nickhoorwegmusic

A mondegreen is a misheard lyric, although the term applies to all speech. The word comes from author Sylvia Wright’s mishearing of the words ‘and laid him on the green’ as ‘lady mondegreen’ in a Scottish ballad. There are some wonderful and very funny mondegreens; here are a few of my favourites…

Probably the three most famous are: 

‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy’ instead of ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky’ - Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix.

‘The ants are my friends’ for ‘the answer my friends’ - Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan.

‘There’s a bathroom/baboon on the right’ instead of ‘there’s a bad moon on the rise’ - Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

My favourite two are:

‘The girl with colitis goes by’ instead of ‘the girl with kaleidoscope eyes’ - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles.

‘I’m looking for a lover who won’t blow my brother’ for ‘I’m looking for lover who won’t blow my cover’ - Take It Easy by The Eagles

Possibly one of the funniest I’ve ever heard (because it’s so stupid) is ‘I got no towel, I hung it up again’ for ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again’ by Chumbawumba

For thirty years, my father thought ‘tonight you’re mine, completely’ was ‘tonight you’re mine, come fiddlin” in Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles. I don’t what he thought the next line must’ve been - ‘you give your love, so sweedlin’?

Two friends of mine had a couple of good ones: one friend heard ’I see red, I see red, I see red’ by Split Enz as ‘aussie bear, aussie bear, aussie bear’; the other friend heard ‘cheap wine and a three day growth’ by Cold Chisel as ‘cheap wine and a three legged goat’.

My own contribution is from Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones. When I was a kid I used to think the words ‘if you start me up’ were ‘yeah pistachio’….

Send me some of your favourites too!

Nick