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 Girl Called Dusty album at Amazon.com
A world plot has happened with just one kiss.
A whole lot has happened with just one kiss.
The Story: I never understood that line correctly just from hearing it, but it sounded like it was saying a world plot. I finally learned the correct lyrics when I sang it as a karaoke song. The monitor told me the words there were merely a whole lot - much less dramatic than a world plot, for all the dramatic assertions of the song in general. - Submitted by: Robert Jones
You stopped and smile at me and asked me if I'd kettle dance.
You stopped and smiled at me and asked me if I'd care to dance.
The Story: In the dance halls, the girls would dance around their handbags. I have a vision of Dusty Springfield either dancing around a kettle or holding a kettle while dancing. - Submitted by: Allan Garrard
The only boy who could ever feed me
Was the son of a pizza man.
The only boy who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man.
The Story: My young friend SANG this at karaoke night! - Submitted by: Jana
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a creature-man
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The Story: I was a little kid when I first heard this song and I wasn't familiar with the word "preacher." (In my world, clergymen were called priests.) I was, however, familiar with fictional characters like Frankenstein. Suppose "Weird Al" Yankovic sometimes gets ideas from lyrics that he's misheard? - Submitted by: Daniel Muldoon
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a creature man
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The Story: I was very little. I had heard the word creature. Had no idea what a preacher was. Even going to a church wedding at age 5 or 6, I saw the priest and excitedly said out loud that he was a magician. But I did not think about it further until I was in my thirties, I was singing along once and realised the word that came so easily to my mind must be wrong. So I asked around. And got laughed at. - Submitted by: Ralph Brew
You don't have to say you love me just because I'm mad
You don't have to say you love me, just be close at hand/
The Story: Every time I heard this song, I would burst out singing my wrong lyrics. One day though I was sitting by the radio when it came on and for some reason, I didn't sing. On the first chorus, I thought, do I have the right words? The second time, I put my ear to the speaker and listened. Then I realized my mistake and I laughed my head off. - Submitted by: Wendy
You don't have to say you love, just because I ask.
You don't have to say you love me, just be close at hand.
The Story: I misheard the lyric from the '60s until a few days ago when I heard the Shelby Lynn version... over 40 years later. - Submitted by: Doug
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
