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!).
Ultimate Manilow album at Amazon.com
At the Copa, Copa pajama
At the Copa, Copacabana
The Story: My daughter sang it this way at the age of three. She was being put to bed and took one look at her pajamas and kept right on singing. - Submitted by: Julie Clark
Her name was Lola
She lost her shoulder.
Her name was Lola
She was a showgirl.
The Story: My daughter (5 years old) heard the song and asked: 'Where did Lola lose her shoulder?' - Submitted by: Kristin
She lost her youth and she lost her pony.
She lost her youth and she lost her Tony.
The Story: I wasn't real surprised, but a little, when I heard the right lyrics, as by then I was well into adolescence and knew what "her Tony" meant. But, I heard this song quite often growing up, and while calling a "hers" made no sense to me (since that would make him a slave or something), saying the had a pony made perfect sense. If I was some rich show person, that's one of the first things I'd buy. - Submitted by: Doug baseball
I'm not talking 'bout the linen
And I don't want to change your mind.
I'm not talking 'bout moving in
And I don't wanna change your life.
The Story: My cousin Kenny used to break out into this song from the top in a capella; "Hello, yes, it's been a while, not much...." So once I heard the song on the radio, I realized which song he was actually singing. Now, for at least twenty years, I have been sure that Manilow was trying to tell the girl that unlike the linen (which probably needed changing), he wasn't trying to change her mind. Simultaniously, I pictured the warm wind blowing, which helped dry the linen. So one day, I happened to Google up the lyrics for fun and---Wham! Now I can't remember how many times I, a 6'2' African-American, has sang that out loud. - Submitted by: Marty Martin
The boogie-woogie peanut butter talking about.
The boogie-woogie beat is what I'm talking about.
The Story: My mother was a big Barry Manilow fan. So from the time I was a little kid, I always heard Barry Manilow. It was just one of those lyrics that little kids mishear. Ii think it had something to do with his New York accent. - Submitted by: Brian
Wouldn't it be fine living in Longleat together?
Wouldn't it be fine being lonely together?
The Story: Visited Longleat this year, and could not get that song out of my head. Argh. - Submitted by: Dale Rumbold
Looks like a potato.
Looks like we made it.
The Story: I was five years old at the time. A bunch of us were driving in the car, headed west down O'Donnell Street to my grandmother's house. My older cousin, Robert, and I were in the back seat. And this song came on the radio, which I had heard before many times, but had misinterpreted the lyrics. I was rather uncouth about busting out into singing in those days of my youth. As soon as the song hit the chorus line, I wailed, "Looks like a potato!" My cousin Robert eventually corrected my mistake, but only after we practically picked him up off the floor of the car dying of laughter. The adults with us also got quite the kick out of it. I was completely embarrassed! - Submitted by: Kirk Bradford Myers
To long rotten peaches
And you by the bay.
To long rocky beaches
And you by the bay.
The Story: My old boss kept asking me about the Barry Manilow 'Rotten Peaches' song, and it took me months to figure out what song he was talking about - Submitted by: Steven Brekel
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Karen. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
Would you like to Submit some Misheard Lyrics for a song We're always looking
for more entries.
Disclaimer: amIright.com makes no claims to the accuracy of the correct lyrics.
All correct lyrics are copyrighted, amIright.com does not claim ownership of the original lyrics.
