Misheard lyrics you prefer to the original

[Randy Jackson]

It's likely everyone has listened to a song they liked and misheard the lyrics. That's not unusual. 

However, have you ever thought your misheard lyrics were better or more interesting than those of the actual song? That replacing the actual lyric with your version might make it more thought provoking or meaningful? 

I'll give you a couple of examples for myself, one obscure, one famous:

There was a band from Boston called Human Sexual Response from the 80s. They had a song called Marone Offering that I really liked, but I never had a lyric sheet. The song starts out mid tempo, then changes to a much more uptempo beat about ⅔ of the way. During that uptempo portion, there's a lyric they repeat over and over. Before the advent of the internet, I thought that lyric was:

"It's justified when you walk away"

Which I personally thought was really interesting. Of course, years later and I find out it was:

"It's just a five minute walk away" 

Kind of a letdown in my opinion. 

Another instance was the very well known Don't Fear the Reaper. For years, I'd thought the third verse began:

"Love of two is one

Please put down that gun" 

Obviously a somewhat more sinister implication. 

Of course, the actual lyric is:

"Love of two is one

Here but now they're gone" 

Nothing wrong with it, but part of me prefers my version. 

Now, it's highly likely I think about song lyrics more than most people, but I'm curious, and I wonder if anyone else has misheard lyrics they prefer to the actual ones. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Another punctuation-related one was...

"And 'seldom' is heard, a discouraging word..."

...and I used to think, "What's so discouraging about the word 'seldom'?"

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I said, "Something wrong?"

Now I long for yesterday.

[JD DeLuzio]

I just recalled this one. As a kid in the early 70s, I remember really liking David Essex's one hit, "Rock on." But I always heard:

And where do we go from here?

Which is the way that's clear?

Still looking for that blue jean baby queen

Prettiest girl I've ever seen
See her shake on the movie screen

as something like:

And where do we go from here?

Witches await there clear

Still looking for that blue jean baby queen...

I also heard "Did ya" as "DJs."

My version is definitely more interesting. Must be the Season of the Witch.

[JD DeLuzio]

Oh, and then there's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," because I was in kindergarten when the Beatles released Abbey Road. Never mind that a Rose and Valerie lived on our street. There was, "Writing fifty times I must not be so..." which I heard as "Writing fifty times I'm a snot-be-so." I did not and do not know what a "snot-be-so" is, but I didn't ask, because it sounded like it might be an inappropriate question.

Apparently, three-quarters of the Beatles hated the song. Perhaps either they, or McCartney, were being snot-be-so's.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

When I first heard "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" at that age, it raised the question, "Must not be so what?" 

Also, around the same age, I also heard the lyric "And in the naked light I saw," from "Sounds of Silence" as, "And in the naked that I saw, 1000 people maybe more." 

"That's a lot of naked people," I thought. "How did he manage to see so many?" (Not that I necessarily prefer that to the actual lyric.)

[JohnD]

"Hey Jeleousy" by the Gin Blossoms I always heard as "Hey Jessie", prompting me to wonder just who this Jessie person was.

Here's a twist on this one: "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire. The only words I can understand are "Do you remember" and "September", or more accurately, "Septembaaahh". No matter how closely I listen, the rest is gibberish to me (in a high pitch I hear: " Audy, audy, audy -a").

[Captain Comics]

Forgot this one (and I hope no  one's mentioned it) but AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)" I still hear as:

Dirty Deeds (Thunder Cheeks)

I dare you to hear it any other way.

[Randy Jackson]

The (off-color) joke my friends and I always had was Dirty Deeds(Done With Sheep). 

Captain Comics said:

Forgot this one (and I hope no  one's mentioned it) but AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)" I still hear as:

Dirty Deeds (Thunder Cheeks)

I dare you to hear it any other way.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Rick Springfield's friend.

JohnD said:

"Hey Jeleousy" by the Gin Blossoms I always heard as "Hey Jessie", prompting me to wonder just who this Jessie person was.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Again, this is not a misheard lyric I prefer to the original, but I was just listening to Bruce Springsteen's "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" for possible nomination to Randy's "Epic Rock Songs" thread when I realized that the lyric I heard (and just didn't think too much about all these years) as "She'll be there in the Chevrolet wrestler upstairs" is actually "She'll be there in the chair when we wrestle her upstairs."

[Reposted to correct typo]

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Then there's the Italian gibberish song, "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano. He deliberately wrote it as gibberish but wanted it to sound like American English to an Italian ear. Aside from the words "all right," there's no English there, but that hasn't stopped several people from posting YouTube videos supposedly showing the lyrics in English. Even though the lyrics are nonsense, it's pretty catchy.

Here's a performance from Italian TV, I think.

Story on the song

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I search for misheard lyrics quite a bit on the internet. I needed help to figure out this misheard line from REO Speedwagon's "Music Man."

I heard: "I tried working in school and but they're just not my brand"

Actual lyric: "I tried workin' an' schoolin' but they're just not my plan"