Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> James Taylor

The Story: For years I heard this playing from time to time, and couldn't ever make out this title line (as it turns out), always hearing it more like "Down at Papa's eyes" than anything else. It remained a mystery to me for so long, because I never successfully heard ANY phrase in the song to google it and identify the song. That is, until today (Sept. 24, 2012). Today I was waiting to get oil changed in my car when this came on the sound system there. I struggled as usual to make out any phrases, but thought I might have heard "from a windy height" at one place in the song, but that sounded muddled like the whole song. But I went home and googled that, learning that I had indeed heard that phrase correctly, and at last I could identify the song and learn the correct lyrics. "Copperline"? Who could have heard that right without already knowing it, considering the song's overall muddled sound? - Submitted by: Karen Smith

The Story: I was wondering what a coprolite was, So I looked it up, and it meant a fossilized animal dropping. - Submitted by: Bob

The Story: When I was in Thailand in 1976 with a bunch of exchange students, we all got together once and shared horror stories of having been serenaded by Thai guys on their guitars, and the lyrics they never quite got right. This was one that was sung to me. I wish I could remember the rest!! They were a riot. - Submitted by: Julie Rudd

The Story: This is the last line of the song, and I'd never questioned the way I thought I'd heard it until tonight. Tonight I was at a restaurant, where I'd finished eating, when this song came on the sound system. I didn't suspect until the end of the song that I might have misheard this last line. I sat through the song, thinking it was a reminder for me to post it under the category of "Song titles not used as lyrics". That would have worked the way I'd always thought I heard the song. But not quite hearing the last line as I'd thought it was caused me to look up the lyrics to make sure it was what I always thought. Since that last line does contain the exact line "fire and rain," I found that line disqualifies the song from the "Song titles not used as lyrics" category. I'd previously thought that the repeated line "I've seen fire and I've seen rain" was as close as he ever comes to saying the phrase "fire and rain" per se. So now I have this misheard lyric to report, but no "Song titles not used as lyrics" submission, thanks to my checking the real lyrics. - Submitted by: Karen Smith

The Story: Misheard this for years. A total shock when I looked up the lyrics - Submitted by: Zahara

The Story: I thought he was singing to a girl whose name was Vendanya. Years after being corrected, my friends still tease me about this one. - Submitted by: Mich

The Story: Many years ago, my brother told me that a friend of his thought the words were "beet greens and blues…" in James Taylor's song "Sweet Baby James". - Submitted by: Barbara

The Story: Heard this song growing up and never figured out what the actual line was until I looked online. - Submitted by: Eric

The Story: My mom raised me on JT. and my whole life I thought he was saying peak freens and booze, knowing he was an addict (heroin, alcohol) and thinking he liked very serious cookies... it wasn't until I got to college that I was set straight by one of my roommates, who fell down laughing when I sang this. We still sing it to this day, 15 years later. - Submitted by: christine geiger

The Story: All these 15+ years, I thought that's what he was singing. I wondered how this song was allowed on the radio because of the 'bad word' in it. It's only now, after I did an online lyric search in the forlorn hope that that word wasn't really in the song, that I know the truth. I feel like an idiot now. - Submitted by: Sammy Reed

The Story: We had to sing this song in chorus class in high school. A friend of mine was infamous for not reading the lyrics and just singing along as she saw fit. When this line came up, her eyes got wide and she asked, 'I found a pair of dykes up on the roof? Can we say that? What kind of a roof is this anyway?' I was in stitches! - Submitted by: Ga

The Story: Do we ever hear "France" or "depressed" in songs about friends? - Submitted by: Cody Finke