Last weekend we were sitting around Jester Park with the family, relaxing, eating, talking. Somehow we got on the subject of misunderstood song lyrics. You know, when you think the lyrics are one way, but find out later just how wrong you were.
I’ll go first, but then I want you guys to chime in, too. Let’s laugh at ourselves today! What else are we going to do? It’s Wednesday!
I’m sure I’ve butchered many a song over years, but the one I that really sticks out is from my childhood. There was a commercial on tv that aired for Chic jeans. The music in this commercial was “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. I’m pretty sure it was the first time I’d heard the song – I was convinced (for a really long time) the lyrics were: You make me feel like a man, I’m a woman. Made sense to me at the time, but let me tell you, once I saw the light, I had a whole new appreciation for the song. :)
My kids do this all the time with songs and lines from movies/tv, they don’t care what the words really are, it only counts how they sound. They’ve been playing the Where the Wild Things Are trailer on the iPhone for weeks and weeks now. The song “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire plays during the trailer. They love this song. And since we love Arcade Fire, we have the song on iTunes for access any old time we/they want to listen to it. We think it’s just too funny when Jude and Jett belt out the lyrics. There is one part in particular, the line: I guess we’ll just have to adjust and the boys sing: I guess we’ll just have to ba-just. Emphasis undoubtedly on the first syllable BA. And it’s funny because bajust isn’t even a word! Ha ha… ha.. ha. Do you just have to be there?
I know you guys have got some good ones – please share!
I LOVE The Sound of Music and all the songs that go along with it, including “My Favorite Things”. I had argument after argument with my sister that the song said “when the STORM bites”. I really thought this for years and it made sense because when this line is sung in the movie there is a loud crash (bite) of thunder. Well, turns out it’s “when the dog bites”.
Looking forward to more pictures of Jace. He looks awfully sweet!
I have one that I just learned about this morning. On “Dollars and Cents” by Radiohead, I always thought one of the lyrics was “Crack your little skulls.” Turns out it is “Crack your little souls.” (I think my way works better?) I also thought for a couple of years that “You and Whose Army?”, also on the album Amnesiac, contained the lyric “You ought to know, you ought to know, I’m so sad.” When the album first came out, a Radiohead message board posted the lyrics as those so that is how I heard them. Much later, a different message board had the same part of the song listed as, “We ride tonight, we ride tonight, ghost horses.” The vocals for that part are pretty washed out but after listening closely, it is definitely correct. I can’t think of a lot of others. I am sort of like our boys, if I can’t hear clearly what is sung, then I sort of hear it as gibberish and don’t try to fit actual words into the spaces.
Remember the Chevy truck commercial where the jingle is “Like a Rock”? My younger sister always sang it “Pack ‘er Up” until she was approximately 18 and finally heard it the way the rest of the world had heard it for years. Makes sense either way really, I mean you can pack up a truck right?
As for me, there is a country song by George Strait called “Oceanfront Property”. For YEARS I had listened and sang along with the song, especially the line the said “I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona and if you’ll buy that I’ll throw the golden gate in free”, thinking it slightly odd he was running a real estate ad via his song. It wasn’t until one day I was looking at a map and realized there is NO oceanfront property in Arizona. Gave the song a whole new meaning and also confirmed my status as a blonde.
I’ll pick on Aunt Sue. Everytime I hear the song in church “When Peace Like a River” – I remember when she was really little – like about 4 – we were singing that song in church and at the end, where it’s supposed to be “It is well..it is well with my soul” she was bursting out at the top of her lungs with “It’s so swell…It’s so swell with my soul.” Kind of means the same thing I guess but I had a giggling fit, earning a glare from mom!
When I was a freshman in high school, the Sisqo song “The Thong Song” was popular. My sister was 6 at the time and thought the lyrics “let me see that thong” were actually “let me sing that song.” We didn’t correct her. :)
I thought “Fly away on my zephyr” in RHCP’s The Zephyr Song was “Fly away on my cell phone”. I told Jeff I thought the song was alright, but I thought the part about flying on their cell phones was really lame… he corrected me, but to this day, it still sounds like cell phones to me and that’s the way I always sing it.
Jessie, I know you hate The National, but when I first got the album Boxer I never had the song names or lyrics with me. One of the songs is called “Racing Like a Pro”, however, when I heard the chorus the first 100 times or so I heard “racing like a pronoun”. Sounds like a gibberish phrase, but I thought it was some cool turn of phrase that I just had to figure out. I am actually kind of bad at this because I will sometimes refuse to read lyrics as a misguided way of hearing the music [activate hippie voice] how I hear it, man. Like, the intent of artist doesn’t even matter because we’ll never feel exactly what another human being is feeling at any given moment, let alone feel the same experiencing art as the person did creating it. It’s all about how it’s processed and perceived by the consumer. Think about that, man.
Duuuuuude….
mind: blown
If I wrote about all the song lyrics I got wrong, I’d be on here all day!! I think that is one of the funnest things, though, about singing your heart out…you just don’t care! PP, same thing with the song “Oceanfront Property”, except instead of “…I’ll throw the golden gate in free”, I thought it said “…I’ll throw the potion plate in free.”. ??? No one ever corrected me and it was like 5 years ago when I figured out that a potion plate doesn’t exist! Hasn’t changed the way I sing it, only made me feel like an idiot. Another one that I argue with Phillippe about all the time is an oldie. “Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away”=the real lyrics…I swear up and down that it says “Mama don’t take my Motorola away”. Listen to it…you’ll hear the same thing. I still sing them my way. It’s funner!! :)
Jessie, do you hate The National?
Wow,
First off, Happy Humpday everyone.
Secondly, I thought this was a blog about simple embarassing moments. Leave it to The Tyler Forret to wax philosophical and muck it all up. I must disagree just a bit. The whole point of music, journalism, art in general is to try to communicate the subjective to others, thus trying to make it objective. So, for me, the intent of the artist does matter in the whole scheme of things. That being said, you are correct that it is nearly impossible to feel the exact same thing as the artist.
As for the blog, I think Kantian ideals of subjective and objective sensory input is my embarassing moment for the day.
p.s. The Tyler Forret needs more blogs that blow our minds.
Also,
Are you guys going to let the boys see Where the Wild Things are? Spike Jonze totally rocks my socks off… but will the movie be too dark for the boys?
When I was in sixth grade there was a song by All 4 One called (She Got) Skillz which I interpreted as “she got Skittles”. And if she got Skittles then why isn’t she sharing???
Has Where The Wild Things are been rated yet? If it is PG we may consider taking the boys.
Josh, hate is a strong word – no, I don’t hate The National. I don’t mind a song here or there but wouldn’t want to listen to the whole album.
Travis (Mandatory Reporter), I don’t know about the movie. The boys are seriously in love with the trailer and we have the book and read it occasionally, but I’ll have to look into the movie more to see if it will be suitable. It’s supposed to be PG, but I think after it’s released I’ll look at a parents guide for more info on the scary or dark parts and go from there.
there was a song in the 80s that said either….’hush, hush, keep it down, down…voices carry’….. or ‘hush hush, we’ve been downtown…oh so scary’ i’m still not sure which is the right one……
and tyler’s favorite….’don’t go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the streams that you’re used to’…..but only his version (influenced by the power rangers) started “don’t go Jason! Waterfalls!!
I don’t have a particular lyric – more like, epiphanies when I finally realize what a song is about.
For example, when I was four, my favorite song ever was Dolly Parton’s “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That.” I literally wore out my tape of it (yay! cassettes! and country music!). Anyway – so inappropriate for a 4-year old:
“He’s got a wanderin’ eye and a travelin’ mind
Big ideas and a little behind
Out with a different woman every night
But I remember when he was mine”
Lyn – I like Tyler’s lyrics better. Adds so much drama!
My biggest embarassment, was a song by the Oakridge Boys called Elvira. It was playing on the radio and I was singing “It’ll fire up”. Mom said she thought it was Elvira. I, very superiorly, asked her who knew more about music…her or me? She conceded it was me.
Another one is Dr Hook. I think the song is You Sexy Thing. Anyway, I always thought he sang “Wear your bra, you sexy thing”. I thought those were weird lyrics!
I agree with Mandi on the Kodachrome song. I heard it just like she did.
My first one includes a song from the Backstreet Boys (yesss)
Lyrics: These are things…your mamma shouldn’t know..
My Lyrics: There’s a fight, your mamma shouldn’t know..
#2 A Change will do you good by Sheryl Crow
Lyrics: A change, change will do you good
My Lyrics: A Chain, Chain will do you good
I have to add my mom’s in here too because she is too funny.
Ace of Base: I saw the sign…she came up with numerous different lyrics for this one, including I got a gun, I shot a gun, I saw the sun…..love her :)
Trav French – I do agree that the goal of most art is to communicate on some common level with others. My feeling is, regardless of intent, you will feel or perceive what you want to based on your life experience. Whether or not you choose to know the artist’s intent can be a part of enjoying the work, but it is not mandatory, which is really my only point. I wasn’t trying to say that intent never matters (even though it came off that way), just that it doesn’t have to. There are songs, paintings, and books that I would likely enjoy less if I had no prior knowledge of the creator’s goal, but there are still times when I quest for that authentic experience. Which may or may not exist or even be truly possible, but that’s up for discussion as well! Fun stuff, guys!
Keaton wanted to add his famous quote: by poison….. nothin’ but a good time…..goes something like this….”well i spent my money on women’s rights!” (instead of women and wine)…cuz why would a 10 year old do that….that doesn’t make sense??) :)
AmyZig, your comment totally struck a chord with me. I think about how much I used to LOVE the movie Dirty Dancing. And how I really, back in the day, had no idea what half of it was about! Imagine my surprise when I finally realized what it meant that Penny was “knocked up”! And Bobby was going to “take care of it” (meaning a back alley abortion) that Baby’s dad eventually tended to? And he thought it was Johnny’s?!?! What? Whoa, Mom & Dad, why did you let me watch that?! Not to mention all the… well, dirty dancing.
LOL. I love this thread :)
My personal screw-ups (as a kid):
“You gotta lose your mind to Detroit Rock City” = “you gotta lose your mind to teach one, Rock City”
“Take me down to the Paradise City where the grass is green and the girls are pretty” = “take me down to the very last city…”
I am a few days late on this, but will comment, nonetheless.
I had a friend who thought Prince’s lyrics of “She wore a raspberry beret” was “She wore a round spherical ring.” WHAT?
My sister thought Jesus Jones’ song “Right Here Right Now” went “Watching the world wake up from antihistamines” instead of “Watching the world wake up from history.”
Hehe..idiots.