We've all done it. There you are in the car, singing at the top of your lungs to one of your favorite songs, and then it happens. You suddenly hear the lyrics, as if for the first time, and it dawns on you. You've been singing the wrong words all along! Could it be? Did Mick Jagger really just say “beast of burden?” Well, that would certainly make more sense than “big Suburban.”
This happened to me fairly recently. I finally realized that the singer of Paper Lace heard his mama pray (not a plane) the night Chicago died.
Even once you've realized the error of your ways, it's hard to get into the groove of singing the correct lyrics when you've spent your whole life singing the wrong ones. Though I know better, I still sing “like a drifter I was born to wear cologne” and “It's not fair to deny me the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me.”
I enjoy hearing others' accounts of misheard song lyrics. There are the classic instances we all know about: “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” and “There's a bathroom on the right.” And then, of course, there's that Manfred Mann fiasco. (You know the one.) But I always like hearing about new, funny lyrical mishaps, so please share your own embarrassing stories here.
Now, lay down the salad, and bring us some friggin' pudding!
