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!).
Bruised Orange album at Amazon.com
There’s a hole in Daddy’s heart where all the money goes
There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes
The Story: I first heard a cover version of this song when I was very young, and I couldn’t tell if they were saying arm or heart. (I could tell that the song was about something very sad, but wasn’t quite sure what, since I wasn’t old enough to have learned about heroin yet). - Submitted by: Hu’s On First
John Prine's,
"That's The Way the World Goes 'Round"
It's a happy enchilada and you think you're gonna drown
It's a half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
The Story: The lyric was misheard by a fan and requested to the artist. 'Sing the song about the happy enchilada!' Of course, he didn't know what the woman was talking about until she said - 'You know... 'it's a happy enchilada and you think you're gonna drown!'' - Submitted by: Fred Landry
John Prine's,
"That's the Way the World Goes 'Round"
There's a happy enchilada and it thinks it's going to town
There's a half an inch of water and you think your gonna drown
The Story: A woman requested the song and John Prine could not come up with the right song until she sang it. This is the version of the misheard lyrics John Prine related in concert in Tulsa, OK. - Submitted by: Sam Brockman
John Prine's,
"Thats The Way The World Go's Round"
It's a happy enchilada and you thing your gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
It's a half an inch of water, and you think your gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
The Story: We saw John Prine at West Port Playhouse in St. Louis about 10 years ago. He told the story of a lady at a previous concert who asked him to sing "The Happy Enchilada". He went on to explain he didn't have a song titled that. That's when she sang the lyrics. He then knew the song she was talking about. - Submitted by: Debbie Jones
Happy Enchilada and ya think you're gonna drown
It's a half an inch of water and ya think you're gonna drown
The Story: The woman sitting in front of us at the Aptos Fat Fry (kpig) kept yellin out to Prine to sing the 'Happy Enchilada' song. As in...it's a happy enchilada and ya think your gonna drown. - Submitted by: rabidrobb
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
