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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> The Temptations
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!).
Anthology: Best of album at Amazon.com
The Temptations', "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Ain't no braggin', babe
The Real Lyrics:
Ain't too proud to beg
The Story: Could have sworn that they were getting into a little deuce coupe! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
The Temptations', "Beauty's Only Skin Deep"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Cuties on a skindy
The Real Lyrics:
Beauty's only skin deep
The Story: When I was a little girl I thought that was what they were saying. My parents heard me singing it and they started cracking up!! I thought that 'cuties on a skindy' was something they used to say back in the 60's. - Submitted by: Brandee Walker
The Temptations', "Get Ready"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Get ready to see my father
The Real Lyrics:
Get ready, 'cause here I come
The Story: Okay, this is how they could have seen their father! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
The Temptations', "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And it was just my elaboration
The Real Lyrics:
And it was just my imagination
The Story: The Temptations were elaborate, that's for sure! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
The Temptations', "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
To have a girl, my girl
The Real Lyrics:
To have a girl like her
The Story: Name-checking The Temptations' first #1 hit, "My Girl", on their third #1 hit - Submitted by: David Dana-Bashian
The Temptations', "My Girl"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I don't need no money, for chipmunk things.
The Real Lyrics:
I don't need no money, fortune, or fame.
The Story: A group of friends, in preparation for a lip-sync party, was trying to transcribe the lyrics (pre Internet days...) by listening to the song over and over. They all agreed that the line referenced 'for chipmunk things'. After I corrected them, I listened to the song again. Now I think, 'Gee, maybe they were right after all...'. - Submitted by: Craig Donath
The Temptations', "My Girl"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I don't need no money, or junk my things.
The Real Lyrics:
I don't need no money, fortune or fame.
The Story: I always thought he was talking about going to a pawn shop. - Submitted by: Jim Wright
The Temptations', "My Girl"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I've got so much honey
The bees in the knees.
The bees in the knees.
The Real Lyrics:
I've got so much honey
The bees envy me.
The bees envy me.
The Story: I was a young teenage at the time the song was released; and my mother would listen to me sing the song. She told me, The youth of today do not know how to write lyrics, all they do is rhyme". I just thought that the person rubbed honey on his knees and the bees would gather on his knees. (: (: - Submitted by: cheryl
The Temptations', "My Girl"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Murder
The Real Lyrics:
My girl
The Story: My friend played this song on our way home from high school and I seriously thought he was saying this! - Submitted by: Jason Blooey
The Temptations', "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And when he died
All he left us was his bones.
All he left us was his bones.
The Real Lyrics:
And when he died
All he left us was alone.
All he left us was alone.
The Story: My roommate 1 year out of high school would keep all of us in stitches ad-libbing what he thought the words to popular songs were. I wish I could remember his version of Elton John's 'Rocket Man'. - Submitted by: Roger Brown
The Temptations', "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"
The Misheard Lyrics:
People say that daddy caught the Yakima train
The Real Lyrics:
People say that daddy was a jack of all trades
The Story: Yakima is a town in eastern Washington; I thought the no good daddy had run out of town by hopping the train. - Submitted by: Ron Fowler
The Temptations', "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
The Misheard Lyrics:
He really made things happen at home.
The Real Lyrics:
Wherever he left his hat was his home.
The Story: I was a kid when the song came out. That was always the way I heard it; as I only knew (or thought I knew) the first two lines of the chorus. - Submitted by: Jacquie
The Temptations', "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Papa had three-eyed children
And another wife, and that ain't right
And another wife, and that ain't right
The Real Lyrics:
Papa had three outside children
And another wife, and that ain't right
And another wife, and that ain't right
The Story: This song was released and popular just after I turned 10-years old and I could swear for many year I thought The Temptations had sung about Papa's three-eyed children (and that would also not be right). It did make me wonder for at least a decade whether they too had three-eyes and whether their Papa was named Pablo Picasso. - Submitted by: Peter
The Temptations', "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Hey Rupert!
The Real Lyrics:
Hey Rudolph!
The Story: I was like “Hey Rupert!”. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
The Temptations', "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You would even say it grows
The Real Lyrics:
You would even say it glows
The Story: Rudolph or Pinocchio? - Submitted by: Cody Finke
The Temptations', "The Way You Do the Things You Do"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You gotta fly so high
The Real Lyrics:
You got a smile so bright
The Story: I wondered what it meant by flying so high. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
The Temptations', "The Way You Do the Things You Do"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You gotta smile so bright
You know you could've been Glen Campbell.
You know you could've been Glen Campbell.
The Real Lyrics:
You gotta smile so bright
You know you could've been a candle.
You know you could've been a candle.
The Story: My uncle, Fred would rewind his pacemaker and yell at his wife, ' Shut the f*** up!', when she would sing the misheard lyrics. He couldn't stand Glen Campbell. - Submitted by: Jerry Lee
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