Misheard lyrics (also called mondegreens) occur when people misunderstand the lyrics in a song. These are NOT intentional rephrasing of lyrics, which is called parody.
For more information about the misheard lyrics available on this site, please read our FAQ.
This page contains a list of the songs that have stories about their misheard lyrics submitted.
Song names are sorted by first letter, excluding A and The. This is sorted by song title only, not
by song title and performer. So if two different performers preformed the same song, you'll see
misheard lyrics for both on the same page (provided the song title was spelt the same both times, and
misheard lyrics have been submitted for both!).
Australian Crawl - Greatest Hits (More Wharf) album at Amazon.com
You, you could be bald.
Beautiful people
The Story: James Reyne, the singer, was always hassled about his syllable breakdown and phrasing. I think it was excellent. Yet for years, I tried to understand the "beautiful people phrase", which I jokingly sang as the aforementioned. - Submitted by: Garry
To-be-booby-bong
Beautiful people
The Story: My mum, sister and I used to sing this! To be booby bong for years! - Submitted by: Helen
Them four eyes
Then the boys light up.
The Story: It was songs like this that kept me from wearing my glasses like I should have. - Submitted by: Nick the Bass Ace
never bought a lighter
then the boys light up
The Story: Sitting in the car listenening to the radio and thought " this is a weird song" whatever. Then I looked it up and realised it was not that. - Submitted by: Lachlan
Brown Hornet
Broken dreams that never really started, yeah!
Downhearted
Broken dreams that never really started, yeah!
The Story: The lead singer of Australian Crawl, had a vocal style that led to many misunderstood lyrics. I thought that this song was about the super hero, the Brown Hornet (as seen on the cartoon series, Fat Albert.) - Submitted by: Scott Mcphee
Downhearted
Broken reeds that never really started, yeah!
Downhearted
Broken dreams that never really started, yeah!
The Story: I was actually practising the clarinet for school music classes when I first heard this song on the radio. Several times, I had a broken reed which made the instrument sound obviously terrible. It's obvious then why I sang the song like that without thinking whether it made sense. - Submitted by: zhu plantation
Ohhhhh Where-ro
Ohhhhh, Errol!
The Story: I sang this right up till 2020, then my son told me it “it’s “Errol” and looked at me funny. ! - Submitted by: Helen
Your mothers run away to France
Your motors running way too fast
The Story: Used to sing this with my kids when they were little, had no idea I was wrong until my son became a teenager a few years later and informed me - Submitted by: Tracey
Burke and Wills and Camels Initials in the tree
Burke and Wills and Camels Mitchells in the trees (As in Major Mitchell cockatoos)
The Story: I have always thought this was the line since 1983 when I first heard the song. I am very disappointed to find out today that I was wrong - I think my version is better! - Submitted by: Daryl
There are more Australian Crawl misheard lyrics available.
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
