"Well, since she put me down there's been owls pukin' in my bed" is better than "Well, since she put me down I been out doin' in my head." "Help Me , Rhonda" - Beach Boys
All these places had their moments With lovers and friends as Stu can recall... In "In My Life," I thought John Lennon was paying tribute to his old mate, Stu Sutcliffe, and singing as if he were still alive.
I've posted this before but I think it's worth posting again. In "Lola" by the Kinks, I always thought that the last lyric was: "Well I'm not the world's most masculine man, But I know what I am in the bed -- I'm a man. And so was Lola." But the actual lyric is: "Well I'm not the world's most masculine man, But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man. And so is Lola." I like my lyric better.
The Cure's cover of Hendrix's Foxy Lady: I heard "You know you are a cut little rubber duck." Listen for yourself:
Steely Dan's Kid Charlemagne. Theirs: Did you realize That you were a champion in their eyes? Mine: (Did you realize That you were Italian in their eyes?) Theirs: On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene But yours was kitchen-clean Mine: (But yours was kissin' clean) Theirs: Every A-Frame had your number on the wall Mine: (Every apron had your number on the wall) Theirs: (Son, you were mistaken) Mine: (Sign you on in Vegas) On second thought....probably not better.
In All Apologies I always heard "I'll take all the blame / aqua seafoam shame" as "I'll take all the blame / I'll concede from shame." I like mine better.
And in Lyin' Eyes: actual lyric: Your smile is a thin disguise my lyric: Your smile has been disguised.
Every Breath You Take - by The Police Oh can't you see You belong to me My poor heart aches With every step you take My wife would sing "I'm a pool hall ace" for the line "My poor heart aches" and is forever etched in my mind whenever I hear this song.
Thanks for setting me straight on this one. I think it's funny how he tries to hit the high note on the line "Yes, there's gas in the car".
I thought for years and years it was "Italian", and I've always thought that was a better lyric (I assumed the character was Jewish but mistaken for Italian, a la Billy Joel). Also love the "kitchen-clean" read, which was also my assumption for decades and frankly works better. I thought that actually was the lyric for about 30 years.
The Who: Pinball Wizard That deaf,dumb, and blind kid I always thought he sang: The death of a blind kid sure plays a mean pinball I like my version
The quality of cheap transistor radios in 1966 - or possibly my teenaged cloth ears - made me hear the first two lines of the refrain of Dusty Springfield's You Don't Have To Say You Love Me as: You don't have to say you love me Just because [unintelligible] I could never work out what came next. Eventually (I won't say how much later), I found out: You don't have to say you love me Just be close at hand What a disappointment! I thought there'd be a reason that would explain everything and guide me through life.
It's probably somewhere in this thread, but there's a line in Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" that goes: "A man in the coonskin cap, in a pigpen, wants eleven dollar bills, but you only got ten." It *should* have been: "A man in the coonskin cap, in a pigpen, wants eleven-dollar bills, but you only got tens."
Queen - She Makes Me. This is part miss-heard lyric, part brain confusion. There's the line: But the world will surely heal my ills If I sing it to myself I can't help getting mixed up and singing: But the world will surely heal my eels.
When I sing Teenage Fanclub's Ain't That Enough, I substitute "the grace that bound you" instead of the correct "embrace that found you". I hope Mr. Love 'don't mind' my liberties.
Always thought in the Rolling Stones version of "It's All Over Now" Mick sang "playin' her half-a$$ed games". Someone here corrected me saying he really sang "playin' her high-priced games". To me Half-a$$ed is much better. I know when Wanda Jackson sang it on her comeback album a few yrs ago she sang half-a$$ed. It still sounds to my ears like Mick does sing half-a$$ed. But, at the same time hard to believe in a way radio would've played it in '64 too.
Steely Dan has to be the band with my most-misheard lyrics. It seems every day I stumble across a new one. From Deacon Blues: 'Sharing the things we know and love With those of my kind Libations Sensations That stagger the mind' Mine: 'Sharing the things we know and love With those of my kind Foundation Salvation That standard of mine' I chalk it up to cassette tapes, road noise, and top-of-the-lungs singalong.
I realized a few weeks ago the lyrics in the chorus in "How Deep Is Your Love" are: "cause we're living in a world of fools, breaking us down, when they all should let us be." I thought it was "...will the ocean let us be?" and thought it was an interesting image of this couple out at sea trying to get through a storm.
At the end of "Winter", I always heard Jagger singing "Sometimes I wanna to burn a candle for ya" but apparently he sings "Sometimes I wanna but I can't afford ya" First off, I swear he sings my version. Second off, mine is way better.
