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!).
15 Minutes album at Amazon.com
There's a tree by a river.
There's a mole in the ground
Where a gnome and a baron go around and around.
In his mind there is bacon in the bed on the night.
For a strange kind of fashion, there's a wrong and a right.
Though they'll never, never find the will.
Near a tree by a river,
There's a hole in the ground
Where an old man of Aran goes around and around.
And his mind is a beacon in the veil of the night
For a strange kind of fashion
There's a wrong and a right.
But he'll never, never fight over you.
The Story: I was only a small child when I first heard this song. I believed these lyrics to be right until 2 years ago on New Years Eve when I sang it on karaoke and I was shocked to see I had got it all wrong. - Submitted by: Amanda Jane Hargreaves
My bolt on spirit is frozen to the core.
My broken spirit is frozen to the core.
The Story: I sang it this way for about 2 years. I always wondered what the heck a bolt-on spirit was. I thought it was some bizarre phrase from the 80's that I had totally missed. It sounded like gibberish to me. Then I found out the real lyrics, and it made so much more sense. Boy did I feel pretty stupid!!! - Submitted by: Miss R Bicker
Wouldn't it be good to be in U2?
Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes?
The Story: It sounded like he could have been a member of U2 alongside Bono and the Edge - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Wouldn't it be good to beat the Russians.
Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes?
The Story: Since first hearing this song in the '80s, up until today - 31/08/2021, I have always thought the line was 'wouldn't it be good to beat the Russians'. I had never bothered to deliberately listen to the rest of the lyrics before but when it came on the radio today, I decided to find out exactly why he was singing about beating the Russians. That was when I found out how wrong I was! - Submitted by: Iain Simonds
The cobra's biting Through each and every nanofibre
The cold is biting Through each and every nerve and fibre
The Story: Did they even have nanofibres back in the 80s? In my interpretation, I guess they did. - Submitted by: Old Comedywriter
Wouldn't it be good to be in Yorkshire The grass is always greener over there
Wouldn't it be good to be on your side The grass is always greener over there
The Story: These misheard lyrics made me look up Yorkshire in the encyclopaedia. After seeing pictures of the green sweeping moors and wolds, I remember thinking "Yes! He's right. It would be good to be in Yorkshire!" So thanks Nik. - Submitted by: Matt Ward
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.