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!).
Old Time Gospel Favorites album at Amazon.com
Elmira
Elvira
The Story: I grew up in Binghamton, NY only a couple hours from the town of Elmira, NY. So of course, I assumed the song was about the town! - Submitted by: Kristen
Elvira
My heart's on fire, Hell Fire
Elvira
My heart's on fire, Elvira
The Story: My wife and I was watching the Country Music award when the Oak Ridge Boys won the award for Single Song. The title 'Elvira' came across the screen and I told my wife that I thought the song was 'Hell Fire' and I sang the lyric ' My heart's on fire, Hell Fire' I can tell a joke on myself and told my co-workers who nearly rolled on the floor from laughing. - Submitted by: Michael Switzer
Hell fire up
My heart's on fire, Hell fire up!
Elvira
My heart's on fire, for Elvira.
The Story: A group of us were at a bar one night and this fella is singing this at the top of his lungs---so we joined in. Actually, it sounds better. - Submitted by: KIM FINCK
Hell fire up
Elvira
The Story: When I worked as an am Top 40 drive-time personality in the 70's and 80's, morons used to frequently call on the request line demanding I play 'Hell Fire Up' by The Oak Ridge Boys. - Submitted by: John Hughes
Little Pirates
Elvira
The Story: I heard this with my father on the radio in Tucson. I was 13 years old. I thought it was about mischievous children getting in all sorts of trouble and that's why the artist labeled the children "little pirates". I thought it was a great song I could relate to, and I just find that fascinating! - Submitted by: Emmett Kinnison
Little fire up
Elvira
The Story: My cousin, who was a few years older than me, swore that the song was called 'Little Fire Up'. If I remember right, we had several battles over this, as we both loved the song but couldn't agree on what it said. Of course, the adults wouldn't step in, as they thought 'little fire up' was cute as can be. - Submitted by: Babette
Hitler was a country boy.
Fiddler rosin up your bow.
The Story: I've heard this song for years. I can remember my parents playing it on a 45 record when I was 3 - one of my earliest memories. I always wondered why they were singing about Hitler as it didn't seem to fit the song at all. I finally looked up the lyrics when I was 24, and boy was my face red! I'd been singing the Hitler lyric for over 20 years! - Submitted by: Amy
There are more Oak Ridge Boys misheard lyrics available.
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
