Mondegreener, mondegreener they have named you.
Whence the name that means a misheard-lyrics style?
The story goes, writer Sylvia Wright came to
a ballad that was written way back a while.

It was she who gave you your name, mondegreener.
When she heard the ballad her ears did depart
from the actual lyric—a misstep.
There’s a guy there who did die there.
The line should be “laid him on the green”; her
ears simply didn’t get it in this work of art.

Sylvia Wright gave you your name, mondegreener.
Her mistake’s entered the world of lyric art.
It came from faulty hearing. . .a misstep—
not her eye erred when that line aired.
Instead, she heard “Lady Mondegreen”; her
gaffe got us treated to Chuck’s treatise in two parts.

1. Mondgreen words.* 2. Mondegreen words.**


*Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza, Charles Grosvenor, 2007, Sasquatch Books
** Hit Me With Your Pet Shark, Charles Grosvenor, 2008, Sasquatch Books