I read gwens last entry, about how she misunderstood lyrics to a bush song....i just wanna know what songs people here has loused up and embarassed themselves with...i had a friend who though "Raspberry beret" by prince was "rags baby go grey" (should of heard her sing that lol) and i don't know the guy who sings this one...but he sang about "dust on the bottle" or something (country song) and i thought he was saying "dust on the bible" i never understood that song...I don't need songs to make an ass out of myself, but i'd still like to hear what others have to say lol

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Answers

I swear that they are saying "wrapped up like a douche" in "Blinded by the Light". The lyrics are really saying "revved up like a deuce". I still think of the song as "wrapped up like a douche". It's ingrained at this point. I take this stuff with a grain of salt. To hold the listener accountable to perfect understanding of popular music lyrics is silly. This just proves that I'm a vulgar jerk. Oh well, I guess they are right then. I should take the shit our of my ear. :)

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Joseph, then everyone from the 70's is a vulgar jerk. We all thought the words were "wrapped up like a douche". After a decade or so, it's nice to know what they really are (um, I still don't understand what they mean though). Maybe a little better pronouncation would of helped. But the notority probably sold a lot of records.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Misheard song lyrics actually have a name; they're called mondegreens. I learned of this term several years back, on Tiger-List (The Duran Duran Mailing List).
There are websites devoted to mondegreens; this one's the best I've found.
mondegreen site
It's called "KissTheGuy.com", in homage to the oft-misheard Jimi Hendrix lyric "Excuse me, while I kiss the sky".
Have fun... (and ps: Vicki's right, EVERYONE sings "wrapped up like a douche"!

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

ugh, I didn't proof my work. It's KissTHISGuy, not what I said. Boo Klee.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Great site Klee! My sides hurt from laughing. :)

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

I heard my favorite 'mondegreen' when I was a babysitter to an 11 year old, way back in college. One day my little charge was singing at the top of her lungs, to the tune of the Police "So Lonely" "Salami! Salami!!!" She was kind of chubby, come to think of it...

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Klee, that site is so funny, I have tears streaming down my face. I think I woke my roommate up from my hysterical, hyena laughing. The Amazing Grace mis-heards are the best.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

"Revved up like a deuce" refers to a little deuce coupe, i.e., a car. Vroom.

But what is the line AFTER that one? ;)

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Good point, Milla. "blah blah like a deuce and then the roller in the night?" "and then we're rollin' in the night"? Ack, the song is stupid. Here's a good misheard lyric tell-all: out camping, long time buddy singing (loudly, many beers having been consumed) to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. He gets the the pop-top/flip flop part and belts out "Stepped on a paw paw! (Blew out my flip flop)!" and we were all just slack-jawed. A PAW PAW? WHAT THE HELL IS A PAW PAW? we yelled, laughing. He turned 18 shades of red and we teased him about it the rest of the camping trip. I still hear "paw paw" whenever I hear that song.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night. But what do they say at the end? "She got down, but she never gone town, she's gonna make it to the night..." or... what the hell?

Isn't a paw-paw a kind of fruit?

My Bruce Springsteen Mondegree Story That I've Told Too Many Times: I thought "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" was "Tenth Devil in the Free Sack". I mean, I *knew* that wasn't really what he said, but I never found out what he said, and I liked singing along so much that I just sang the tenth devil thing. So one day, when I was like 26 years old, I was driving my dad around in my car, and that song came on. And I sang the tenth devil thing, and my dad was so disgusted he actually got mad. He was so disgusted and annoyed, I just had to laugh. He was like, "GWENDOLYN. It's TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT. How could you NOT know that?"

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Yep. A pawpaw is a fruit.

Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue?
(Golly, THANKS, Baloo!)...

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

There were some friends I met in college who were from Louisiana east of Baton Rouge, deep in the sticks, and many of them used "paw-paw" to mean "grandfather." You really have to pronounce it with a thick drawl to get it just right. Funny thing is, we all knew exactly what they meant even though we'd never heard it before and we were all from within 200 miles of each other in Louisiana. Must be some weird "southern" thing. :-)

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

Wow! Thanks for the scoop on the paw paw guys! I did some additional research and found that Paw Paw is another name for papaya (which I hardly think would cut Jimmy's heel so he had to cruise on back home). Still, I feel somewhat ethically obligated to let my friend know he's not a total idiot. Perhaps a basket of paw paw's for his birthday which is next week? Incidentally, my dad's parents were nicknamed "Mimi" and "Paw Paw" by my eldest cousin.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

I thought Elton John was singing "Don't let your son go down on me". Twisted.

And the song "Machine head" sounds just like "Mushy head". Trust me, just listen to it and think "I've got a mushy head, it's better than the rest" (or something like that). It will be mushy head forever.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

I've only slept 2-4 hours a night for a week, so I know what you mean by "mushy head". Got one. Sucks. Tired.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

That did it!

I'm writing an acapella tune. Ladysmith Black Mambazo can do the background rhythm vocals. For lead, somebody can sing Milla's lyrics/poem. The form is a blues progression. The whole thing would sound like bongos.

deuce a pa pie ya deuce a pa pie ya deuce a pa pie ya deuce a pa pie ya

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

I'm not sure, but I think Milla was quoting a song from the Jungle Book movie.

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Yup. Thats from the Jungle Book.

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Gwen and shan are correct. That was not my original work. I thought the shout out to Baloo was a dead giveaway or I'd have credited it to Disney. Sowwy for the confusion.

-- Anonymous, April 30, 2001

A good friend of mine from high school mis-heard Rush's "Limelight" thusly:
"Living in a fish-eye lens" he heard as "living in a fish island."
"Get on with the fascination" he heard as "get on with the fast stimulation."

Listen very close to Dishwalla's "Counting Blue Cars" and instead of "... and asked many questions, like children often do", it sounds like he's really singing "... and asked many questions black children often do".

And Gwen, I'm right there with ya on the "Tenth devil in a free sack." I don't know why, but I didn't hear the title of that song on the radio for 20 years and so I never understood what he was singing.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2001

I always sing "fish island" but I never consciously realized it until I read your post.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001