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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Doobie Brothers
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!).
Captain & Me album at Amazon.com
Doobie Brothers', "Black Water"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Gonna play some funky music man
Pretty momma gonna take me by my hand
Pretty momma gonna take me by my hand
The Real Lyrics:
I'd like to hear some funky Dixieland,
Pretty mama, come and take me by the hand
Pretty mama, come and take me by the hand
The Story: I listen to '60s and '70s music all day long at work and for the last 6 months I've been blurting this out without realizing they were the wrong lyrics! - Submitted by: Hollie
Doobie Brothers', "Black Water"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Hold back water, keep on rollin'.
The Real Lyrics:
Old black water, keep on rollin'.
The Story: For many years, I thought this was a song about family road trips. You know, where dad's driving and you got to pee, and he wouldn't stop anywhere. I thought the Doobies were saying, 'Hold back water', meaning 'Don't wet your pants'. And the embarassment when I was singing along, and someone corrected me. I was about 20 when I learned the real lyrics. - Submitted by: Chad
Doobie Brothers', "Black Water"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Well I'm filthy hereafter she's ready for clothes
The Real Lyrics:
Well I built me a raft and she's ready for floatin'.
The Story: I thought it meant he'd taken her virginity. Hey, I was just a kid. - Submitted by: Pieza
Doobie Brothers', "China Grove"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Talkin' 'bout the China bull
Oh, oh, Johnny Roll.
Oh, oh, Johnny Roll.
The Real Lyrics:
Talkin' 'bout the China Grove
Oh, oh, China Grove.
Oh, oh, China Grove.
The Story: I was talking with my friend one day and said 'Yea, I used to think they were saying 'Johnny Roll', but now I know they're saying 'China bull'. He laughed his a** off. - Submitted by: Cori
Doobie Brothers', "Jesus Is Just Alright"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jesus is just a rat to me.
The Real Lyrics:
Jesus is just alright with me.
The Story: I used to think that this is how the song went until my father corrected me. We had a good laugh about it. To this day I still hear it that way occasionally. - Submitted by: P-Man
Doobie Brothers', "Jesus Is Just Alright"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jesus just don't ride with me.
The Real Lyrics:
Jesus is just alright with me.
The Story: I thought it was a song about driving around town like an immoral badass. - Submitted by: PK
Doobie Brothers', "Listen To The Music"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Oh oh ohhhhh, western music.
The Real Lyrics:
Oh oh ohhhh, listen to the music.
The Story: Another computer consultant and I were working at a client's, where they had put us together in a former file room to work on some software. The other consultant had internet radio playing on her laptop and often sings along if I'm the only other person around, just to liven things up. She is a little young for this era of music, and when she loudly sang this lyric I just about fell on the floor laughing! - Submitted by: Feline
Doobie Brothers', "Listen To The Music"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Whoaa Waltz to the music
The Real Lyrics:
Oh, I listen to the music.
The Story: I used to hear the song in an old commercial they used to run for Wachusett Ski Area in Massachusetts, where they changed the lyrics to Whoah Waaachusett's....When I heard the real song I heard Waaaltz to the Music and thought that was the name of the song. It took me forever to find out the actual name of it. - Submitted by: E.I.
Doobie Brothers', "Long Train Running"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You know I saw Miss Loose
Down along the tracks
She must've hung Alabama Lee
And she won't be comin' back
Down along the tracks
She must've hung Alabama Lee
And she won't be comin' back
The Real Lyrics:
You know I saw Miss Lucy
Down along the tracks
She lost her home and her family
And she won't be comin' back
Down along the tracks
She lost her home and her family
And she won't be comin' back
The Story: A foreign-born friend wanted to perform the song for a school gig and knew that he must have misheard the lyrics, so he asked me to check it. - Submitted by: Philip
Doobie Brothers', "Minute By Minute"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Mennen, by Mennen, by Mennen
The Real Lyrics:
Minute by minute by minute
The Story: I was a little girl when I first heard this song, around the time in the 80's where Mennen product commercials were quite common and always ended with the 'By Mennen' jingle. Somehow I just thought this was a tribute song for such a great deodorant. LOL! - Submitted by: Tiffany
Doobie Brothers', "Take Me In Your Arms"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Take me in your arms
Rock me, rock me Doodlebug.
Rock me, rock me Doodlebug.
The Real Lyrics:
Take me in your arms
Rock me rock me a little while.
Rock me rock me a little while.
The Story: My cousins had a dog named Doodlebug, a mean and ugly little thing! - Submitted by: Annie Roonie
Doobie Brothers', "Takin' It To The Streets"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Buyin' time 'cause nothin' in this world is free.
The Real Lyrics:
I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see.
The Story: Honestly, I always thought the lyrics were 'Buyin' time 'cause nothin' in this world is free'. So, when I was in college my roommate was in a band that played a frat party. He sang those lyrics. And a guy who, of course, knew the song told him, 'That was a nice improv on the lyrics.' Thing is, the lyrics I had misheard actually work well within the context of the song, unlike so many other misheard lyrics. - Submitted by: Matthew Penn
Doobie Brothers', "What A Fool Believes"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Never could believe
You see
The right man has the power
To give it away
You see
The right man has the power
To give it away
The Real Lyrics:
But what a fool believes
He sees
No wise man has the power
To reason away.
He sees
No wise man has the power
To reason away.
The Story: I've heard this song for many years since I was a child in the early 70's. I didn't know what the name of the song was until last night when I saw a commercial last night with Michael McDonald. - Submitted by: Dh
Doobie Brothers', "What A Fool Believes"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She must have regret for her nostalgic tan
Never coming near where he wanted to stay.
Never coming near where he wanted to stay.
The Real Lyrics:
She musters a smile for his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say.
Never coming near what he wanted to say.
The Story: I thought this song was really sad, since it was about a girl who used to be tan but now couldn't go the beach (where he wanted her to stay). I thought the band was clever for incorporating a psa about the dangers of sun exposure into its song. It wasn't until I was busted by a friend singing my lyrics outloud that I really listened to the words and understood the real lyrics. - Submitted by: labogue
Doobie Brothers', "What A Fool Believes"
The Misheard Lyrics:
The white man has the power
To keep us away
To keep us away
The Real Lyrics:
No wise man has the power
To reason away.
To reason away.
The Story: I am hearing impaired with 50% of my hearing in my left ear only. Growing up, I always sung the misheard lyrics. While working for a now defunct radio station, they played this song on the overhead speakers. I loved the song so much, I started singing it out loud. To make matters worse, I was the only black person working in the office of white people. Can you imagine the looks on their face? It was HILARIOUS. It finally dawned on me to look up the lyrics on the net and find out that a song I thought was a political anthem against racism was actually a love song. - Submitted by: Michelle King
Doobie Brothers', "What A Fool Believes"
The Misheard Lyrics:
What a fool believes
Deceives
The white man has the power
To lead us away.
Deceives
The white man has the power
To lead us away.
The Real Lyrics:
But what a fool believes
He sees
No wise man has the power
To reason away.
He sees
No wise man has the power
To reason away.
The Story: On a long car ride to the beach, my niece asked why this song was about the white man's abuse of power. Trying hard not to crack up, we assured her that Michael McDonald was not singing about race relations. (And happened to be white himself.) - Submitted by: J. c. j. Pn
Doobie Brothers', "What a Fool Believes"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Anybody else but Shirley Jones
The Real Lyrics:
Anybody else would surely know
The Story: Never understood what a TV Sitcom star from the '70s was doing in an '80s pop song. - Submitted by: J. Peterson
There are more Doobie Brothers misheard lyrics available.
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