Making fun of music, one song at a time. Since the year 2000.
Check out the two amIright misheard lyrics books including one book devoted to misheard lyrics of the 1980s.
Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Beatles
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!).
Help! [UK] album at Amazon.com
Beatles', "Across The Universe"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Ooooh, David, Oh.
The Real Lyrics:
Jai guru deeva om.
The Story: I was belting out in song in my room when I thought my roommate was gone. He was listeing to me from the hall as I was singing, 'Ooooh David! As soon as he could stop laughing, he corrected me. - Submitted by: PoKey_Penguin
Beatles', "Across the Universe"
The Misheard Lyrics:
My guru's name is Love
The Real Lyrics:
Jai guru deva om
The Story: Whenever I sing along to this song ( one of my favorites) I sing these words. I have since I first heard it. It's not an obscure mantra. It's plain english. It fits. Try it and you'll agree...Nothing's gonna change my world. - Submitted by: Steve
Beatles', "And I Love Her"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She gives me everything, and tender veal
The Real Lyrics:
She gives me everything, and tenderly
The Story: It never crossed my mind that I might be wrong about these lyrics. I sang them, unexamined, for ca. 20 years before it dawned on me that my version was patently absurd. But hey, maybe tender veal is a British thing...who can say? - Submitted by: Byron Brehm-Stecher
Beatles', "Eleanor Rigby"
The Misheard Lyrics:
All the lovely people,
Where do they all come from
Where do they all come from
The Real Lyrics:
All the lonely people,
Where do they all come from
Where do they all come from
The Story: I heard one of my older brothers singing 'lovely' instead of 'lonely'. When I told him he got it wrong he replied something like, 'I know, but I want a happy song right now.' - Submitted by: Dolf Lowey-Ball
Beatles', "Get Back"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jo Jo was a man who thought he was an owner
But he knew it couldn't last
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
Boston, California past.
But he knew it couldn't last
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
Boston, California past.
The Real Lyrics:
Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
But he knew it couldn't last
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
The Story: I knew that what I was singing made no sense at all, but I didn't find out the real lyrics until I came across this website and realized I'm not the only one who's had trouble with this song. - Submitted by: Erinn
Beatles', "Get Back"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jojo was a man who thought he was a woman
But he was another man.
But he was another man.
The Real Lyrics:
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it wouldn't last.
But he knew it wouldn't last.
The Story: A couple of weeks ago I found out by accident on the Internet that I'd been wrong about this for 33 years. I thought Jojo was a confused transvestite, and that the Beatles were being rather intolerant by telling him to get back to where he once belonged. - Submitted by: Mitch Monger
Beatles', "Get Back"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jojo was a man who thought he was a woman
But he was an ugly man
But he was an ugly man
The Real Lyrics:
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it wouldn't last.
But he knew it wouldn't last.
The Story: When "Get Back" first came out my older brothers used to sing, "Jojo was a man who thought he was a woman/But he was an ugly man" at the top of their lungs along with the Beatles. I was only 7 at the time so I firmly believed that was the actual way the song was written. It wasn't until I searched for the lyrics on the Internet about ten years ago that I found out they were singing the wrong words. - Submitted by: Roxanne
Beatles', "Get Back"
The Misheard Lyrics:
and I loathe that sweater
The Real Lyrics:
and a low back sweater
The Story: I was singing along with this song late at night driving in a car trying to keep myself awake. My wife drowsily asked, "What did you just say"? - Submitted by: Joe
Beatles', "I've Just Seen a Face"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Spawning, yes I am spawning
And she keeps calling me back again
And she keeps calling me back again
The Real Lyrics:
Falling, yes I am falling,
And she keeps calling me back again
And she keeps calling me back again
The Story: The song was new so I hadn't heard it before. I was riding in a 1958 Chevy with a bunch of friends returning from a weekend at the State Fair in Sacramento. I was in the back seat, the radio's speaker was on the dashboard, and there were two conversations going on. I tried my best to make sense of the new lyrics. - Submitted by: Ken McCrimmon
Beatles', "Let It Be"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Moe and Larry come to me
The Real Lyrics:
Mother Mary comes to me
The Story: I heard this misheard lyric in a stand up comedy video. - Submitted by: Madeline Payne
Beatles', "Let It Be"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Speaking words of wiz-bum.
The Real Lyrics:
Speaking words of wisdom.
The Story: My four year old song asks my wife out of the blue one day, 'Mom, what's a wiz-bum?' As you can imagine, her imagination went wild. Did he crack the parental code on the Spice Channel? Did he pick this up at pre-school? So she asks, 'What are you talking about?' He says, 'You know (sings) 'Speaking words of wiz-bum, Let it Be.' Proud that our four year old had such good musical taste for a kid his age, and trying no to laugh out, she explained the correct words to him. The Beatles, and particularly the Let It Be album, remain his favorites. - Submitted by: Paul Cranage
Beatles', "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You've paid the tax, he's the queer of the shore.
The Real Lyrics:
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore.
The Story: I listened to this song and thought that line was incredibly stupid. (So was the rest of the song.) When I told my obsessive Beatles-fan friend what I thought they were, she screamed at me as if I had seen the Rocky Horror Show too many times. - Submitted by: different sort of freak
Beatles', "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Brown paper packages leer on the chore
The Real Lyrics:
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
The Story: I was about 8 when I first heard this one. My dad was a fanatic, so I asked him how brown paper packages could leer. He laughed and corrected me. Not bad? Well, we were carting home all of my friends the night after my sleepover party, where I had told my friends that I knew the lyrics to every beatles song. Extreme Embarrassment!!! - Submitted by: Eva
Beatles', "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Lucy in the sky would die.
The Real Lyrics:
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
The Story: My mom never quite grew out of her Beatle Phase. So I grew up listening to Beatles & 60's music, then later moving on to 80's. When I was little, I would sing 'Lucy in the Sky would Die' because it's what I thought they said. I never really thought about it until recently when I was getting my boyfriend into the 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' Album CD. & showing him that there's more to music than Nirvana & other depressing music. (Yeah, I know the Beatles were one of Kurt's biggest influences.) I started laughing, because I finally realized how dumb I must have sounded getting it wrong all of those years! - Submitted by: Casey Barden
Beatles', "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Lucy's in the sky and diamonds.
The Real Lyrics:
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
The Story: Never knew words to songs even when I heard them a lot. I think it's because I didn't have albums so I couldn't make out the lyrics. - Submitted by: Jacqueline Campbell
Beatles', "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Steal the hammer, man!
The Real Lyrics:
Silver hammer man!
The Story: The last line of the song. At first, I thought they were telling the listener to steal the hammer from Maxwell to keep him from killing anybody else. - Submitted by: David Jones
Beatles', "Norwegian Wood"
The Misheard Lyrics:
So I let her fly
The Real Lyrics:
So I lit a fire
The Story: I didn't know the correct version until very recently--I thought my version made complete sense for more than 30 years! My husband (who told me the real lyrics) could not believe that I had missed the whole point of the song! - Submitted by: Ronne Randall
Beatles', "Obladi Oblada"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, lygozor, brah!... ly ly ly ly lygozor!
The Real Lyrics:
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!... Life, Life, Life, Life, life goes on.
The Story: My sister was so sure the that song was about a «lygozor» (which she was thinking it was a type or dinausor ) haha - Submitted by: Katleen Rousseau
Beatles', "Paperback Writer"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Isn't that right, girl?
The Real Lyrics:
Paperback writer
The Story: I got busted once when a friend heard me singing the song to myself. She cracked up. I didn't have a clue why she was laughing so hard.I knew I was a bad singer, but man, how rude would that be for her to laugh out loud at my singing. 'Is that what you think the lyric is?', she eventually asked me. Even after she corrected me, I had a tough time accepting it until I next heard the song. - Submitted by: Merrell Vannier
Beatles', "Paperback Writer"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Paid for by Creighton, paid for by Creighton
The Real Lyrics:
Paperback writer, paperback writer
The Story: Before the Internet, throughout the years, I'd have the radio on and catch the distinctive refrain of this song; based on what the Beatles wrote at the time, I always casually assumed it was a weird song about exploitation and a guy named Creighton footing the bill--"Paid for by Creighton". This was many years before I saw the alternative spelling of "Crichton" who wrote Jurassic Park. - Submitted by: Cheryl Abel
Beatles', "Paperback Writer"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Take the back right turn
The Real Lyrics:
Paperback writer
The Story: College roommate sang this at the top of her lungs ten years ago...and thought it was correct..(of course, we were kind and didn't laugh and tell everyone....not!) - Submitted by: Laurie Ann Lawrence
Beatles', "Penny Lane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my mind
Wet beneath the blue suburban skies.
Wet beneath the blue suburban skies.
The Real Lyrics:
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There, beneath the blue suburban skies.
There, beneath the blue suburban skies.
The Story: Didn't know I was singing this song wrong since 7th grade Then, I was looking through this list of misheard lyrics. 'Haha' I thought. 'These people are so stupid...wait...really? Is that how it goes?' Crap. - Submitted by: mojofarm
Beatles', "Penny Lane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Candy Lane
or
Andy Lane
or
and Elaine
The Real Lyrics:
Penny Lane
The Story: My friend told me that at one time a friend of hers thought the line was Andy Lane. My friend thought it was and Elaine. The second person's sister misheard it off of her and thought it was Candy Lane! And what's funny is that there's actually a street in our area called Candy Lane! - Submitted by: Lindsey
Beatles', "Polythene Pam"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She's the kind of a girl
Who makes a U with the world.
Who makes a U with the world.
The Real Lyrics:
Yeah, she's the kind of a girl
Who makes the 'News of the World'.
Who makes the 'News of the World'.
The Story: I've always thought it was "makes a U with the world", even though it makes no sense. I just found out today (June 2018) what the real lyrics are and I've been listening to this since it came out. - Submitted by: Beatrice
Beatles', "Polythene Pam"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Well you should see her tractor is in her honey bag
Just you should see honey pie
Just you should see honey pie
The Real Lyrics:
Well you should see her in drag dressed in her polythene bag
Yes you should see polythene Pam
Yes you should see polythene Pam
The Story: Well it sounded like Lennon is saying honey pie, I think this I heard is funny because of John that I didn't hear him say polythene Pam, I like it and it's the funniest lyrics I heard. - Submitted by: matthew
Beatles', "Rain"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Nair
The Real Lyrics:
('rain' reversed)
The Story: As a child, Andy Partridge of XTC wondered why John Lennon was singing about his mother's depilotary cream, according to the Mojo Lennon special! - Submitted by: Pickle
Beatles', "Something"
The Misheard Lyrics:
A taxi like no other lover
The Real Lyrics:
Attracts me like no other lover
The Story: I was just busy doing other things while the song was playing and even though I knew the real lyrics, my brain still decided to make me hear "a taxi." - Submitted by: Bridget Ilene Delaney
Beatles', "The Ballad of John and Yoko"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Hear the groundhogs say,
you can get naked ok,
you can get married in the altar this way.
you can get naked ok,
you can get married in the altar this way.
The Real Lyrics:
Peter Brown called to say
you can make it okay,
you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.
you can make it okay,
you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.
The Story: My sister and I were singing this song along with the album one day, and I stopped short as she sang the wrong lyrics with gusto. I took the needle off the record and said, "WHAT do you think they're saying?!?" She said it, somewhat embarassed, and I informed her what the real lyrics were. This began the "Valerie, what HOW does this song go?" craze I suffered through most of my teenage years. - Submitted by: Valerie Duffy
Beatles', "Ticket To Ride"
The Misheard Lyrics:
My pee-pee don't care.
The Real Lyrics:
My baby don't care.
The Story: My 6 year old misheard this Lyric. We were listening to a Beatles Greatest Hits cd in the car. Near the end of this song when they repeat this line over and over he started laughing and asked, 'Why are they singing about their pee-pee's?' Listen to the song, it does sound like that is what they are saying! - Submitted by: Cathy
Beatles', "Yellow Submarine"
The Misheard Lyrics:
We all live in the Ellis of Marines
The Real Lyrics:
We all live in a Yellow Submarine
The Story: During the Vietnam war, my little group of neighborhood friends sang this often in honor of an older 19 year old kid on the block who had joined the Marines. We thought that we were being patriotic. We were all 6 and 7 years old. - Submitted by: Paul MacDougall
Beatles', "You Never Give Me Your Money"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Out of garbage, money spent ...
The Real Lyrics:
Out of college, money spent ...
The Story: Misheard by my wife and her first husband, who insist to this day that not only are they correct but it makes sense ... if you are out of garbage, you are out of everything "... see no future pay no rent." - Submitted by: Ted
Beatles', "You Won't See Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And since I, since I f***** you, f***** you.....
The Real Lyrics:
And since I lost you...
The Story: I was a teen and asked my Mom why they say the 'f' word in the song. She said, "They wouldn't say that; that's a nice song." - Submitted by: mr
There are more Beatles misheard lyrics available.
| Indexes: | [#] | [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [H] | [I] | [J] | [K] | [L] | [M] | [N] | [O] | [P] | [Q] | [R] | [S] | [T] | [U] | [V] | [W] | [Y] | [Z] |
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
Submissions!
Would you like to Submit some Misheard Lyrics for a song We're always looking for more entries.
Disclaimer
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.