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mowens's avatar

Sometimes, kid's get murdered for their pants. (misheard lyrics question)

Asked by mowens (8403points) July 5th, 2012

First, listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdZT2FQJnpg

So, a long time ago I heard the song “ends” by Everlast. In the song, they say a lot of things… the chorus says “Sometimes kids get murdered for their ends.”

For the longest time, I thought they said “Sometimes kids get murdered for their pants.”

Every time they say ends in the song… I thought it was pants.

This is funny for 2 reasons.

1. It makes me look stupid.
2. One of my first roommates in college got his pants stolen at the Gym, shortly after I heard this song for the first time. I of course referenced this song, and he has made fun of me for years over it.

My question:

Do you have any similar stories? What are your misheard lyrics or song misunderstandings?

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27 Answers

filmfann's avatar

These are known as Mondegreens, and you can find more of them here

My favorite might be from the Young Rascals Groovin’
They say “You and me endlessly”, but I always hear “You and me and Leslie.”

snowberry's avatar

My daughter says there’s a song that goes “It’s too late to apologize” but she always thought it was “It’s too late to call the judge”. She says this sort of thing happens to her all the time.

I have audio processing issues, so I rarely understand the messages in songs, or in spoken English, for that matter. I make lots of funny mistakes like that.

Judi's avatar

I always thought this song said, “I watch her derrière walking away. ”

chyna's avatar

Bad Moon Rising lyrics were famous for being misunderstood.
“There’s a bad moon on the rise” was misheard as “There’s a bathroom on the right.”

Blondesjon's avatar

Excuse me while I kiss this guy.

mowens's avatar

@Blondesjon What song is that?

Blondesjon's avatar

Purple Haze by Jimi Hyndryx.

The actual lyric is Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

WillWorkForChocolate's avatar

I have misheard quite a few things, and I always laugh about it. One of my recent oopsies was regarding an old Sesame Street short, where to me and my mother both, it always sounded like the little girl was saying “a potato of milk” instead of “a container of milk”. I’m 33 and only recently discovered this. For years, my mother and I have been asking each other, “What the hell is a potato of milk?”

I also think that sometimes, misheard lyrics are a lot more fun than the actual lyrics. =0)

mowens's avatar

@WillWorkForChocolate I agree!!!! Sometimes kids get murdered for their pants… to me… makes more sense than getting murdered for your ends. I dont even know what that means.

Ponderer983's avatar

Oy! Where do I begin…....

mowens's avatar

@Ponderer983 I always begin at the begining. :)

Ponderer983's avatar

@mowens Then I guess the beginning would be the oldie but goodie Blinded By the Light Which we all wanted to be “revved up like a douche” when it was really a “deuce.” I still have no idea what it means lol. The second I can remember is the Gin Blossoms Hey Jealousy and I thought “Hey Jealousy” was “It Just Seems.” Lately though, when i question lyrics, I look them up so as to not look like such a revved up douche!

picante's avatar

I’m famous for improvising what I think the lyrics should be rather than what they are, and my list is long. One of the more difficult ones for me to come to terms with is from Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” The actual lyric is “You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte,” and I always heard “as you watched yourself go by.” Since I’ve not seen anyone in modern times gavotte, I rather like my version better.

chyna's avatar

@picante I have always, until your posting, thought it was watched yourself go by.

janbb's avatar

“There’s a bathroom on the right” by Creedance Clearwater Revival.

Bellatrix's avatar

Cheap wine and a fried egg roll (my interpretation of Cold Chisel song lyrics) should be cheap wine and a three day growth.

So many examples of this. My husband likes to point them out to me while I sing loudly at him in the car… shrugs… my lyrics are often far more creative than the original.

picante's avatar

@chyna, you and I can march to our own drummers and sing our own (correct) lyrics

YARNLADY's avatar

I always thought Maria in the Sound of Music has tea with Jan and Fred

Brian1946's avatar

In the song Go Ask Alice by the Jefferson Airplane, I used to think the lyrics to one line were “Remember what the dodo said”. It turns out that the lyrics are, “Remember what the dormouse said”. I thought the word was dodo, because Grace Slick’s pronunciation sounds somewhat like dodo and back then I knew what a dodo was, but I had never heard of a dormouse.

In a line from Can’t Help Falling In Love by Ulvis Parsley, I thought part of the refrain was ”...some things augmentary”, when the lyrics are actually ”...some things are meant to be”. In this example, the dynamics of my misperception were apparently reversed from my previous one. I had never heard the word “augmentary” but I was familiar with the phrase, “are meant to be”. I blame this on Parsley rushing those lyrics together to sound like one word.

Judi's avatar

@Brian1946, the line in Go Ask Alice was a reference to the doorman at the Filmore. (San Francisco) According to my husband (who was there) there was an old black man At the door who would hand out the play bills and say “feed yo’ head, feed yo’ head.”

ShanEnri's avatar

I have 2 but they were from my kids and not me! My husband and I are big fans of Def Leppard and listened to there songs in the car. One day my Daughter was singing “Pour Some Sugar on Me” but she was singing “Pour some sugar Hombre” and my son was singing “Too late for love” but he was singing “kool aid for for lunch”! We still pick on them for it!

bewailknot's avatar

@filmfann I think the whole world thought those lyrics were “you and me and Leslie” – I have known what it says for years but it still sounds like “and Leslie” to me.

Berserker's avatar

There’s a song by Metallica called Blackened, and in one part it says ’‘never is the sun’’. For the longest time I always thought it said ’‘never use a sword’’.

I was laughed at so bad by a Metallica fan when I said that. Lol.

Mariah's avatar

In some obscure song I liked in high school, the line is “you’re always on and dressed to impress” and I thought it was “you’re always undressed to impress.” I like my version better.

Berserker's avatar

@Mariah I like your version better too. :D

ccrow's avatar

@Ponderer983 I always hear it that way too! I assume the deuce is one of these, hence the revving.

bewailknot's avatar

@ccrow I think you have finally helped me make sense of that line. Thanks

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