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!).
Beggars Banquet album at Amazon.com
Here comes your 1930s breakdown.
Here comes your 19th nervous breakdown.
The Story: For the longest time, I thought this was a song about the Great Depression, but I couldn't find the song on any albums. I found the song by accident on an old LP, and only then did I find out what the real lyrics for. - Submitted by: Patrick
Seen a Harvard crowd talking much too loud, running up and down the stairs
Center of a crowd, talking much too loud, running up and down the stairs
The Story: I was a student at MIT and my then-girlfriend (also an MIT student) was sure those were the lyrics. There was a rivalry with Harvard. - Submitted by: Robert Bernstein
Ben-Gay
Angie
The Story: Could have sworn back then it was really about pain relief! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
I'd never pee if your feet were burnin'.
I'll never be your beast of burden.
The Story: I thought these were the right lyrics because I heard the song just after I had watched that Friends' episode when the gang go down to a beach house and Monica gets stung by a jelly fish and Joey has to pee on her leg, because Chandler saw on the Discovery Channel something about urine helping to ease the pain from a jelly fish sting. I heard this song for the first time featured on the movie 'Christine', and since they only played this line on the movie, I thought these were the real lyrics. I always thought this song was about someone who hates and despises a peson so much that he wouldn't even piss on him/her if it would bring some comfort to this person. I always thought the song had a great sound, and the lyrics were whimsically cruel and funny at the same time, which prompted me to look for the song, but it took me years until I rented the movie and saw the song title on the credits, realizing how wrong I was Needless to say I was a tad disapointed, but I still love this song. - Submitted by: Louis
I'll never leave your pizza burnin'.
I'll never be your beast of burden.
The Story: A local radio station in the Dallas-Fort Worth area asked people to call in with what they thought the lyrics were, and this was my favorite answer. I hope you have a good laugh too. =) - Submitted by: TEAH PETTIT
I never smelled your pizza burnin'
I'll never be your beast of burden
The Story: My sister and I heard the first line this way when we were kids, but could not understand how the other lyrics went with it so we opted to hear the rest as "till I looked behind your pizza curtain never, never, never, never smelled" - Submitted by: Christina
I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broke, but it's a hurtin'
I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad, but it's a hurtin'
The Story: I could never understand it, because of course his back would be hurtin' if it were broke. - Submitted by: Laurie Dwyer
I'll never be your milk from Borden
My back is broke, my eggs a hurtin'
All I wanted is to make a breakfast for you
I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad but it's a hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me
The Story: After this song was released back in 1978 when I was a sophomore in high school I could swear this was what Mick Jagger sang at the top of the song. Perhaps I was hungry and thought it would be nice for Mick to make some breakfast for me, although I didn't understand how his eggs were a hurtin' and still don't. - Submitted by: Peter
I'll never beat your pizza burnin'...
I'll never be your beast of burden
The Story: My wife, as a kid. - Submitted by: Kevin
I bet your momma was a treasure queen.
I bet your momma was a tent show queen.
The Story: That word made more sence at the time - Submitted by: Get Stoned
Just like a yoga should
Just like a young girl should
The Story: When I discovered that I found one that said "Just like a yogurt should", it made sense to hear it as "Just like a yoga should". - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Old Joe said she copped a pile of pills
Sold in the market down in New Orleans.
Gold Coast slaveship bound for cotton fields
Sold in the market down in New Orleans.
The Story: I'm a professional bassist and in the first band that I was ever in that worked for money, (the summer I was 16 - 1971). We had a steady gig in a bar in Cedar Grove NJ. All the other guys in the band were in college with my big sister. This tune was sung by the drummer, and this was the closest he could get to making out Jagger's lyrics in the fiirst verse. It actually makes more grammatical sense than the real ones (What were sold in the market? The pills!) - Submitted by: John Arbo
Real sugar
Brown sugar
The Story: I kept thinking it was about cane sugar! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Scarred old slaver know he's doin' alright.
Skydog slaver know he's doin' alright.
The Story: The only thing was that I, like everyone else, thought that we knew the correct lyrics. Keith Richards autobiography confirms that "Skydog" is indeed correct. (It was a nickname for Duane Allman.) - Submitted by: Joe P.
You're too deep in, you candy ass
You're too deep in, you can't get out
The Story: Always heard that since I was a kid. - Submitted by: Robert
Hey! You! Get off of my plow!
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud!
The Story: It was actually my friend Tina. I was visiting her out in Illinois. We were driving around singing at the top of our lungs when I heard her blurt out this lyric. I couldn't stop laughing. I guess it makes perfect sense in the cornbelt. I tried to do my best impersonation of Mick Jagger dancing on top of a plow, clucking around like a chicken. - Submitted by: Terry Thorsen
Hey, you! Get out of my house!
Hey, you! Get off of my cloud.
The Story: It later says not to hang around because two's a crowd, so this makes sense. - Submitted by: Hey (hey) You (you)
Hey Hey You You Get Out Of my hair
Hey Hey You You Get Off Of My Cloud
The Story: Some idiot at my grade school thought the lyrics was get out of my hair! I explained to this idiot , it's get off of my cloud . He still didn't listen to me . He thought he knew everything! - Submitted by: Genre John 8980
The Mamas and the Papas' tickets were just like rags...
In the morning the parking tickets looked just like flags...
The Story: I seriously thought the Stones went to a show by their contemporaries, the Mamas and the Papas, and keeping in with the hippie aesthetic of the time, the "tickets" were colorful rags instead of printed pieces of paper. - Submitted by: Ken
Heil Hitler, it's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
The Story: I like this song. When I first played it on Rock Band, I heard "War, children" and it sounded like "Heil Hitler" because of the high pitch. Britney Spears told me that her father is Hitler. - Submitted by: Wally G
Ooh yeah, I’m gonna pay the rent
Ooh yeah, I’m gonna fade away
The Story: Sounded like Mick Jagger really wanted to pay his rent. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Rick Berman
Rape, murder!
The Story: Was thinking it had to do with Star Trek. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
I laid her there for sayin' "New York City"
I laid a divorcee in New York City.
The Story: I thought it meant that the mere mention of NYC made the woman in question acceptable as a lovemate. - Submitted by: C.A.L.
I met a gentle ball-room queen in Memphis
I tried to take her upstairs for a ride.
She had to leave me right across her shoulder.
'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my my mind.
AND
A lady De Francé in New York City
I had to put up some kind of a fight.
The lady then she covered me with roses,
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind.
I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis.
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride.
She had to heave me right across her shoulder
'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind.
AND
I laid a divorcée in New York City,
I had to put up some kind of a fight.
The lady then she covered me with roses,
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind.
The Story: I have never been as much a lyric as an instrument person....We used to make the lyrics up anyway....it was a lot of fun to make them rhyme and of course make them slightly risqué......you know??? Sho' you do!!!!! !!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!! - Submitted by: Dan Duntze
Pasta
Hot stuff
The Story: Actually it was my sister who misheard it as pasta. But when you listen to it it makes total sense. - Submitted by: Paul
I was raised by a toothless grinning hag
I was raised by a toothless bearded hag
The Story: Yesterday I had a tooth extracted. Was going to
FB post along the lines of "I've now turned
into the toothless grinning hag" But in looking for the JJF full lyrics, I came across this
site. Whoops! I've been wrong for 45 years!
BTW I don't have a beard. - Submitted by: rozinoz
I was raised by the toothless skid it had
I was cool with a Straprite cross-eyed bag.
I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag
I was schooled with a strap right across my back
The Story: I didn't know who it was that had the skid but I figured Mick was pretty cool so if he thought a Straprite bag was a cool thing to have then it must be something way cool. Probably something they only had in England. - Submitted by: bullon
I was raised by two lesbian hags
I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag
The Story: Hear at a "drunken" karaoke evening - Submitted by: Alison Halls
Nothing, Jack Sprat
Jumpin' Jack Flash
The Story: Mick Jagger got into nursery rhymes, eh? - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Jumping Jack Flash is an a** a** a**.
Jumping Jack Flash is a gas gas gas.
The Story: I was watching the movie 'Jumping Jack Flash' and when it played the song, I burst into laughing. - Submitted by: Adam
The cookshee is a whore.
The cook, she is a whore.
The Story: I had no idea what a cookshee was (maybe a variant of a banshee?), but man, they slept around a lot. - Submitted by: Diane L.
The one that shut the Kay-Bee Toys
The one that shut the kitchen door
The Story: I swear it was about shutting down Kay-Bee Toys (later K-B Toys). - Submitted by: Cody Finke
I've been hauling a** so long.
I've been holding out so long.
The Story: I was sitting at Steb's Amusement in Cedar Falls, Iowa on a chilly Saturday morning in October 1978. This song came on the jukebox. The guy sitting next to me overheard me sing the words and he said, 'I always thought it was 'I've been hauling a** so long.' It gave everyone at the bar a good laugh and I'm glad I've got a chance to pass it along. - Submitted by: Annette Clabough-Redman
I'm a bleepin', painted monkey.
I'm a fleabit peanut monkey
The Story: I thought Mick was censoring his own line. Didn't know why there was a colored primate, though. - Submitted by: buckner
I'm a bleeping peanut monkey
I'm a fleabit peanut monkey
The Story: One of my friends and I were listening to this song on my MP3 player on the way home from school on the school bus. He looked at me with an arched eyebrow and said, "I'm a bleeping peanut monkey?!?" And for now on, we sing the line like that. - Submitted by: Melissa
Doctor please. Zipora please.
Doctor please, some more of these.
The Story: When I heard the song, I thought that line was a conversation between the doctor and the stressed out mother named Zipora, which happens to be my mother's name. - Submitted by: Osnat
I see my rectum. I must have it painted black.
I see my red door. I must have it painted black.
The Story: I don't why Mick wanted to paint that area... - Submitted by: I AM A BEAR
The moral my green Sego turn a deeper blue.
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
The Story: The line is totally nonsensical but that’s what I was hearing. - Submitted by: Gill
Lorraine fell down
The rain fell down
The Story: Once again, why many "rainy" songs sound like "Lorraine". - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Goodbye U.C.Q.B.
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
The Story: I work for a law publishing company. U.C.Q.B. is the abbreviation for a 19th century Ontario Canada law report (Upper Canada Queen's Bench) which new editors have never heard of, so we get a lot of questions about it. We'd like to get rid of it, and so ... - Submitted by: Michael Chas
When a man comes on and tells me
How white my church can be
When a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
The Story: Always thought he was trying to make a statement about religious hypocracy. - Submitted by: Rich
Raps on the west side
Stickups in town
Rats on the west side
Bedbugs uptown
The Story: MY take on it was "Raps on the West Side/Stickups in town". I figured that "Raps" was Cockney for "Rapes". Bedbugs weren't as much in the news back in '78. - Submitted by: Elliott Bettman
I'm so hot for her, I'm on top of her
I'm so hot for her, I'm on fire for her
The Story: My lyric is more logical! - Submitted by: Davo
Black girls just wanna get f***ed all night, I just don't have that much jam.
Black girls just wanna get f***ed all night, I just don't have that much time
The Story: Overheard this being sung at a party by a group of young men in 1978 and believed these were the correct lyrics until recently corrected! - Submitted by: Carolyn
Gestappio! Gestappio! Der Comissar!
You can start me up,
You can start me up
I'll never stop
The Story: We had just started learning about the Gestapo in school and "Der Commisar" was popular at the same time, too. - Submitted by: matty
Hey, A-stra-phia
A-stra-phia, never stop.
If you start me up
If you start me up, I'll never stop.
The Story: After seeing the Rolling Stones at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, we walked down Broad Street toward City Hall because the subway was too crowded. As we walked on of my friends was singing the misheard lyric...like he wrote the song. He truly believed that's what they were singing. I sing "A stra-phia" every time I hear that song. - Submitted by: Rich
Prokofiev!
I'll make of you a superstar
Don't make a strong man cry.
If you start me up!
If you start me up
I'll never stop
You make a grown man cry.
The Story: I didn't think Jagger was really singing about 19th Century composers, but it was only hearing it sung by Seamus on the Joseph auditions that I realised what the lyrics really were. - Submitted by: Philsister
Stunk me up
Start me up
The Story: Her perfume a bit too much for you, Mick? Great song! - Submitted by: Tattoo U Du It
You can start me up without a spark
You can start me up, I'll never stop
The Story: Thanks to Microsoft using this song to promote the launch of Windows 95, I thought it made sense to mishear it that way. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
You have stunk me up!
If you start me up!
The Story: The opening chord made a more immediate impression on my teenage mind than the lyrics did. - Submitted by: Stones Stuff Never Stinks
You made it groan, made it cry
You made a grown man cry
The Story: I was born in the late sixties and have always loved music from the 50's on. The song came on one of those flashback stations, and I started singing it. Then I got to the lyrics mentioned and really started singing loud. My oldest sister looked at me and asked me what I had said. When I told her, she burst out laughing and told me, 'It's you made a grown man cry' you idiot! I can laugh about it now, but when it happened . . . - Submitted by: sillygirll
You make a frozen pie
You make a grown man cry
The Story: I also swear Mick Jagger worked for Mrs. Smith's! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Said my name is Corbin Bernsen
Said my name is called disturbance
The Story: I was too young grasp the concept that the song was too old to mention him...and the fact that it made no sense. - Submitted by: Keith
I stuck around, said 'Beatles burn!'
I stuck around St. Petersburg.
The Story: I thought it was about the Beatles burnings in 1966, so when my father, me, and my brother was watching 'Live At The Max' and they played 'Sympathy For The Devil' I sang: 'I stuck around, said Beatles burn!' My father is kind of a big Stones fan, so he and my brother laughed at me. My brother said: 'Just because you´re Beatles obsessed it doesn´t mean everything is about them.' and then my father told me the real lyrics. I still think it sounds like 'Beatles burn!' anyway. - Submitted by: Dennis
But ya never listen to my device
But ya never listen to my advice
The Story: I was wondering how Mick Jagger would tell the future of Alexa. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Talia is on my side
Time is on my side
The Story: Whatever it was, I thought it could have been someone's name! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
In Middlesex there's been a suicide
The smell of sex, the smell of suicide
The Story: I read a 1983 review of a magazine and it featured this record. The lyrical line was quoted. Before reading the review I misheard "Middlesex" and that sounds like a neighbo(u)rhood in a British town and that's how I got it all wrong. - Submitted by: Teen 83
In Middlesex, there's been a suicide
The smell of sex, the smell of suicide
The Story: I was 17 when this song hit. I knew that this song was about corruption, violence and death (including suicide) and I knew that there's a British town named Middlesex so there you have it. - Submitted by: FMLN Fighter
Curl up baby
Curl up tight
Cuddle up baby
Cuddle up tight
The Story: I figured Mick was saying, "Curl up to me, honey. I'll protect you from those evil people!" I did know that the lyrical background theme concerned the fascist regimes of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and such so there you have it. - Submitted by: Teen 83
"I'll be your girl" said I-got-to-blow!,
All the young girls, they have got the blues
The Story: I figured maybe she wants to be "your baby" and either she wanted to give you a BJ or due to the violent theme of this song "blow some people away" with a machine gun! - Submitted by: Teen 83
And I went down to the TV station
To get my Care Bear unabused
And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
The Story: Could have sworn about the future of American Greetings! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustrations,
If we don't we're gonna blow Fifth Avenue."
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration,
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse."
The Story: I always thought this line was a reflection of the radical left going on bombing sprees in NYC, which was all too common in the late-1960's, 1970's and 1980's. - Submitted by: The Skuz
We decided that we would have a sword fight
We decided that we would have a soda
The Story: No story. That’s just what I thought the lyrics were until just now when I found this site because my friend told me the words weren’t: “I sold my soul to Mr. Jimmy” 🤣 - Submitted by: HB
You can't always get 21
You can't always get what you want
The Story: Why in the world would Mick Jagger never get blackjack? - Submitted by: Cody Finke
You can't always get a chihuahua.
You can't always get what you want.
The Story: One day on the radio, I heard the dj ask for misheard song lyrics. This was his favorite one. The person who called in said he couldn't understand why the Rolling Stones wrote a song about a little Mexican dog. - Submitted by: JWinn
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.