The title of this thread should really be "Spot the ***** - People who think misheard lyrics are better than real thing"
I actually had to look the lyrics up for this one before posting, the Byrds line in "My Back Pages" that goes: Rip down all hate, I screamed always sounded to me like "We shout all hate ice cream", never could figure out what he was singing there
When I first heard Donna Summer's Last Dance, I thought she was singing "'Cause when I'm bad I'm so, so bad." It wasn't until later on I figured out what she was really singing.
For years I was convinced the line in Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry was ‘My fear is my only courage, so I’ve got to push on through’ which I found deeply profound until I discovered it was actually ‘my feet is my only carriage...’
He actually did sing it as ‘excuse me while I kiss this guy’ a bunch of tones in live versions, usually while jokingly pointing at Noel
John Fogerty also sings "There's a bathroom on the right" pretty often these days, pointing to stage right in case anyone misses the joke.
"Fakin' It", Simon & Garfunkel--the actual lyric is: Is there any danger? No no, not really just lean on me" My version: Is there any danger? No no, not really just mean ol'me"
When I was a teenager I thought John L was singing 'and when I awoke I was alone, whispered a fool' NOT this bird had flown
I used to mis-hear Bob Seger singing "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" (you can come back baby, rock and roll never forgets) as — You can't come back baby, rock and roll never forgives — and think it's a much more intense and truthful song my way.
My roommate in college thought Last Night by the Travelling Wilburys was "Gladys Knight": "Gladys Knight, thinking about Gladys Knight"
I used to think Aerosmith's "Crazy" went "What can I do, honey? I feel I've become unglued", but it's actually "What can I do, honey? I feel like the colour blue."
So it turns out that on "Losing My Religion", Michael Stipe is saying "like a hurt, lost and blinded fool." Since day one I've always heard it as "like a hurt, lost and blinded foal", and the image of a little baby horse, powerless and desperate, struck me as really poetic. The real lyrics don't do anything for me.
Space Oddity. I always used to hear the line as "and the papers want to know who shot you where" As in, shot in a rocket, space shot. I reckon it's better than that stuff about shirts anyway.
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers - Dwight Yoakam She said he likes to make love when he’s smokin’ And he don’t walk around like he’s broken And he sings just like Dwight Yoakam But what I hear and think is the better line is: "And he's anxious like Dwight Yoakam" I'm told her that on twitter and got a chuckle out of her.
Queen - Radio GaGa The real lyric from the Pre-Chorus: "You had your time, you had the power You've yet to have your finest hour Radio (radio)" What I heard for a long time: "You had your time, you had the power You gave to Hell, your finest hour Radio (radio)" I still will sing my version once in awhile cuz I like it!