Mondegreens that actually make the song better

Are there instances where the lyrics you misheard in a song actually make the song BETTER? More interesting, more evocative? The classic example would be Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue", where "Split up on a dark sad night" is often misheard as "Split up on the docks that night", which is more evocative AND ties the song neatly to the next track on the album ("Simple Twist of Fate"), where the protagonist hunts for his lost love by the "waterfront docks".

I have two examples from my own experience, both coincidentally from CCR:

From "Proud Mary": I always interpreted "Pumped a lot of 'pane down in New Orleans" as "Pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans". The actual lyrics are straight-forward (he was working in a job pumping propane), but the mistaken lyrics are more evocative and have a double-meaning - he was probably working a dead end job as a gas station attendant, and the whole experience depressed him.

From "Down on the Corner": I always heard "Willie goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo" as "When Willie goes into his dance, the devil's on the loose". Again, the straight-forward (correct) lyric replaced by something more evocative - Willie is such a talented dancer that he raises the Devil himself.

First person who doesn't actually pay attention to the point of the thread and starts posting mondegreens that DON'T improve song lyrics will be subjected to the comfy chair. Or double secret probation. Or both!

 

"Goddamn do I declare—have you seen the light?"

 

For years, I interpreted a lyric in R. E. M.'s "What's The Frequency, Kenneth" as "You are a shock of violent pain." The actual lyric is "You wore a shirt of violent green." I don't think either lyric makes much sense, Michael Stipe is being typically opaque and I'm being typically redundant ("violent pain" being of course much worse than "gentle pain") but at least my mangling of the lyric ties in somewhat better with the shredding guitar part you get right after.

 

Diamond Dogs

The lyric:
Crawling down the alley on your hands and knee/I'm sure you're not protected, for it's plain to see

What I thought:
Crawling down the alley on your hands and knee/I'm sure you're not protected for his fantasy

My version is much seedier, so I think it fits better.

 

I'll take your lyric over his Not that I couldn't understand the lyrics, but I thought "Losing My Religion" was the story of a young man expressing Atheistic ideals and being forced to sit in the corner for it.

 

You 1, Bowie 0.

 

Hmm. That might be better than the real line standing by itself, but doesn't make a lot of sense leading into the next few lines.

 

because of her unusual phrasing, for years I thought the line in Tori Amos' 'bells for her' was:

can't stop what's coming/can't stop what is already here
instead of
can't stop what's coming/can't stop what is on its way​

I prefer my misunderstood lyric, which I think conveys the feeling of futility behind a dissolving friendship more powerfully.

 

The Daughters of Eve - "Help Me Boy".

The line "I need someone to comfort me" I hear as something else, unprintable here.

 

As Garrett Morris once said about the "objectionable" lyrics about Black women in "Some Girls" ... "Where ARE these women?"

 

I guess you had to be there, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more . . .

Truth is, tying the notion of "Seeing the Light" to traditional American symbols of Freedom and Rebellion does follow. And seeing as we're dealing with some of Robert Hunter's finest here, I'm sure the homonymous nature of "Like" and "Light" was not lost on the poet/lyricist.

 

Yes, I can see your point. Embracing the principles of the Founding Fathers might be considered "seeing the light". And who knows, the "light" might help roll away the dew.

 

Furthur footnotes* from "The Annotated 'Uncle John's Band'" website, an early draft of the song including these lyrics:

Why wait in the dark for dawn
(while) when the sun's still going down?
Maybe I'll dust off your chair
if you say you're comin' round
Keep your place in line
all things come in time
Whoa-oh,all I need to know,
(will) do these coals glow?

Would you carry me uphill
back the way I carried you?
Take me further, if you can,
(You know) I'd do the same for you.
Think this through with me,
let me know your mind,
Whoa-oh all I want to know is,
Will you be kind?

Well now - I can hear
The flutter of their wings,
Standin' still on our little (not sure about that word) hill
can you hear the sirens sing?
Come hear U.J.B / playing to the tide etc.


http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/AGDL/uncle.html

 

Dylan's Changing of the Guards:

She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo

I always thought it was... torn between Jupiter and the bottle....as if to imply heavy drinking

 

The first thing that jumps out at me is the link to "Foolish Heart" some 20 years down the line -

Stoke the fires of paradise
With coals from Hell to start

which itself could relate to the birth of the United States.

 

"Don't bring me down, Bruce."

Hell, I refuse to hear anything else. That line makes the song for me. "Grooss" my ass.

 

Here's the Straight Dope on that one: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=118822

That ELO song had another line I long thought was "You're looking good just like you're sneaking the grass." I don't think it's necessarily an improvement over the actual line ("You're looking good just like a snake in the grass") but it makes for an interesting variation.

 

It bugged me that when a bunch of Doctor Who characters sang that song (in "Love and Monsters"), they made a point to obnoxiously pronounce "GGGRRROOOOOSSS".

 

The Byrds, "Get to You".

The real line: "Standing in the airport, I am waiting for a plane."

The line I heard: "Standing in the air, for I am waiting for a plane."

My line is MUCH better!

 

Up to this very moment I thought the line was "the docks that night." And now it's gone forever.

 

I always thought "Radar Love" said "Brand new day is coming on strong." When a friend said Brenda Lee was in there, I thought HE had the great wrong lyric.

 

There was that Phil Collins hit in the 80's where I thought the chorus was "don't you lose my number, 'cause you're mine anyway."

 

On Cher's "Gypsies Tramps and Thieves" I always thought the lyrics went:

Gypsies, chimpanzees
you hear it from the people of the town
they call us gypsies, chimpanzees
And every night all the men would come around
and lay the monkey down!

I like my version better as everyone knows Gypsies are tramps and thieves, but pimping out a poor monkey for money every night, now that is sick. I can picture the men waiting in line for their turns and the poor monkey trying to take a head count wondering geez, how many tonight?

 

Thanks for teaching me a new word, Ray.

 

Here's one I've mentioned in previous misheard lyrics threads - "Fly By Night" by Rush:

Actual lyric: "My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend."
What I heard: "The chickens are coming and I just can't pretend."

Much better this way! The meaning doesn't change much - ie, "my ship isn't coming in" vs. "the chickens are coming home to roost" - but my interpretation provides an opportunity to sort-of hear Geddy Lee sing about chickens that is not to be missed.