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15 Songs With A Lyric That's Frequently Misheard
Sometimes when you're singing along to a great song and belting out the lyrics, you realize that you've been singing the wrong words for a long time. And that's OK because misheard song lyrics are surprisingly common. Flip through the slideshow below for 15 of the most misheard song lyrics, from the hilariously unintentional to the downright bizarre.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
This popular track from Swift's 2014 album 1989 is about the media's obsession with her love life and had some fans thinking that it was about folks who were really into Starbucks. "Got a long list of ex-lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane," Swift sings. But instead of hearing "long list of ex-lovers," fans heard "lonely Starbucks lovers." Chaos ensued.
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The Kingsmen, "Louie Louie"Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
It generally takes a whole lot for a song to end up being investigated by the FBI because its lyrics are difficult to understand, but that's exactly what happened with "Louie Louie." According to Snopes, the agency initiated a multi-year investigation into the song after a group of parents complained that it contained salacious lyrics. In reality, it was just a bunch of kids making dirty jokes.
Tom Hill/WireImage
In one of the more iconic Phoebe Buffay scenes from Friends, the notably flighty character completely mishears the most recognizable lyric from Elton John's "Tiny Dancer." Instead of the titular dancer, Buffay thinks John is referring to the actor and Who's The Boss? Star Tony Danza, which has inspired decades' worth of memes.
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Talking Heads, "Psycho Killer"Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Because multiple lyrics in this 1977 Talking Heads hit are in French, it's perhaps not surprising that many listeners had no idea what the lyrics to "Psycho Killer" were and filled in their interpretations of phrases like "qu'est-ce que c'est."
Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
It might seem silly, but plenty of folks hear "I'll never be your pizza burnin'" when Mick Jagger is actually singing "I'll never be your beast of burden" in the chorus of this legendary Stones hit.
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Dobie Gray, "Drift Away"Steve Morley/Redferns
Considering the breezy, beachy vibe of this Dobie Gray hit, it's perhaps not surprising that some fans heard "give me the Beach Boys / and free my soul" instead of the actual lyrics: "Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul."
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Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "Blinded By The Light"Michael Putland/Getty Images
Written by Bruce Springsteen, Manfred Mann's Earth Band scored a No. 1 hit with "Blinded By The Light," and produced one of the most misheard lyrics in music history. Instead of "revved up like a deuce," a reference for a Ford deuce coupe in the song's opening lyrics, many listeners heard some variation of "revved up like a douchė."
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Eiffel 65, "Blue"Morena Brengola/Getty Images
In fairness to those who had no clue what the heck Eiffel 65 was singing on their one-hit-wonder "Blue," the lyrics here weren't words. It's certainly easy to hear "da ba dee, da ba da" as something completely different.
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Elton John, "Rocket Man"Michael Putland/Getty Images
This Elton John classic has inspired a lot of confusion over the years, with one single lyric in the song's chorus. "Rocket man, burnin' out his fuse up here alone" has been misheard countless ways, each more hilarious than the last.
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Queen, "We Will Rock You"Steve Jennings/WireImage
Nope, Freddie Mercury isn't threatening to kick your cat in this 1977 anthem. Listen more closely to the lyrics, and you'll realize he's referring to a young man kicking an actual can around. Although, there's almost assuredly more lyrical depth there.
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Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising"GAB Archive/Redferns
This song uses the sometimes spooky power of the moon to evoke its foreboding message, but a lot of fans heard that "there's a bathroom on the right" or "there's a bad moon on the right" instead of "there's a bad moon on the rise."
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Jimi Hendrix, "Purple Haze"David Redfern/Redferns
In a song with meaning as complex as "Purple Haze," it still makes more sense that Jimi Hendrix would sing "'scuse me while I kiss the sky" instead of "'scuse me, while I kiss this guy" in "Purple Haze." But that didn't stop Hendrix from poking fun at the confusion over this lyric by occasionally singing the wrong words on purpose in his live shows.
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Iron Butterfly, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
It wasn't the listeners who misheard the words of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," but the band itself. After consuming a full gallon of wine, songwriter Doug Ingle and Ron Bushy came up with "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" instead of "In the Garden of Eden," the psych-rock classic's actual intended lyric.
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Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams"Bob King/Redferns
Even though cheese is great, it's not what Annie Lennox meant when she sang "Sweet Dreams." In the oft-misheard lyric, Lennox sings, "sweet dreams are made of this," not "made of cheese." Perhaps more reasonably, many fans heard "these" instead of "this."
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Dire Straits, "Money For Nothing"Rob Verhorst/Redferns
In one of the weirder misheard lyrics in music history, the Dire Straits lyric "money for nothing, and your chicks for free," a commentary on the rock and roll lifestyle, is often misheard as "money for nothing and chips for free." Maybe fans thought they were singing about free snacks instead of wild hotel romps?
Watch Micky Dolenz's 'Shiny Happy People' Video From His New R.E.M. Tribute Album
When the cover of Micky Dolenz Sings R.E.M. Began circulating online earlier this month, many people presumed it was some sort of Photoshop prank. Dolenz did record a tribute album to Carole King in 2010, and he followed it up in 2021 with a collection of Michael Nesmith songs, but King wrote several of the Monkees' best songs, and Nesmith was both his bandmate and a brilliant songwriter in his own right. R.E.M., meanwhile, didn't have any sort of obvious connection to Dolenz in the minds of most people.
But the EP is real. It comes out on November 3 via 7A records. We have the video for "Shiny Happy People" right here. Dolenz also covers the band's 1981 debut single "Radio Free Europe," their 1992 hit "Man on the Moon," and the 2004 deep cut "Leaving New York.
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"These songs are absolutely incredible," Michael Stipe said in a statement. "Micky Dolenz covering R.E.M. Monkees style, I have died and gone to heaven. This is really something. 'Shiny Happy People' sounds incredible (never thought you or I would hear me say that!!!). Give it a spin. It's wild. And produced by Christian Nesmith (son of Michael Nesmith). I am finally complete."
The album was the brainchild of 7A Records co-owner Glenn Gretlund. The UK label has been re-releasing lovingly remastered versions of obscure Monkees-related albums since 2015. They've also been the home of Dolenz's new works in recent years.
"I was talking to Glenn about what to do next," Dolenz tells Rolling Stone. "The band R.E.M. Came up. I went, 'Wow, that's very cool.' I'm a big fan. I remember their stuff very well. And I've heard through the grapevine that the band were fans of the Monkees. I found that incredibly flattering."
R.E.M. Were indeed one of the first major bands to cite the Monkees as a significant influence. This followed a long period where critics of musicians scoffed at the made-for-TV band. "People realize how great the songs are," R.E.M. Bassist Mike Mills told Rolling Stone in 2012. "It doesn't matter anymore that they didn't write them. It's just not the perceived crime that it was then."
In 2018, when the Monkees came together to record Christmas Party, which wound up being their final LP, R.E.M. Guitarist Peter Buck co-wrote "Christmas Party" with longtime R.E.M. Auxiliary member Scott McCaughey. They both play guitar on the song, too.
But when the idea came up for the R.E.M. Tribute EP came up, Dolenz realized he wasn't super familiar with the band's catalog. "My first instinct was to go back and listen to all their songs," he says. "Fortunately, I caught myself. I said, 'Wait a minute. I do not want to make a karaoke version of this music. If I listen to these songs over and over, it'll be very difficult to not just do somebody else's vocal.' That was my overall approach. I didn't listen before going to the studio."
They recorded it earlier this year at Christian Nesmith's home studio. The majority of the instruments are played by Christian himself, though his longtime drummer Christopher Allis was also involved. Christan's Nesmith partner Circe Link and Micky's sister Coco Dolenz contributed background vocals.
Micky knew "Shiny Happy People" and "Man On The Moon" quite well prior to recording but was less familiar with "Radio Free Europe" and "Leaving New York." "Those guys were such great poets," he says. "The lyrics at time remind of of Michael Nesmith lyrics. They're very poetic, which I love. And we started with about ten songs I thought might work. Then Christian did his thing. He noodles with his guitar until he comes up with something."
The video for "Shiny Happy People" was created by longtime Monkees manager/historian Andrew Sandoval utilizing home videos from Dolenz's private collection. Many of them come from his childhood. Sandoval knows the material quite well since he combed through it all recently while assembling the book I'm Told I Had A Good Time: The Micky Dolenz Archives, Volume One, which comes out December 6.
"Andrew put the video together so quickly," Dolenz says. "I can't believe it. I don't know how he remembered this footage so well to be able to go snag those bits of me and my sisters and the rest of my family and all the shiny, happy people."
Earlier this year, Dolenz launched a special tour where he played the landmark 1967 Monkees album Headquarters straight through. Might he celebrate Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. On a future tour? "We've talked about it," says Dolenz. "That's a thing now, bands doing their albums. We'll see. I'm doing four Headquarters shows this month. After that, there are no more plans for Headquarters. But you never know. This does seem to be turning into a nice little niche for me."
Tribute albums to his favorite writers are also becoming a little niche for Dolenz. "I have a few ideas bobbing around my head for the next one," he says. "But I don't really know for sure yet. We'll see how this one goes."
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After Sachsgate Victim Tells Mail On Sunday: 'I Can Never Forgive Jonathan Ross'... Why Is This Lewd Bully STILL On Primetime Television?
A fading chat show king – once revered for his irreverence – finds himself occupying a late-night slot on a classical music station.
While it sounds like a new incarnation for a spoof Alan Partridge character, in truth the man behind the microphone on Classic FM's Saturday Night At The Movies is all too real. It is foul-mouthed presenter Jonathan Ross.
It is ironic if nothing else. Ross, 62, whose edgy TV shows in the 80s and 90s had critics hailing the rebirth of British satire, is now bookending his career working for a radio station that could not be more Establishment.
And yet this is no fall from grace, far from it. Classic FM is simply another remarkable string to his bow.
For unfathomable though it seems to many, Ross remains omnipresent on our screens and airwaves.
IAN GALLAGHER: A fading chat show king – once revered for his irreverence – finds himself occupying a late-night slot on a classical music station (Pictured: Jonathon Ross)
Who would have countenanced ITV still broadcasting The Jonathan Ross Show, a platform for his blend of filth and fawning? Or giving him a high-profile judges' role on one of its biggest family programmes, The Masked Singer?
Particularly not after the so-called Sachsgate affair which has come back to haunt him after 15 years because of the Russell Brand scandal, and has lost none of its repugnance over time.
To recap, Ross and Brand left gratuitously obscene messages for Andrew Sachs, tormenting the Fawlty Towers star, then 78, over Brand's brief fling with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie.
It was Ross, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday at the time, who shouted 'he f***ed your granddaughter' during one of the appalling calls, aired on Brand's then Radio 2 show.
In the resulting uproar, Brand was sacked and Ross – then one of the BBC's highest-paid broadcasters – suspended. He eventually slunk off to ITV where he continues to make millions.
But the deeply distressing episode continues to reverberate.
Miss Baillie says Ross has never said sorry to her personally, though he made a general apology at the time, saying he was 'deeply sorry' for his 'juvenile and thoughtless remarks' and wrote to her grandfather.
She said: 'It makes me feel like I don't matter and I'm just some disposable tart.'
IAN GALLAGHER: It was Ross, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday at the time, who shouted 'he f***ed your granddaughter' during one of the appalling calls, aired on Brand's then Radio 2 show
Seven days ago, in an interview in The Mail on Sunday, she said: 'At least Russell Brand said sorry and paid for my rehab. The man I really can't forgive is Jonathan Ross.'
Despite this 'deplorable intrusion' into the Sachs family – as the BBC Trust described it after an investigation – Ross is himself sensitive about privacy.
Two years before he humiliated the Sachses, his solicitors wrote to Fleet Street editors, passing on his dismay at having been photographed playing tennis with actor David Baddiel.
This was, they said, a breach of Ross's 'right of privacy' under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights.
One rule for him and another for his targets?
A new generation learning about Sachsgate for the first time have expressed shock on social media. Others have found themselves angered second time around.
Even before his treatment of Andrew Sachs, there was a question mark over Ross.
Like a classroom bully's silent mate, ITV bosses always stood by him, though, and are still said to be 'in thrall' to him.
IAN GALLAGHER: Miss Georgina Baillie says Ross has never said sorry to her personally, though he made a general apology at the time
IAN GALLAGHER: ITV appears happy to take risks with Ross, even if in other areas the broadcaster slavishly follows a woke agenda
But Ross trails his BBC rival Graham Norton – who consistently has starrier guests – in the chat show stakes.
Much has changed of course in the past 15 years. Lewd comments and dirty-flirting with female guests are beyond the pale in this #MeToo age.
Nevertheless, earlier this year Ross engaged in uninvited obscene onscreen banter with comic Katherine Ryan about her sex life after she had made a jokey comment about it herself.
There was a backlash from appalled viewers. One commented that it was 'as funny as a cot death' and suggested that 'nothing speaks more to the decline of television'.
Previously, Ross asked then-Tory leader David Cameron if he'd ever masturbated while thinking of Margaret Thatcher.
And during an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ross told the actress 'I would f*** you', adding that she was 'clearly gagging for it'. He also congratulated Madonna – after she adopted her daughter Mercy – on her 'lovely little black baby', and called Heather McCartney – whose leg was amputated after being hit by a police motorbike – a 'f****** liar', jokingly adding: 'I wouldn't be surprised if we found out she's actually got two legs.'
Last year, he criticised Radio 2 for becoming 'risk-averse' and 'dull', having introduced more safeguards following the Sachsgate incident.
Meanwhile, ITV appears happy to take risks with Ross, even if in other areas the broadcaster slavishly follows a woke agenda.
How long they will keep promoting him, a man seemingly out of step with the times, remains to be seen. Still, there's always Classic FM, giving him the chance to indulge himself, playing his favourite – if very niche – Japanese animation studio music, as it did last night.
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