Making fun of music, one song at a time. Since the year 2000.
Check out the two amIright misheard lyrics books including one book devoted to misheard lyrics of the 1980s.
(Toggle Right Side Navigation)

Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Devo

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!).


Devo - Greatest Hits [Warner Brothers] album at Amazon.com
Devo's, "Going Under"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You put me in a situation
Goin' through subconjugation.
The Real Lyrics:
Yopu put me in a situation
Goin' through soft-core mutation.
The Story: Having read syntax for a whole year I still don't have a clue how you can 'subconjugate' any one of us. Verbs may come in different conjugations, ok, but subconjugation? - Submitted by: Martha
Devo's, "Gut Feeling / (Slap Your Mammy)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I've got a gun, so beat it
The Real Lyrics:
I got a gut feeling
The Story: I've been hearing it like this since it came out, I dunno - Submitted by: JTT
Devo's, "Jocko Homo"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Monkey man has to stoop
He's using grass to wipe up his poop
Are we not men
We are Devo
The Real Lyrics:
monkey men in business suits
They all go dance the poot
Are we not men
We are Devo
The Story: I first saw Devo on Saturday night live in 1978 and they did Jocko Homo and satisfaction. Before they played I think it was Dan Akroyd that said boogie boy did you get the message of de-evolution from the Chinaman? - Submitted by: Albert E Ott
Devo's, "Jocko Homo"
The Misheard Lyrics:
We give it up all made man
But he used the monkey to do her
Apes in the plan
The walking rumor
I can walk like an ape, talk like an ape
Like you don’t wanna forget who
God made man, but he monkey "du ply de glue"
The Real Lyrics:
(All together now)
God made man
But he used the monkey to do it
Apes in the plan
We're all here to prove it
I can walk like an ape
Talk like an ape
Do what monkey do
God made man
But a monkey supplied the glue
The Story: I used to think that line bit, "du ply de glue" was maybe French - Submitted by: JTT
Devo's, "Mr DNA"
The Misheard Lyrics:
It's movin' 'round mahts-maht the reality
Calm and stormy weather - around the clock!
We shot the poles in the hole
The Real Lyrics:
Suburban robots that monitor reality
Common stock
We work around the clock
We shove the poles in the holes holes
The Story: I remember hearing this and thinking that last line was pretty inappropriate. Think WWII, etc. - Submitted by: JTT
Devo's, "That's Pep"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Come back with a smile 'cause you know
You get the best of the one-man show
That's pep.
The Real Lyrics:
Come back with a smile 'cause you know
You get the best of the whole damn show
That's pep!
The Story: When my sister was six or seven, she heard me playing this song, and kept singing the 'one-man show' lyric. She's 10 now, and she knows the real lyrics. But she still sings 'one-man show', for obvious reasons. - Submitted by: Nathan Jorgensen
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Give that bass a slap
The Real Lyrics:
Give the past a slip
The Story: It makes sense, slap bass, pronounced like the fish. - Submitted by: Cardigans
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Give your pets the slip!
The Real Lyrics:
Give the past the slip.
The Story: Influenced by 'Dare To Be Stupid,' I mistakenly believed that Devo's only purpose was to be silly. (Still like my version better. ;-) - Submitted by: Eric True
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I say whippit
Whippit's good
The Real Lyrics:
I say whip it
Whip it good.
The Story: A whippit is a can of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) used to recharge whipped cream cans. They are often inhaled or abused, so I came to the conclusion that the song was about inhaling whippits. - Submitted by: Ryan M Miller
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Rip your mama's slip!
The Real Lyrics:
Give the past a slip!
The Story: My friend's mom would not let us listen to this song because she swore it said, 'Rip Your Mama's Slip!' - Submitted by: hope
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Step on the brake, break your mama's back.
The Real Lyrics:
Step on a crack, break your mama's back.
The Story: I'd never heard the expression "Step on a crack, break your mama's back." or the context in which it was said, so "step on the brake" seemed to make more sense, although not in a nice way. I though it was odd that they were suggesting people injure their mothers by driving recklessly. - Submitted by: PCL
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Straight to the faggot
The Real Lyrics:
Try to detect it
The Story: I've been baffled about "Straight to the _______" in this song, so this is what I would be, well, hearing. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Tattoo the Texas. It’s not too late.
The Real Lyrics:
Try to detect it, it's not too late
The Story: I have only just now, at 52 realised it wasn’t Tattoo the Texas - and was curious after hearing the song on the radio as to what Tattoo the Texas actually meant and to my surprise this site came up. Low and behold - - Submitted by: Paul
Devo's, "Whip It"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Tattoo to Texas
The Real Lyrics:
Try to detect it, it's not too late
The Story: My mom was listening to this song while working, and said about this line "I really don't understand what that's supposed to mean." I told her I didn't think that "Tattoo to Texas" was the line, and here we are. - Submitted by: Joe C
Devo's, "Whip it"
The Misheard Lyrics:
You're a Whippet.
The Real Lyrics:
You can whip it.
The Story: I owned a Whippet when this song was popular. My nephew used to sing this song to my dog, thinking it was about a Whippet. - Submitted by: Lisa
Devo's, "Working in the Coal Mine"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Well, I've been working in a coma
The Real Lyrics:
Well, I been working in a coal mine
The Story: Could anyone have thought about working in a coma? - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Devo's, "Working in the Coal Mine"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Workin' in a bowl and I'm goin' downtown.
The Real Lyrics:
Well, I been working in a coal mine
Going down, down, down
The Story: My cousin sang these words when we were little. I didn't know what it meant or where he heard the song, but I always thought those were the real words. Years later I heard it on the radio and it suddenly all made sense. - Submitted by: Jim

There are more Devo misheard lyrics available.

Indexes: [#] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [Y] [Z]

New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.

Submissions!

Would you like to Submit some Misheard Lyrics for a song We're always looking for more entries.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: amIright.com makes no claims to the accuracy of the correct lyrics. All correct lyrics are copyrighted, amIright.com does not claim ownership of the original lyrics.