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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Harry Belafonte

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!).


"Harry Belafonte - All Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" album at Amazon.com
Harry Belafonte's, "Come Back Liza"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Wipe the Tiffany eye
The Real Lyrics:
Wipe the tear from me eye
The Story: I misheard this as a kid and was set straight generations ago. - Submitted by: Stephen
Harry Belafonte's, "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Run from the Taliban
The Real Lyrics:
Come Mr. Tally Man.
The Story: I heard some boys singing it not too long after 9/11. Makes perfect sense. - Submitted by: Scandia
Harry Belafonte's, "Jump in the Line"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Shake your body nine
or
Shake your party nine
or
Shake your party line
The Real Lyrics:
Shake your body line
The Story: The thing was I had heard it and especially thought I heard “nine” - I thought it was funny. I later discovered recently it was “line” - I still wondered if “body line” or “body nine” made sense - I really thought it didn’t. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Harry Belafonte's, "Mary's Boy Child"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Mary's fourth child, Jesus Christ
Was gone on Christmas day
The Real Lyrics:
Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ
Was born on Christmas day
The Story: I was wondering how Jesus was really lost! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
Harry Belafonte's, "Matilda"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Matilda. Matilda
She took mt money and run to tailor
The Real Lyrics:
Matilda. Matilda
She took my money and run Venezuela
The Story: My sister and I were discussing how our mom always played Harry Belafonte. I told her that just recently I discovered I misheard his song, Matllda. When I told her I thought it said “run to tailor “ she laughed and told me the real lyrics were “Matilda, she took my money and run with a sailor! Neither of were correct. Guesss him using a calypso accent really screwed both of us up. - Submitted by: Debra McGovern
Harry Belafonte's, "Matilda"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Maude-Tilda
The Real Lyrics:
Matilda
The Story: After hearing Bea Arthur and the cast of 'Maude' singing this classic on the tv show when I was 9, naturally I thought they were singing about Maude herself. - Submitted by: limbo
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.

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