On Deep Purple's Fireball, I always heard (and sometimes still hear): 'The magic in your armpit which is all you gaze upon'.
I bought the 45 of "Afternoon Delight" as a 9-year old, and I don't think I really knew what those singers were anticipating so much.
Another one that came to mind is the song I used to hear all the time "Love The World Away" by Kenny Rogers. I was confused by the chorus since I thought it began "take my hand, let's go to the store, and be free of the world once more."
Genesis I Know What I Like. '...keep them mowing blades sharp...' I thought he was singing: '...Give them one big shove...' I thought: Yeah, Pete.... give them a push. That'll show 'em. To be fair, they didn't put the lyric sheet in my copy.....
it'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics to set you on your feet again.... Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
It was the 'mongrels who ain't got a penny. Sniffing for titbits like you on the ground' bit that I could never decipher!
What about "hunting the horny back toad"? I'm still not sure about that line--does anyone, anywhere, hunt toads? If so, does one require a toad license?
Wasn't the song supposed to be about Bernie Taupin's adjustment to city life after growing up in the country? I wouldn't have deduced this myself had I not read it! Great song, though. As for hunting the horny back toad, I hope it's not a euphemism for something distasteful Bernie & Elton got up to!
The last 2 lines of the song are: I got it on sale at a discount store Cost me all of seven cents. But when I was a kid, I thought it sounded like: I got it on sale at a discount store 'Cause we all have seven cents. (Which, of course, makes no sense!)
I don't think I have mentioned my younger brother's misheard lyric from Olivia Newton John's "Physical": "Let's get physical/Let me hit your bodyguard"
The Temptations: "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". The line "And when he died, all he left us was alone". For the LONGEST time, I heard that lyric as "And when he died, all he left us was a loan". I really couldn't understand how they were supposed to pay that loan back!
In "Living Loving Maid" where it says Telling tall tales of how it used to be" I thought it said Helen told Hazel.
Three Dog Night - "I'm a Toad in a Cup" also.. Donovan - "We screwed on the beach at sunset, do you remember when?"
Prince - "Raspberry Berry" The correct line is: "Overcast days never turned me on, but somethin' 'bout the clouds and her mixed" But I used to think it sounded like: "Overcast days never turned me on, but somethin' 'bout the clouds in her midst"