reference to some other song I was unfamiliar with. But it's actually a line in a song I've heard a bazillion times. I didn't realize everyone else heard it as May instead of me.
jtotheoan@reddit
Cake short skirt long jacket song " I want a girl with the right eye location"
Didn't realize I was wrong so of these years unit last year at work I casually mentioned to a coworker that line didn't make any sense to me ...
XMXP_5@reddit
It was just a couple years ago that I learned that the line in Trucking by the Grateful Dead is actually "flashing marquees on main st"
omartje@reddit
All the time 😂
11229988B@reddit
Why were you listening to it? Were you being tortured? Are you ok?