Making fun of music, one song at a time. Since the year 2000.
Check out the two amIright misheard lyrics books including one book devoted to misheard lyrics of the 1980s.
Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Tom Petty
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!).
Wildflowers album at Amazon.com
Tom Petty's, "Free Fallin'"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Free fallin' ABBA free fallin'
The Real Lyrics:
Free fallin' I'm-a free fallin'
The Story: That's what it sounds like, you can't really deny it... - Submitted by: GlamRockNinjaLord
Tom Petty's, "Free Fallin'"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I'm free, Frijoles
The Real Lyrics:
I'm free, free fallin'
The Story: Heard a Mexican worker was singing this out loud at his job. - Submitted by: Tom Johnson
Tom Petty's, "Free Fallin'"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Loves Cheez-Its
The Real Lyrics:
Loves Jesus
The Story: I know it’s about the religious figure but a song about a girl who was crazy devoted to Cheez-Its would be pretty funny. - Submitted by: Dayna
Tom Petty's, "Free Fallin'"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She's a good girl, love's in my album
The Real Lyrics:
She's a good girl, loves her mama
The Story: I was young.... this is what I interpreted. - Submitted by: Steven
Tom Petty's, "Free Falling"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Frijoles
The Real Lyrics:
Free falling
The Story: "Frijoles" means "beans" in Spanish. - Submitted by: Glenn O'Brien
Tom Petty's, "Free Falling"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Its a long day Livin' in Receiving
The Real Lyrics:
Its a long day Livin in Reseda
The Story: I thought he worked in "Receiving" in some anonymous company somewhere, a prototypical boring job that would make him want to be free. I'd never heard of Reseda until I looked up the lyrics. - Submitted by: Mitch45
Tom Petty's, "Free Falling"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She's got shiny bright elbows
The Real Lyrics:
She's crazy 'bout Elvis
The Story: I was driving with my daughter, and Free Falling came on. When the "crazy 'bout Elvis" line came up, she asked me, "what are shiny bright elbows?" - Submitted by: Scott Lundquist
Tom Petty's, "Free Falling"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She’s a good girl, loves her llama Loves Cheez-Its and asparagus too.
The Real Lyrics:
She's a good girl, loves her mama Loves Jesus and America too
The Story: Found this on Facebook. - Submitted by: Earl Hall
Tom Petty's, "Free Fallng"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Phil phil collins
The Real Lyrics:
Free free falling
The Story: Nothing - Submitted by: lateos
Tom Petty's, "I Won't Back Down"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And I want back Dan.
The Real Lyrics:
And I won't back down.
The Story: I was young and originally heard the word Dan in my head. It stuck in my head for several years. - Submitted by: Steffen
Tom Petty's, "I Won't Back Down"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And I want that dance
The Real Lyrics:
And I won't back down.
The Story: Seriously, for years I was sure the chorus to this song was "I want that dance, Rhiannon..." - Submitted by: Frank
Tom Petty's, "I Won't Back Down"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I walk downtown
The Real Lyrics:
I won't back down
The Story: My friend Rick started loudly singing along to this song repeating the wrong (and non-sensical) lyrics over and over in front of several people at a party. When we all laughed, he adamantly said that his lyrics were right. - Submitted by: Mark
Tom Petty's, "Runnin' Down a Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Running down the drain,
Never would have come to me,
Working on a mystery going to where ever it leads,
Running down the drain
Never would have come to me,
Working on a mystery going to where ever it leads,
Running down the drain
The Real Lyrics:
Runnin' down a dream
That would never come to me
Working on a mystery going to where ever it leads
Runnin' down a dream
That would never come to me
Working on a mystery going to where ever it leads
Runnin' down a dream
The Story: believed as a very young child as long as my memory could go...today being 25...I have finally learned the truth and I still insist that is what I heard... but all blame goes to the radio... pieces of crap they are... but now I am set straight by none other than my sweet mommy dearest. - Submitted by: Stanton Stephens
Tom Petty's, "Running Down A Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Right down the drain
The Real Lyrics:
Running down a dream
The Story: They used this song for the NBA playoffs on ABC. I thought aloud that the lyric was referring to players making shots, only to be quickly told that it was 'runnin' down a dream'. - Submitted by: Paul
Tom Petty's, "Running Down a Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Running down a tree, no one even stopped to pee
The Real Lyrics:
Running down a dream, never would come to me
The Story: I was about 5 when this song came out. I found the song hilarious because of my misheard lyrics. - Submitted by: Tara
| Indexes: | [#] | [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [H] | [I] | [J] | [K] | [L] | [M] | [N] | [O] | [P] | [Q] | [R] | [S] | [T] | [U] | [V] | [W] | [Y] | [Z] |
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
Submissions!
Would you like to Submit some Misheard Lyrics for a song We're always looking for more entries.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: amIright.com makes no claims to the accuracy of the correct lyrics. All correct lyrics are copyrighted, amIright.com does not claim ownership of the original lyrics.