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!).
A Centennial Anthology of His Decca Recordings album at Amazon.com
And Santa Claus before he's gone
Will bless the house and all.
And Father John before he's gone
Will bless the house and all.
The Story: It was more of a forgotten lyric, but it is still funny. - Submitted by: Briana Delaney
Santa came to the people everywhere
Said the king to the people everywhere
The Story: I used to listen to this song all the time in the car when we were visiting my grandma's. I misheard something that had nothing to do with the song, so I decided to look at the lyrics to find out what they really were. - Submitted by: Andrew White
With all the grills upon it
With all the thrills upon it
The Story: It kind of sounded like it was about grilling for Easter. Like grilling Easter eggs. Weird! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Bring us some piggy pudding
Bring us some figgy pudding
The Story: I was always getting that out of the John Denver and the Muppets version, in which Miss Piggy mishears "Piggy pudding" but it's "figgy pudding" which interrupts that verse and she is explained that it's made with figs and bacon. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
If only in Visine
If only in my dreams
The Story: Could Bing Crosby have gotten the red out? - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
Mele Kalikimaka is a wise way
The Story: Again, the misheard lyrics make sense since it's really Hawaiian. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Mele Kalikimaka is a wise way
To say Merry Christmas to you.
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say Merry Christmas to you.
The Story: I learned this song from the movie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." I was singing it one day when I was little, and tried to convince my mother that I was right, after she corrected me. After showing her that part in the movie, she agreed that I made a good point. - Submitted by: Erin
Like a Virgin
Round yon virgin
The Story: I also could have sworn it was also a pre-Madonna reference. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
It was an up and atom day
This was your up and at 'em day
The Story: My grade school choir sang this song. We learned it by repeating after the teacher, and I hadn't heard the phrase "up and at 'em" at the time. - Submitted by: Patrick
Carry movies home in a jar.
Carry moonbeams home in a jar.
The Story: Every time I heard this song when I was younger, I pictured some kid in the '50s running home with a jar full of 8mm film. - Submitted by: plasket
Would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonshine home in a jar?
Would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
The Story: This might be a funny story in retrospect, but it certainly wasn't at the time. When I was a schoolgirl, we sang this in class. One day the teacher got really mad at me for singing the misheard version above. I had no idea at the time what moonshine was. I just thought it seemed about the same as moonbeams. So I had no idea why the teacher seemed mad enough to kill me. I had to grow a great deal older to learn what moonshine is and get some idea why she went so ballistic at me. - Submitted by: Anita Burke
Emma Dreeming, Arthur White, Chris Moss
Mayor Dazeby, Mary Anne Bright
Anne Mayall Jorg Rees, Mrs B. Whyte.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
The Story: Heard it a few years ago, it is a list of people in an office who are or are not attending the office Christmas party. Can't find any reference to it via Google, but it is a clever spoof on the original. - Submitted by: Stephen Carey
I’m drinking for a white Christmas
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
The Story: Sounded like he could have been drunk. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.