I’m pretty sure this is why I rarely find anything to be strange or unusual. It's a fascinating characteristic but it has a couple of drawbacks in life. And for me, one of these is my complete inability to hear lyrics correctly. Thanks to growing up in a world of Jabberwockys and Snozcumbers, I accept every strange thing I hear. Or mishear...
Nina Simone - Sinnerman
When I was little, I used to love watching The Thomas Crown Affair. Pretty sure I was way too young to be watching that, but that's an issue I can talk about in therapy when I'm older. Anyway, this film has a classic scene scored to Nina Simone's powerful Sinnerman. She repeats 'oh sinnerman', which, for some reason, I always misheard (and, sadly, probably sung along with) as 'ghosts in a man'. It wasn't until I looked up the 'ghosts in a man song' years later that I realised my mistake. D'oh.
All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret
I've mentioned I have absolutely no sense of context in music, right? Years ago, I confused my friend Becky by asking her: 'why do they sing "you'll be just another egret in that song? What does that even mean?"'
'Er, do you mean regret?'
Yes Becky, yes I did.
I think I assumed it was some trendy American word I didn't know. It's actually a species of bird. *facepalm*
Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
This is probably my strangest one, and it's a personal favourite of my sister's. So, two lines in, Ricky-from-The-Voice sings: ' cos there's so little else occupying my head'. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I always heard 'cos there's solarcle elves occupying my head'. Solarcle, as the sharp among you may note, is not a word. How on earth my brain processed a made up word instead of the actual lyrics is beyond me.
FYI: I imagine solarcle to mean 'powered by sunlight'. Those cheeky elves.
Elton John - Tiny Dancer
Funnily enough, this song is often featured on misheard lyrics videos (which I watch, hoping to feel less alone in the world. Still the only one hearing about those elves, sadly). People often mistake 'tiny dancer' for 'Tony Danza'. I am not most people.
I was bopping along to this a while ago (fine, last week) and realised I was singing 'baby darling, she's so manly'. Now, I'm a little bit more context-aware than I once was, so I knew that couldn't be quite right. Imagine my surprise to find the lyrics were actually 'lay me down in sheets of linen'. I got every single word wrong.
Arctic Monkeys - Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor
I don't want to think about how many times I sang 'her name isn't real, but I don't care for sound' in my teens. Sorry Alex. (The real lyrics are 'her name isn't Rio, but I don't care for sand' - and now I get the Duran Duran reference, clever).
Alesso ft Tove Lo - Heroes
This isn't something I'd choose to listen to exactly, but sometimes I tune myself into Radio 1 and then find catchy-but-slightly-crap songs like this stuck in my head. I was convinced at one point they sang 'all we're looking for is love in the Lidl line'. Apparently it's 'love and a little light'. I prefer my version.
Plan B - Ill Manor
This song is my guilty pleasure. But the first time I heard it I thought he was singing 'my mind is ill', not 'my manner's ill', which'd be a very different song...
Rusted Root - Send Me On My Way
You know that scene in Matilda where she's making pancakes? And there's that great song in the background? That tune, by Rusted Root, is a staple of my happy playlist - so I totally know all the words. This wasn't always the case though. Watching Matilda cook herself breakfast made me think they were singing 'omelette' instead of 'on my way'.
Taylor Swift - Blank Space
'Gotta love the Starbucks lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane'. I know I'm not the only one who misheard this one! Starbucks lovers totally conjures up a vivid image of cosy, smug hipster couples. But no, apparently it's just her long list of ex-lovers.
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
I love this song. But I've only just looked up the lyrics and it’s devastatingly apparent that I've misheard almost all the words that are not 'come on Eileen'. Like, I was so sure it started with ‘so he’s sat upon the radio' (‘sounded sad upon the radio’) and I was convinced the lyrics were ‘oh I swear I believe’ (‘I swear what he means’). Song lyrics are tricky for some people.
I was about to end this post with a message explaining that I don’t actually mishear things that aren’t lyrics. But as I was typing, I corrected my sister ‘Patrick Stewart isn’t gay!’ to hear her respond ‘I know, I said Patrick Stewart is BAE!’. Maybe I need to get my hearing checked…
Have a lovely weekend, my little egrets.
Totally with you on this one. For years I thought 'A year has passed since I wrote my note' was: 'I'm in the bath since I broke my nose' in The Police's Message in a Bottle. Also, in Open Your Heart by The Human League I thought the line: 'End concealing, try revealing' was actually: 'In the ceiling, gyrovealing.' Total nonsense word of course but, aged 10, I assumed it was some kind of sexy dance grown-ups did ... Erm, up high or something.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Those are some amazing misheard lyrics. And I'm definitely going to try and use 'gyrovealing' in my next conversation!
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