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!).
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown & Other Favorites album at Amazon.com
Baddest man in the whole downtown
Baddest man in the whole damn town
The Story: I was seven years old, singing 'baddest man in the whole downtown' when my Dad told me never to say that word again. I might never have known it was 'damn' if Dad hadn't yelled at me for saying it wrong. - Submitted by: Jeff McFarland
Badder than ol' King Cole
Meaner than The Junkyard Dog.
Badder than ol' King Kong
Meaner than a junkyard dog.
The Story: I thought he was singing about ol king Cole and the pro wrestler The Junkyard Dog. - Submitted by: Barry
Fattest man in the whole downtown
Baddest man in the whole downtown
The Story: Yeah, I thought he was the fattest man! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
He had a raisin in his shoe
He had a razor in his shoe
The Story: I was around 4. I figured having a raisin in his shoe made him mad, which made him act all bad. - Submitted by: Kate
And at the end of the bar
Sat a girl named Guitar
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
The Story: I'm not sure what it is about this song, but there are a bunch of misheard lyrics. - Submitted by: Rick Paulson
And it's fat, fat Leroy Brown
The fattest man in the whole down town
Fatter than old King Cole
And leaner than a junkyard dog.
And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog.
The Story: When I first heard this song, I must have been thinking of Robert Earl Hughes, who I just read about in the Guinness Book of World Records (he held the record for fattest human at the time). - Submitted by: Paul Anderson
Baddest man in the f****** town
Baddest man in the whole d*** town
The Story: word of mouth. I was only 7 years old. I didn't understand the 'jigsaw puzzle' reference either. - Submitted by: Chicago Kid
If I could spend time in a brothel
If I could save time in a bottle
The Story: When my friend and I were in college in the mid-seventies, this was popular. One day she said that she couldn't believe that they kept playing this song. I asked why and she responded that she felt it was obscene playing a song about going to a brothel! - Submitted by: Marie
If I could save dimes in a bottle
If I could save time in a bottle
The Story: This just had to be having to do with loose change. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Jim Croce's,
"You Don't Mess Around with Jim"
You don't pull the mask off the Ozone Ranger
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
The Story: One of my parents' friends misheard the lyrics, and his daughter told me the story of wondering who the "Ozone Ranger" was when I first became acquainted with Jim Croce. - Submitted by: Alan the Ottoman
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
