A couple of years ago, I wrote about mis-heard lyrics to some of our favorite songs, with special emphasis on Creedence Clearwater Revival. Lead singer John Fogerty specialized in mangling words with that raspy growl. We all liked his songs, we just had no idea what he was saying. The fuzzy AM radio signal didn’t help. His most famous, of course, is “Bad Moon Rising.” So many of us thought he was saying “There’s a bathroom on the right,” (instead of “bad moon on the rise”) that he’s been known to sing the wrong version in his live concerts. Glad you can take a joke, John.
John Fogerty, singing about those happy creatures
Since that first story, I’ve been collecting a new batch of misunderstood songs, and CCR is still at the top of my list. Remember “Lookin’ Out My Back Door?” The one about tambourines and elephants, playing in the band? In the first verse, John sings, “Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.” When I was a kid, I thought he was saying “happy preachers.” Now there’s a visual image for you!
Same goes for CCR’s last big hit, “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” Some folks swore he was looking for a lady named Lorraine. “I wanna know…have you ever seen…Lorraine..”
Lorraine made a comeback a year later. Remember Johnny Nash’s hit? “I Can See Clearly Now…Lorraine has gone.” That Lorraine sure got around, didn’t she?
And how about Leslie? Remember “Groovin‘ (on a Sunday afternoon)” by the Rascals? Near the end of the song, the lead singer says, “Life would be ecstasy, you and me endlessly, groovin.” But we all thought he said “you and me and Leslie.” I spent years wondering who Leslie was.
One of my most-requested songs at KZ-106 back in the 80s was Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero.” I do remember one pre-teen who called in a request for “Juice Box Hero.” I think he was serious.
My all-time favorite Elvis song is “Suspicious Minds.” Imagine my surprise when a friend of mine began singing along to the dramatic first line, “We’re caught in a trap.” He thought the King was about to give his unfaithful partner a ride home: “We’re calling a cab.”
My friend Steve Hill from Dalton, Georgia recalled some 1970s-era requests for “Willard Go Round In Circles.”
Willard Scott, going around in circles
The song they wanted to hear, of course was Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round In Circles,” but now I’ll think of Willard Scott getting dizzy, every time I hear it.
Roger Davis told of a friend who went to the record store and asked for a copy of “My God the Spark.” As in, “My God the spark, is melting in the dark…” Now I have a whole new reason to listen to “MacArthur Park!”
Stu Wright remembers when Johnny Rivers’ 1966 hit “Secret Agent Man” was mis-heard by many as “Secret Asian Man.” Frankly, that’s what it sounds like Johnny is saying.
Also in the 60s, the McCoys had that big hit that still gets played at drunken wedding parties today: “Hang On Sloopy.” But on the static-filled AM radios of that era, many folks thought they were singing, “Hang on Stupid…Stupid, hang on!” (Thanks to Mike Miranda for that one.)
Many of us fondly remember a soul hit from 1971, Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” (“who do you think you are”). Bryan McIntyre, who then worked at WCOL, remembers getting requests for “Mr. Pit Stop.” Maybe they were NASCAR fans? And now that I hear it again, they weren’t too far off!
Elton John, singing about Lucy
Jimmy Rowe recalls Elton John’s version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which has that memorable line about “the girl with kaleidoscope eyes.” He said someone called and wanted to hear the one where “the girl with colitis walks by.” There aren’t many songs about people with colon problems, but at least one person thought this one was.
Jimmy Fallon often reads mis-heard lyrics sent in by viewers. A recent favorite was “Sugar Fried Honey Butts,” known to many of us as that Four Tops classic, “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch.” Hmmm….maybe the Tops could do a remake!
How’s your hearing? Better than mine, hopefully. I blame my mis-heard lyrics on the loud headphones I used in my radio days. If you have some favorite misunderstood songs, let me know!
My favorite misheard lyric was from a girl who called one day when I was a DJ at Jet-Fli. She kept asking for “Shop In The Neighborhood.” Failing to recognize it, I finally asked her to sing a few lines. That’s when I realized that she was asking for “Stop! In The Name Of Love” by the Supremes.
As for “Groovin'”….oh, shoot! I thought he was saying “Leslie,” too. It may be too ingrained in my mind to ever sing it differently.
My brother used to sing to Franki Valli’s “My Eyes Adored You”, but sang “My eyes of Georgia”.
David….Thank you for sharing this! I have been laughing so hard that I’ve cried and had to just stop for a little while to regain my composure. I’ve finally finished reading and laughing and crying from laughing so hard. I think you have brought to our attention that we all have misunderstood words in songs and that helps to make it funny. Thanks again!
my husband always thought Roy orbsons song ” only the lonely,” was” only baloney” drove me crazy…lol
!!
i like The answer is blowing in the wind, I thought they were saying , the ants are my friends they are blowing in the wind.
Thanks for sharing these. It was nice listening to these again and remembering what I thought they said. (LOL) Another song that was misunderstood a lot (at least by friends I knew back in the day), was Louis, Louie. Not going to say what they thought the lyrics were.