Misheard lyrics (also called mondegreens) occur when people misunderstand the lyrics in a song. These are NOT intentional rephrasing of lyrics, which is called parody.
For more information about the misheard lyrics available on this site, please read our FAQ.
This page contains a list of the songs that have stories about their misheard lyrics submitted.
Song names are sorted by first letter, excluding A and The. This is sorted by song title only, not
by song title and performer. So if two different performers preformed the same song, you'll see
misheard lyrics for both on the same page (provided the song title was spelt the same both times, and
misheard lyrics have been submitted for both!).
ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits album at Amazon.com
Fly once more like you did before,
Sing a new song chicken tikka!
Try once more like you did before,
Sing a new song Chiquitita.
The Story: When my sister and I were young we thought the song was about a chicken that was about to be eaten, especially with the other line: - 'You'll be dancing once again, like a Speckled Hen!' At least it was optimistic and gave a young chicken hope for a better life!!! Inspiring stuff! - Submitted by: Hazel
You'll be dancing once again like a playful hen
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
The Story: I thought it was a reference to a Swedish proverb. Sounded reasonable to me. - Submitted by: Steve Lill
Dancing queen
Guillitine, oh so obscene, oh yeah
You can dance, you get high
Having the time of your life, ooooh
See that girl
Watch that queen
She is the dancing queen.
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl
Watch that scene
Diggin' the dancing queen.
The Story: I was 11 years old at the time. Star Wars, noticing girls, temptation, confusion, sexy Swedish chick voices can be hard to discerne at times, you know? - Submitted by: Dancing King
See her bounce on the trampoline
Feel the beat of the tambourine
The Story: My younger sister actually misheard this one, when we were listening to this, and she immediately started dancing to it, with added 'trampoline' jumps. - Submitted by: @ssKicker
You can dance
You can die
Having the time of your life
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
The Story: I was singing this in the phone with my ex and she stopped me and was like “did you say die?” And I was like “yeah that’s how it goes” and she was like “... it says jive babe.” - Submitted by: Kaleb
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tappery, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl
Watch that seat
Diggin' the dancing queen.
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl
Watch that scene
Diggin' the dancing queen.
The Story: I was at a play cast party when they played this song. Everyone went berserk, we were all saying how much we loved it. We came to the chorus and I don't thinka single person was singing the same thing! I guess we all just liked the beat. - Submitted by: Pippin West
Abba's,
"Does Your Mother Know"
Does your mother know that your ass?
Does your mother know that you're out?
The Story: The song's funnier they way I thought it was. - Submitted by: Timi Zhuo
Abba's,
"Does Your Mother Know"
The Peruvian child
But girl you're only a child
The Story: I've been wondering about this for a while. It didn't make sense but I couldn't figure out what it should be until I started to really listen to the context. Then I understood what Björn was trying to sing. - Submitted by: Martin
Abba's,
"Does Your Mother Know"
Well I can dance with you honey, if you think it's funny
Does your mother know that you're on?
Well I can dance with you honey, if you think it's funny
Does your mother know that you're out?
The Story: A relative sings this "on" as in on her period. - Submitted by: Neil
Nothing more than spagetti on the floor
Nothing more than confetti on the floor
The Story: I'm always singing out loud while driving in my car. Sometimes I have no idea what the hell I'm singing but a friend of mine started laughing out loud when I was singing along with this one. Never noticed before that spagetti on the floor was a bit weird. And I never hear the lyrics clearly because of my loud singing. - Submitted by: janine
Ich hab' ein
Traum Ein
Lied zu singen.
Zu helf mir schaffen
Mit alles.
Kannst du die
Wunder sehen
Auf ein Fantasie
I have a dream
A song to sing
To help me cope
With everything
Can you see the wonder
Of a fantasy
The Story: It translates scarily into german. It came from a nasty mental image of Martin Luther King singing in German as he was a good speaker and the I have a dream speech - Submitted by: Lynsey Irving
Abba's,
"Lay All Your Love on Me"
I was a jailbird before we met
Now every woman I see is on detention break
I wasn't jealous before we met
Now every woman I see is a potential threat
The Story: As an 8 year old memorizing the Greatest Hits album, romantic topics often flew over my head... - Submitted by: kopyrh
Abba's,
"Money Money Money"
Bunny Bunny Bunny
must be funny in a leechmans turd
Money Money Money
must be funny in a rich mans world
The Story: I was at a disco when I heard it so it was really noisy already and with there accents... Anyway, when I got home I asked mum what turd had to do with leech men, and what were leech men anyway! she asked, and I explained. She wanted to publish it in column 8! - Submitted by: Sarah Groom
All I do is sing and strip and sing
wishing every show was the last show
All I do is eat and sleep and sing
wishing every show was the last show
The Story: Maybe because they are Swedish, I really thought they were singing about the tough life of an international pro stripper, from a first-person point of view. When I got the lyrics right I felt let down. - Submitted by: Leonardo Rossi
Abba's,
"Take A Chance On Me"
On the virgin line!
I'm the first in line!
The Story: My mother misheard this...before virgin trains were invented! - Submitted by: K.y.l.e
Abba's,
"Take a Chance on Me"
Ollie Oxen Free
Take a chance on me
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
The Story: Wasn't until I saw Mama Mia that I realized this wasn't the old hide & seek call for everyone to come out into the open! - Submitted by: Melissa
I'm clearly not the kind of girl you'd marry
I'm Carrie, not the kind of girl you'd marry
The Story: I submitted the above (same) song on the 1/2/19, but it did not appear correctly. The lyric displayed was already in the archive. - Submitted by: Robert Woodrow
I'm kind enough to find a girl you'd marry
I'm Carrie, not the kind of girl you'd marry
The Story: I thought this was the most unselfish song lyric I'd ever heard. I was heartbroken when I learned the true lyric was something different. - Submitted by: Tom Richardson
Waterloo
I grafittied you on the wall.
Waterloo
I was defeated, you won the war.
The Story: I was only eight when this song came out. This is what I thought the words were. Later, telling my husband what I used to think it was, he does not let me forget it. Now my son cracks up when he hears the story and tells other people what a dill his mother is. - Submitted by: Moi
Waterloo
Waterloo, Waterloo, Waterloo
Waterloo
Waterloo, Waterloo, Waterloo
Waterloo
Waterloo, Waterloo, Waterloo
Waterloo
Waterloo, Waterloo, Waterloo
Wo, wo, wo, wo ,Waterloo
Waterloo, Waterloo, Waterloo.
Waterloo
I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo
Promise to love you for ever more
Waterloo
Couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo
Knowing my fate is to be with you
Wo wo wo wo, Waterloo
Finally facing my Waterloo.
The Story: Well, that's what it sounds to one who understands absolutely no English, like me in primary school. :) - Submitted by: tobias b khler
What to do?
Waterloo
The Story: My mother's favourite song in the '70s until I informed her of the correct words - Submitted by: frank passmore
There are more Abba misheard lyrics available.
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.