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Don't touch that dial: Test Pattern tunes into television, movie, music and pop culture links, as well as gossip and idle chat from around the Web.

Every week, msnbc.com entertainment producers Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Denise Hazlick, Paige Newman, Kurt Schlosser and Anna Chan weigh in on topics ranging from TV commercials to movie hype to the latest celebrity blunder. We're not ashamed to admit our love for bad TV or reveal what's on our iPods, and invite you to join the conversation via your comments.



All the Pringle haters! More misheard lyrics

Posted: Monday, April 06, 2009 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
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We've discussed misheard lyrics before, but it's a topic that just keeps on giving, There are always new songs, and always new ways to mishear them.

The current reincarnation of this topic was inspired by me singing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" to my toddler daughter, only for her, I sing, "All the single babies! All the single babies!" (We don't hang with the married babies -- they're trouble.) I didn't actually mishear the lyrics that way, but it's just a lot more fun.


AP file
They tried to make me grow a beehive, but I said no, no, no. Or, yes, yes, yes. Either way.

KissThisGuy.com, one of the best misheard lyrics sites, has some other great interpretations of "Single Ladies" though. My favorite is "All the Pringle haters! All the Pringle haters!" It's just fun to imagine a group of people out there who only eat Bugles, or Ruffles, or Doritos, because they JUST HATE PRINGLES THAT MUCH. (Someone else suggests "all the cigarettes," but to me, that's just not as funny.)

The All-American Rejects' song, "Gives You Hell," is on TV almost as much as it is on the radio these days. I've seen it in plenty of promo ads for shows and movies, it seems. Anyway, someone thought "When you see my face, hope it gives you hell," was "When you see my face, OPRAH gives you hell."

Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" is irresistably catchy, and turned out to be pretty prophetic, as Winehouse has been in and out of various programs.  But the famous lyric, "they tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no, no, no" has been misheard by at least one person as "they tried to make me grow a beehive, but I said no, no, no." (Actually, if you look at some of Winehouse's pictures, she apparently said yes, yes, yes.)

I have to confess a misheard lyric of my own. T.I. and Justin Timberlake have a song, "Dead and Gone," and it has the following words: "I've been traveling on this road too long, just trying to find my way back home, but the old me's dead and gone, dead and gone." Well, I heard it as "but my homey's dead and gone, dead and gone."

So let's open it up to your own misheard lyrics. We've gone over the most popular ones before ("Big old Jed had a light on," "there's a bathroom on the right," "rockin' the catbox," "wrapped up like a douche"), so strive for fresher mishearings, but I'm sure we'll have some repeats. You can read through our old posts on this topic here.

Need another misheard lyric site to check your version? In addition to KissThisGuy, I like AmIRight.com, which has expanded way past misheard lyrics into all kinds of musical humor.

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The best one for me is my sister, who misheard the lyrics to Uncle Kracker's 'Follow Me'

'Swim through your veins like a fish in the sea', became:
'Swim through your veins like a piss in the sea'

Classic!
My family still laughs at my mom, because the first time she heard John Cougar Mellencamp's "R.O.C.K. in the USA" she thought it was really "I Roast Chicken in the USA".  
She also mistook Hearts "These Dreams" for "green beans" -
My daughter thought that the Macy Gray song that says "I try to say goodbye and I choke" was "goodbye and Nacho" I still sing it that way.. Also she thought Nelly and Tim McGraw singin "I keep picturing her again" was "I keep butchering her again"
My sister used to sing Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face" as "Hows about a date?"  If you listen, you can hear her version more than the actual lyrics!
C. W. McCall's "Convoy" used to play in the movie theatre lobby. Naturally, it was noisy in that place, so some of the teenagers thought the lyric was "cowboy" instead of "convoy." The only word they knew from the song, and they got it wrong. Oh well, it was funny... until another worker corrected them.
Every girl's crazy about a shark that's tan.
Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' always had me singing 'Snakecharmer' instead.
When I was very young, I was confused by some of the lyrics to a song called "Bobby's Girl" -
Correct lyrics - each night I sit at home, hoping that he will phone
MY lyrics - each night I sit at home, hoping that he will FOAM
as in - appear out of thin air as foam that then becomes solid Bobby
This literally confused me until I was in my 20's!

and I NEVER understood exactly what the lyrics where to Gary Lewis and the Playboy's "This Diamond Ring" until I was able to look them up on a lyric site
Tina Turner's what's love got to do with it I always heard as "what's love dr doo dr doolittle". I was a little kid and used to run around singing at the top of my lungs.
Two Stones songs - "never leave your pizza burnin'" instead of the real lyrics "never be your beast of burden", and "I'm in Chatham boop shedoobi Chatham Chatham".  
From ELO -  "medieval woman" instead of "evil woman".
My 3 year old at the time sang "I can see all popsicles in my way" instead of "I can see all obstacles in my way" in the song "I can see clearly now the rain is gone".  
Instead of the lyrics, "You want to make her, suicide blonde" from the classic "Suicide Blonde" by INXS, I could have sworn they were singing, "You want to eat at, soup and salad bar".
Hold me closer Tony Danza, by Elton John!
It's an old song, but for years, I've always thought that on "Lady in My Life" that Michael Jackson was professing his love for Morris Day.  "Though I love you Morris Day"
My husband swears (still to this day despite my attempts to correct him) that the Fleetwood Mac song "Rhiannon" is called "Oleander" and he will sing the song through substituting oleander wherever they say Rhiannon.
who else thought "Pour some sugar on me" was "Pour some shoot me I'm dead"?
I used to think Secret Agent Man was Secret Asian Man, I still sing it that way
I thought that G. Clinton & P-Funk song " Atom Dog" chours was "Mama I-sa be right back" (sing aloud in the car with my sister) she laughs and say "what???" it really says " Why must I be like that, why must I chase the cat" Who knew;)
The Chemicals Between Us - Bush "the candy-coated peanuts"
Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville":  I have a friend that confessed that he thought the lyrics said, "I blew out my flip-flop --stepped on a Pop Tart -- cut my heel had to cruise on back home".  Who knew Pop Tarts were so dangerous?
Incidentally, I don't care much for AmIRight.com. Some people sound like they're trying WAY TOO HARD to put in an entry. At least, I hope that's the case, because some of those misheard lyrics sound like they could only believably come from someone with permanent brain damage. For example, I could see how "cut loose like a deuce" could be misheard as "wrapped up like a douche." The last three words are nearly identical, after all. But someone will say they heard "FISH LLAMA PETER MONSTER HOKEY BOO BOO" or something that just doesn't sound like it AT ALL. Seriously. Trying too hard.

Even worse, some of the people who DO correct them... still get the lyrics wrong!
My friend's little sister 'heard' two classics:  Paul McCartney singing about "Scummy Love", not "It's Coming Up" and The Go-Gos signing "Alex, I see you" instead of "Our Lips Are Sealed".  Still giggle helplessly when I hear these songs.
big ole jed and lionel don't carry me too far away.
My friend's little sister 'heard' two classics:  Paul McCartney singing about "Scummy Love", not "It's Coming Up" and The Go-Gos signing "Alex, I see you" instead of "Our Lips Are Sealed".  Still giggle helplessly when I hear these songs.
Back in the 80s, my friend's young son would listen to music on a headset and sing along at great volume "Lubbin' ever milly-muffit" for "Lovin' every minute of it" by Loverboy.  
Jimmy Buffet has a song called Nautical Wheelers.  My mom thought for the longest time he was singing about the "Prodigal Beavers".  Go figure.
My husband's family tells me that as a child instead of the song that goes, "operator, would you help me place this call." ...he sang, "my burrito."
HA!
I had a friend in college who thought the line from "If You Don't Know Me By Now" was "'Cuz we only have black children when we argue, fuss and fight."  
My now 11 year old son used to crack us up with his version of "Dude looks like a lady" by Aerosmith when he was 5.  He would sing "do the naked lady".  We still tease him about it.
I had a friend in hs that thought the lean wit it, rok wit it song by dem franchize boys, was actually saying green goblin, green goblin,instead of lean wit it, rock wit it, so now every time I hear that song that is all that come to mind, in her defense she had just watched spiderman.lol
I've got a couple of friend that always thought the Police's Every Breath You Take had the line "I'm a Pool Hall Ace" instead of "How my poor heart aches."  Gets me every time!
Probably not many Flogging Molly fans here, but in their song You Won't Make a Fool Out of Me my daughter kept singing, "You may think you're the captain of me, but I'm your coffee chip from hell!" (it's supposed to be coffin ship)
I wasn't sure what they were singing either initially, but I looked at her one day and said, "What the heck is a coffee chip?" to which she happily replied, "I don't know but it sounds like a good ice cream flavor!"
Ahh kids.
One funny riff on this was Phoebe on 'Friends' who thought Elton John's lyric "Hold me closer Tiny Dancer" was "Hold me close young Tony Danza"! I totally cracked up.
A neighbor used to think Simon and Garfunklel were singing "Will the parson save Rosemary in time?"
@ Nikki from Nashville: Wait thats not what he says?? Dude I have been singing Lawerence Welk since I first got that tape in Elementary school and never ever even thought to question that... LMAO, I am so not kidding at all.

When Lil Jon's heavily accented Snap Your Fingers first came out, I didn't hear the title and couldnt for the life of me figure out what he was saying.. my roommate & I decided it was 'Slap your bibles' and I couldnt even understand how it could be anything close to "Snap your fingers" when I finally heard the title.  Then one day the accent on how he says 'fangers' just clicked and now I dont understand how I ever heard anything else..
Weird how that happens.
Julie from Omaha: That WASN'T THE BEATLES! JEEZ! It was WINGS! Paul McCartney's rinky-dink band from the '70s! How dare you confuse the two!!
when we were little my dad would send us up to the jukebox to play that song he liked "Arizona wants me" but he never could find it because he thought the title was "Cherry soda"
When my sister was in high school, Tell me All Your Thoughts on God by Dishwalla was popular.  One day she asked her friends, "you guys, where's Dendoo?"  She thought the song said "Like children of Dendoo" instead of "like children often do."  She never lived it down.
my coworker thought the line was from Benny and the Jets was "She's got electric boobs her mom does too. You know I heard it from a Pakistani"
Big Ol' Jet Airliner?  I thought it was "big ol jail in a line-up".
The GoGo's "Our Lips are Sealed": We thought for a little while that they were saying "Alex the seal"
when were little my dad would send us up to the jukebox to play that sone he liked "Arizona wants me" but he never could find it because he thought the title was "Cherry soda"
Thanks Paul in Washington, DC... now I'm "crushed" to know REM *wasn't* singing about soft drinks!  :)
I thought that John Cougar Mellancamp and Bob Seger had some sort of rivalry going on when he came out with Pop Singer.  I thought he was singing "I don't want to be no Bob Seger.  I don't want to sing no Bob song".
We once owned a boarding kennel and our children helped out with the work. Our two youngest sons thought the words to "Boot Scoot Boogie" were the "poop scoop boogie" and would sing it at the top of their lungs while cleaning kennels.
when i was little i thought "i'll never be your beast of burden" was "i'll never be your bee roberta..."
My daughter(then six)used to sing "Everybody plays with food" instead of Aaron Neville's heartfelt lament "Everybody plays the fool". She went on to sing "It maybe be optional to use a tool." She used to tell everyone that it was my favorite song because I laugh everytime it came on the radio. Actually I loved listening to every interpertation she came up with.
Elton John's lyric, "A girl with kaleidoscope eyes," became in my 8-year-old head, "A girl with colitis goes by."  Sounds like a nasty condition.
Pussy Cat Dolls "When I Grow Up", I could have sworn the lyrics were something like "When I grow up, I want to have boobies" but it is really "When I grow up, I want to have groupies".  Really, I thought it was boobies because of the way they "emphasized their assets" in the video...
I remember LL Cool J's song "Around the Way Girl" had some kind of sample right at the end of the chorus. I could never figure out what on earth it was saying, or if it was saying anything at all, but for some reason, I kept hearing the p-word in it. (And I knew that was wrong; otherwise, they wouldn't play it on the radio!)


----I had a friend in college who thought the line from "If You Don't Know Me By Now" was "'Cuz we only have black children when we argue, fuss and fight."
CC, Houston, Texas ----

Hahahaha! I like those lyrics better.


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