Mistaken lyrics that are BETTER

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post lyrics you *thought* you heard that are better than the actual words

2 from last year...

from Outkast's "Spread"

"... just spread... spread the meat"

from Junior Senior's "Rhythm Bandits"

"we got the beat beat beat that will beat your meat"

― scoot, Saturday, 16 October 2004 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link

when i was a kid growing up in the dairy state, i thought that part in steppenwolf's 'born to be wild' where john kay calls on us to "fire all our guns at once and..." was really "fire all your guns wiscon-sin". I think its way cooler than the true lyric because it would be such a bizarre, vaguely secessionist demand if i had heard correctly.

― j.m. lockery (j.m. lockery), Saturday, 16 October 2004 01:43 (nineteen years ago) link

scuse me while i kiss this guy

― AaronK (AaronK), Saturday, 16 October 2004 01:47 (nineteen years ago) link

scoot is clearly obsessed with meat.

I've always kinda wished that Hendrix's "Come On" went "I love you baby like a miner loves coal" rather than "I love you baby like a miner loves gold". It seems fresher and says more.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 16 October 2004 01:52 (nineteen years ago) link

Belle and Sebastian State I am In

heard

"my brother had confessed he was gay
and said that he loved me for awhile"

it was

"My brother had confessed that he was gay
It took the heat off me for a while"

still a good line, still could use more kink

― tremendoid, Saturday, 16 October 2004 01:52 (nineteen years ago) link

Wow, yours totally pwns the real deal there.

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Saturday, 16 October 2004 02:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Everything but the Girl, "Missing"

Heard: Now you've disappeared somewhere, I've got a space
You've found some better place

Actual: Now you've disappeared somewhere, like outer space
You've found some better place

I still think the "hole in my soul" theory works better than the "alien abduction" theory.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Saturday, 16 October 2004 05:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Mott: I've always thought yours were the real lyrics myself.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 16 October 2004 05:43 (nineteen years ago) link

Let's write Ben and tell him.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Saturday, 16 October 2004 05:45 (nineteen years ago) link

Recent fave courtesy of Interpol: "look what you've done to my heart...asshole."

Personally I think everyone naturally prefers what they mishear to the actual lyric. It's closer to our natural logic, which is usually crasser and more bonkers than what someone would willingly right.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 16 October 2004 05:55 (nineteen years ago) link

or write for that matter.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 16 October 2004 05:56 (nineteen years ago) link

the dawnzer had a lee light

― autovac (autovac), Saturday, 16 October 2004 08:23 (nineteen years ago) link

A wee brg30 used to sing along to Deep Purple on the radio "My women loves cocaine yo"

― brg30 (brg30), Saturday, 16 October 2004 23:17 (nineteen years ago) link

Courtesy of U2:
I can live with or without you

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Saturday, 16 October 2004 23:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Dancing with the chicken slacks. Holy shit, that's awesome.

― Sharnk, Sunday, 17 October 2004 04:44 (nineteen years ago) link

i've always heard mott's version of the EBTG song myself. in fact i don't like the actual lyric at all. i vote for a permanent change. someone get mr. watt on the phone.

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Sunday, 17 October 2004 05:06 (nineteen years ago) link

"He's the one who likes all the pretty guns/and thats the shittest gun/but it loads on what it makes"

from that Nirvana song. I've stood by that for years.

― Hari Ashurst (Toaster), Sunday, 17 October 2004 11:03 (nineteen years ago) link

six months pass...

The Jam- The Fly

What is should be: "To touch your face in the morning light.
I hope you're always gonna be alright."

What is: "To touch your face in the morning light.
I hope you're always gonna be around."

― Cunga (Cunga), Friday, 29 April 2005 06:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Why'd I just put "The Fly"?

― Cunga (Cunga), Friday, 29 April 2005 06:42 (nineteen years ago) link

For a long time, I thought the lyrics to the Talking Heads "And She Was" went "...and she could see an earmuff factory" instead of "...and she could see a nearby factory."

Wouldn't an earmuff factory be weirder and better?

― The Mad Puffin, Friday, 29 April 2005 13:49 (nineteen years ago) link

American Music Club: "Hello Amsterdam"
Heard: "Hello Amsterdam/My name is Evan Dando"
Actual: "Hello Amsterdam/My name is Fernando"

Eric B. and Rakim: "Microphone Fiend"
Heard: "See it's sort of an addiction/Magnetized like Nixon"
Actual: "Magnetized by the mixing"

The Cars: "Bye Bye Love"
Heard: "Substitution asked Confucious, 'What's inside your head?'"
Actual: "Substitution, mass confusion, clouds inside your head"

Beck: "Hell Yes"
Heard: "Fax machine anthems/Get your tan pants on"
Actual: "Fax machine anthems/Get your damn hands up"

― mike a, Friday, 29 April 2005 14:04 (nineteen years ago) link

ps For a long time, I also heard "he said that he loved me for awhile" in "The State I Am In." Think I prefer it.

― mike a, Friday, 29 April 2005 14:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Randy Newman - Texas Girl At The Funeral Of Her Father
It's starting to rain
Papa we'll go sailing

I heard..
It's starting to rain
Papa went of sailing

(don't know if that would even be possible in English..)

― Ludo (Ludo), Friday, 29 April 2005 14:10 (nineteen years ago) link

Phoenix "If I Ever Feel Better"

Real lyrics:
"They say and end can be start
Feels like I'm burried and yet I'm still alive"

Heard:
"They say a man can be a star
Feels like the barbarians are still alive"

― djangojones (djangojones), Friday, 29 April 2005 14:12 (nineteen years ago) link

"He's in love with a rock and roll war..
He's in love with the getty stone wall"

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 29 April 2005 14:15 (nineteen years ago) link

The Receptionists: "Soren Loved Regina"
Heard: "I've got a blind date with the knight of the Internet/Resignation"
Actual: "I've got a blind date with the night of the infinite resignation."

― mike a, Friday, 29 April 2005 14:38 (nineteen years ago) link

on that smashing pumpkins tune, i like to say:
despite all my rage i'm still just rattlin' the cage

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Friday, 29 April 2005 15:35 (nineteen years ago) link

you mean that's not the real lyric, mark grout?

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 29 April 2005 15:36 (nineteen years ago) link

More Eric B. and Rakim:

Rak-imitate
Follow the leader
Rak-imitate

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 29 April 2005 15:38 (nineteen years ago) link

David Bowie - Sufragette City

"The smell of my dick has put my spine out of place"

― dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 29 April 2005 15:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Trail of Dead:
HEARD "I've made a list of the 18th century greats"
WAS "I've made a list of my mistakes and regrets"

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 29 April 2005 15:54 (nineteen years ago) link

I've posted this around here a few times:
Huey Lewis and the News:
"Now the oboe may be better tweeting
But the heart of rock and roll is still beating"

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 29 April 2005 15:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Huey Lewis is a major source for me:

I wanna new Drug/Weatherwall made me sick
They say the heart of Rock & Roll is forbidden
You'll say anything to a butterfly (this is it)

― PappaWheelie, Friday, 29 April 2005 16:03 (nineteen years ago) link

In this post, I will give the OFFICIAL lyrics and allow your collective imaginations to construct the BETTER mistaken lyrics.

"Little Red Corvette"- "Girl you've got a dash like I've never seen."

"Her Strut"-"Oh, they do respect her, but/They love to watch her strut."

"Short and Curlies"- "It's too bad, she's got you by the boards/ And you can't break loose at all"

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 29 April 2005 16:10 (nineteen years ago) link

R.E.M.

Actual: "Consider this, the hint of the century"

Heard: "Consider this, the hint of the sins you weave"

― kickitcricket (kickitcricket), Friday, 29 April 2005 17:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Blackstreet "Before I Let You Go"

Heard: "True love is so hard to find / And it's right between your legs and mine"
Actual: Lips.. Not Legs. Oh well.

― phil-two (phil-two), Friday, 29 April 2005 17:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Magnetic Fields "Summer Lies"

Heard: "Sitting in my room wasting away / Petting myself"
Actual: "Sitting in my room wasting away / Cutting myself"

― phil-two (phil-two), Friday, 29 April 2005 17:56 (nineteen years ago) link

ah damn that must've been a shock.

― Ludo (Ludo), Friday, 29 April 2005 18:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Built To Spill "Car"

Actual: "Faces turn to backs of heads and slowly get smaller"
Heard: "Faces turn to bat heads and slowly get smaller"

― darin (darin), Friday, 29 April 2005 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link

I recently heard the Oasis b-side "Listen Up", which I liked a lot, especially the way it resolved on the line "But I don't mind if you're my girl." Was really disappointed to learn the actual lyrics, which are not only different but nearly the opposite of what I was hearing: "But I don't mind being on my own."

Also, before they recorded it, I though REM's "Ages of You" was "Ancient History".

― Burr (Burr), Friday, 29 April 2005 20:56 (nineteen years ago) link

I used to think Jim Croce's "Operator" was "Arboretum."

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 29 April 2005 21:00 (nineteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Pet Shop Boys - "Opportunities"

I'm looking for a partner, someone who gets things fixed
Ask yourself this question: Do you want to be a bitch?

― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Elton John

IS: "Hold me closer, tiny dancer."

HEARD: "Hold me close, I'm tired of dancing"

― Eric WK, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 10:11 (seventeen years ago) link

i still refuse to look up the proper lyrics to 'addictive' by truth hurts because "he turns my pages" is an amazing lyric, and if my slight suspicion that she's actually singing "returns my pages" is proved correct i'll be sadface

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 10:12 (seventeen years ago) link

when I was a nipper, my dad used to play me Brothers in Arms on vinyl. Thought "So Far Away" was about the guy's sofa being gone.

― the Dirt, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 10:17 (seventeen years ago) link

I got T.V. when I want T-Rex!

― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 10:50 (seventeen years ago) link

what is it really?

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 10:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Television man is crazy saying were juvenile deliquent wrecks
Oh man I need tv when I got t rex

― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 10:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Super Furry Animals 'Northern Lites'

ACTUAL: 'Born in a manger...'
HEARD: 'Poor little ninja...'

A great opening line if ever there was one.

― braveclub, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 11:06 (seventeen years ago) link

DJ Bobo: Love Is All Around

ACTUAL: 'See it in the eyes of a mother and a child'
HEARD: 'See it in the ass of a mother and a child'...

― the Dirt, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 12:09 (seventeen years ago) link

my kid brother mis-heard "Who Are You" back in the day, and his version was *significantly* better than the real thing:

Blue wat-er
bloop bloop
bloop bloop

― henry s, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:13 (seventeen years ago) link

real: "Babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, baby, mmm, baby
I don't wanna leave you,
I ain't jokin' woman, I've got to ramble."

heard: "Babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, baby, mmm, baby
I ain't gonna leave you,
I am jokin' woman, I've got to ramble."

would have been way funnier if he was fucking with her

― ógy, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Liquid:

"In a sweet harmony, In a sweet harmony"
"In a school on the beach, in a school on the beach"

Royksopp, the first song on the first album:

"Who are you? My oh my! Who are you? Haven't you improved!"

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:28 (seventeen years ago) link

I always thought Leonard Nimoy's version of "Rudy, Don't Take Your Love To Town" he sang "It wasn't me that started that old crazy ALIEN war". So disappointed when I listened back and he'd kept it as "ASIAN".

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Talking Heads - the Great Curve

Actual: "She is moving to describe the world"
Heard: "She is moving through the sprite world"

I thought it was about a spooky medium or something.

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:35 (seventeen years ago) link

Dan Hill: "Sometimes when we touch, the honour seems too much"

― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:41 (seventeen years ago) link

when i think about you, i dust my shelf

― Alan, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:48 (seventeen years ago) link

Metallica, The Unforgiven.

Actual: "Through constant pained disgrace".
Misheard: "Bill Cosby faces disgrace".

― chap, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:50 (seventeen years ago) link

I can't remember exactly how it went, but when I first heard Lindsey Buckingham's "Gift of Screws" (kind of half paying attention) I thought it was an *angry* song. Something like:

They sent your son to Iran (Essential oils are wrung)
They make up all the rules (The attar from the rose)
And now as Christmas comes along (Is not expressed by suns alone)
It is the gift of screws!

Which matches the way he sings it far better then the actual lyrics.

― dlp9001, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:10 (seventeen years ago) link

Jerry Garcia, "Sugaree"

Original lyrics:

"When they come to take you down,
When they bring that wagon 'round."

as

"...When they bring that raygun 'round."

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:14 (seventeen years ago) link

When I was a little shaver, I thought, "She's a maniac/ manic/ for sure" was "She's an Arabian/ Arabian/ for sure."

― QuantumNoise, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Steppenwolf again, "Magic Carpet Ride" this time...

Actual: I looked around/A lousy candle was all I found
Misheard: I looked around/A lousy camel was all I found

Obviously, a camel is no substitute for a magic carpet. But as a mode of transportation, it's a hell of a lot better than a (lousy) candle.

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Quoted in Frank Kogan's book:

Actual: "I want to rock 'n' roll all night / and party every day"
Heard: "I want to rock 'n' roll all night / and part of every day"

― Brad C., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:39 (seventeen years ago) link

"Why do you wanna be so dated?"

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:58 (seventeen years ago) link

"rollin' down the street smokin' AND/OR sippin' on gin and juice..."

― novamax, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Moby actual: "Every time you touch me I feel like I'm being born..."
Moby heard: "Every time you touch me I feel like I'm being bought..."

― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:09 (seventeen years ago) link

I thought it was "Every time you touch my I feel like I need more"!

― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:12 (seventeen years ago) link

"rollin' down the street smokin' AND/OR sippin' on gin and juice..."

Haha, I like that. It's like Snoop's concerned that people will pull a whitey if they mix weed and booze.

― chap, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:20 (seventeen years ago) link

What about my ching ching ching
What about my bling bling bling
What about the puppy that's a doggy today

― nabisco, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:38 (seventeen years ago) link

There's one point in Bjork's "I Miss You" when I always (thirteen years now?) think she's going to say "I still remember.. but there's nothing to forget." but instead she says "I still remember, but I haven't met you yet." I prefer my lyrics!

― Finefinemusic, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:40 (seventeen years ago) link

opeth - beneath the mire

actually:

"in his shadow i am choking yet flourishing"

i heard (and still hear somehow):

"in his shadow i am choking a virgin"

― Charlie Howard, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Steppenwolf again, "Magic Carpet Ride" this time...

Actual: I looked around/A lousy candle was all I found
Misheard: I looked around/A lousy camel was all I found

woah. i misheard this the exact same way not two days ago. i figured "hey, he was looking for some drugs and all he scored was a cigarette. that is lousy."

― andrew m., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Due to a misreading on this thread, I suddenly can't think of anything in the world I want more than an album of Bjork doing Rolling Stones covers.

― nabisco, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:48 (seventeen years ago) link

eleven years pass...

"You can dance / You can die / Having the time of your life"

― flappy bird, Friday, 17 August 2018 06:02 (five years ago) link

Spice Girls, Wannabe:

Actual: If you wannabe my lover, you got to get with my friends
Misheard: If you wannabe my lover, you got to get rid of my friends

― Valentijn, Friday, 17 August 2018 10:54 (five years ago) link

David Bowie, Diamond Dogs:

Actual: This ain't rock and roll, this is...genocide!
Misheard: This ain't rock and roll, this is...jazz time!

I was 10 at the time, not sure I had even heard the word "genocide" before.

― henry s, Friday, 17 August 2018 11:30 (five years ago) link

Also:

Billy Squier, In The Dark

Actual: in the dark
Misheard: Canada

Not by me, but by a girl I knew in high school, who used to sing "Can-a-da" during the chorus when it came on the radio, totally thinking that was the proper lyric.

― henry s, Friday, 17 August 2018 11:33 (five years ago) link

Metallica, The Unforgiven.

Actual: "Through constant pained disgrace".
Misheard: "Bill Cosby faces disgrace".
― chap, Tuesday, April 24, 2007 6:50 AM (eleven years ago)

prophetic

― Arch Bacon (rushomancy), Friday, 17 August 2018 12:26 (five years ago) link

In 1979 my mother confidently sang "Ginger lady!" when the Village People came on the radio.

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Friday, 17 August 2018 21:09 (five years ago) link

The Moodists Swingy George
Actual: "just a black coat flapping"
Misheard: "It was a black hole dripping"

― badg, Friday, 17 August 2018 21:14 (five years ago) link

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