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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> John Mellencamp
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!).
The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988 album at Amazon.com
John Mellencamp's, "Authority Song"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I fight Dory and Dory always wins
The Real Lyrics:
I fight authority and authority always wins
The Story: Dory is the fish from Finding Nemo with chronic memory problems so the idea of fighting a fish is pretty funny - Submitted by: Dayna
John Mellencamp's, "Check it Out"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Take it out
The Real Lyrics:
Check it out
The Story: It sounded like "take it out", as in taking out the garbage. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Mellencamp's, "Cherry Bomb"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And croquet was croquet
The Real Lyrics:
And groovin’ was groovin’
The Story: It kind of made sense given the previous line was “That’s when a sport was a sport” - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Mellencamp's, "Cherry Bomb"
The Misheard Lyrics:
That's when a sport was a sport
The Real Lyrics:
That's when a smoke was a smoke.
The Story: He really is saying smoke was a smoke. - Submitted by: Gautama
John Mellencamp's, "Cherry Bomb"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Watching "Laugh-In" with our friends.
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
The Real Lyrics:
Laughin' laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
The Story: Since they were mentioning about the old days, kinda figured they said they were watching "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" in the lyrics. - Submitted by: Gabe
John Mellencamp's, "Cherry Bomb"
The Misheard Lyrics:
that's when a coke was a coke.
The Real Lyrics:
That's when a sport was a sport
The Story: figured they meant soda instead of drugs - Submitted by: rod
John Mellencamp's, "Hand To Hold On To"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Go to work and be a Hollywood star.
Drive your 4-wheel drive right thru the mud.
Drive your 4-wheel drive right thru the mud.
The Real Lyrics:
Go to work and be a Hollywood stud.
Drive your 4-wheel drive right thru the mud.
Drive your 4-wheel drive right thru the mud.
The Story: When I was a teenager there was a witch hunt craziness mentality that was very rampant against rock'n'roll music. You know, "backwards messages" , either real (like ELO and Pink Floyd had done) or imagined (Queen, Rush,Led Zeppelin et al). Also there was the supposed "Satanic" and "Gay Revolution" aspects as well. As a counterpoint to this the local newsletter for the Catholic Diosese of Columbus had a column where the writer printed the lyrics of a popular song and describe how the words can apply to living a Christian life. He covered songs by Triumph, Styx, Men At Work, Prince (yes!), America, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Fogelberg and this one from John Cougar. When I saw the correct lyrics it was so apparant to me, like OF COURSE.. - Submitted by: I Love Jenny
John Mellencamp's, "Hand To Hold On To"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Have good with your financial securities.
The Real Lyrics:
Have good luck with your financial situation.
The Story: I was a teenager in the '80s. I am also known for my excellent memory when it comes to song lyrics. Imagine my embarrasment when I heard my boyfriend sing along with this song and say what I knew had to be the correct lyrics 16 or so years later! I've been singing those words wrong all these years! - Submitted by: Harmony
John Mellencamp's, "Hurts So Good"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Who's that girl?
The Real Lyrics:
Hurts so good
The Story: I thought it had to do with a song titled "Who's That Girl" - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Mellencamp's, "Jack & Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Dribble off those bobby brook socks and do what I please.
Let it rock let it roll
Let the power of wealth come and save our soul.
Let it rock let it roll
Let the power of wealth come and save our soul.
The Real Lyrics:
Let it rock, let it roll,
Let the Bible Belt come and save our souls
Let the Bible Belt come and save our souls
The Story: same song 2 diferrent misheard parts of lyric. - Submitted by: LanceAllan
John Mellencamp's, "Jack & Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jackie O's gonna be a football star
Diana's getting all that Pepsi in Jackie's car
Diana's getting all that Pepsi in Jackie's car
The Real Lyrics:
Jack, he's gonna be a football star
Diane's debutante, back seat of Jacky's car
Diane's debutante, back seat of Jacky's car
The Story: It seemed to me that this was really about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Diana and also thought they referenced Pepsi in this song. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Mellencamp's, "Jack And Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Changes come around real soon
Make us swim in a can.
Make us swim in a can.
The Real Lyrics:
Changes come around real soon
Make us women and men.
Make us women and men.
The Story: This line never made sense to me growing up! 😂 - Submitted by: Carlye Ignatenko
John Mellencamp's, "Jack And Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Oh, let it rock, let it roll Let the "Papa Bear" come and save my soul
The Real Lyrics:
Let it rock, let it roll, Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul.
The Story: My logic to accept the misheard lyric= I thought it a quasie-poetic, home-spun metaphor for the "Heavenly Father". - Submitted by: Dave
John Mellencamp's, "Jack and Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Changes come around real soon make us swimming in bed
The Real Lyrics:
Changes come around real soon, make us women and men
The Story: I thought it was referring to puberty and wet dreams. Seriously! - Submitted by: Chris
John Mellencamp's, "Jack and Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Changes come around real soon, we'll go swimming again.
The Real Lyrics:
Changes come around real soon, make us women and men.
The Story: My best friend and I used to sing when we were walking to the store,when we were around 13. Sang the wrong lyrics at the top of our lungs for a entire summer until her big sister heard us one day and laughed her ass off for 5 minutes before she could breathe long enough to tell us what they really said. Ah, youth. Thank you, Becky Miller for one of my best teenage memories. - Submitted by: Genie wood
John Mellencamp's, "Jack and Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Dribble off those Bobby Brooks
The Real Lyrics:
Dribble off those Bobby Brooks slacks, let me do what I please.
The Story: My husband hears Bobby Brooks without slacks. He hears that there is music between "Brooks" and "do" and that Mellencamp is speaking continuously. If Mellencamp doesn't say slacks, he either pauses or just hisses for an excessive amount of time. Even live, his mouth formed a separate word between "Brooks" and "Do". Countless sites list "slacks" as the word he says. So this site is saying that a massive number of people should be hearing absolutely nothing between during that beat and countless people her the word slacks, specifically and John Mellencamp is apparently being a ventriloquist during that part of the song, moving his mouth, but not making any sound. Someone should ask him if he says slacks, because he does. - Submitted by: Pez
John Mellencamp's, "Jack and Diane"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Let it rock, let it roll
Let a bottle of milk, come and cereal.
Let a bottle of milk, come and cereal.
The Real Lyrics:
So let it rock, let it roll
Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul.
Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul.
The Story: My wife was singing this one day and she really thought that was the real lyric. - Submitted by: Tim Elmerick
John Mellencamp's, "Lovin Mother Fo Ya"
The Misheard Lyrics:
They'll be a f*ckin' mother for ya
Don't you know
Don't you know
The Real Lyrics:
They'll be a suckin' mother for ya
Don't you know
Don't you know
The Story: When I first heard this song I really thought it was about a "Mrs. Robinson" type of affair - "Loving Someone's Mom 4 Ya" or something like that. The "kicking" verse made me think it was about abuse. Only later did I realize that this song is just macho braccadocio posturing. "A loving MF, I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm bad...". - Submitted by: Ron Cougar Mellencholy
John Mellencamp's, "Paper in Fire"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Pampers in fire
The Real Lyrics:
Paper in Fire
The Story: This is what happens when we hear "Papers" instead of "Pampers", and vice versa. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Mellencamp's, "Peaceful World"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Come on baby, take a ride on me
I'm up from Indiana down to Tennessee
I'm up from Indiana down to Tennessee
The Real Lyrics:
Come on baby, take a ride with me
I'm up from Indiana down to Tennessee
I'm up from Indiana down to Tennessee
The Story: I was in elementary school and I initially visualized the singer as one of the legendary birds from Pokémon. I thought he was telling the listener to literally get on his back and go for a ride in the sky from Indiana to Tennessee. - Submitted by: Hu's On First
John Mellencamp's, "Pink Houses"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And he looks at her and says, "Hey darlin', I can remember when you could starve a block."
The Real Lyrics:
And he looks at her and says,"Hey darlin', I can remember when you could stop a clock."
The Story: I thought it was a strange way of saying to the woman in the kitchen, that her cooking used to be so good that you could smell it for blocks - that when people smell good food they get really hungry. They were starving the minute they smelled her cooking. - Submitted by: Bill
John Mellencamp's, "Pink Houses"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And he looks at her and says,
"Hey darlin', I can remember when
you could stop a block."
"Hey darlin', I can remember when
you could stop a block."
The Real Lyrics:
And he looks at her and says,
"Hey darlin', I can remember when
you could stop a clock."
"Hey darlin', I can remember when
you could stop a clock."
The Story: I simply assumed the woman was so beautiful traffic stopped for blocks when she walked by. And the funny part is that it wasn't until this past episode of "Glee" that I found out what the correct lyrics are. - Submitted by: Half Def
John Mellencamp's, "Pink Houses"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I remember when you could start with flour
The Real Lyrics:
And he looks at her and says: hey darling I can remember when you could stop a clock.
The Story: It just makes more sense 'cause he is taking 'bout she's in the kitchen cleaning up the evening slop. Why would he all of a sudden say she's ugly? - Submitted by: beverlee
John Mellencamp's, "Pink Houses"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I remember when you could starve a clock
or
I remember when you could starve a cloak
or
I remember when you could starve a cloak
The Real Lyrics:
I remember when you could stop a clock
The Story: I just heard this song on the radio and remembered that when this song first started airing on the radio back in the fall of 1983 when I was 20-years old I couldn't understand what Mellencamp was singing. I'm glad from 'Am I Right' that I wasn't alone. Fortunately I was able to see the lyrics of the song a short-time after I first misheard it (I bought the album, "Uh-huh" for myself with money I got shortly after Christmas 1983, so I knew the lyrics before I embarrassed myself, royally), but I do remember at one point I did ask a couple of my fellow dorm residents at the University of South Florida how one would go about starving a clock or a cloak and I was met with blank stares (I'm glad they didn't laugh, they probably also misheard the lyrics as well). - Submitted by: Peter
John Mellencamp's, "Pink House"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I remember when you could stop a plow.
The Real Lyrics:
I remember when you could stop a clock.
The Story: My boyfriend of 14 years just lost a $100 bet on this wrong lyric. He was absolutely convinced that he was right and that my "stop a clock" lyric was crazy. He has a long list of times being wrong about lyrics, always entertaining!! - Submitted by: Melissa Sharp
John Mellencamp's, "R-O-C-K in the U.S.A."
The Misheard Lyrics:
I love C.K. in the U.S.A., yeah yeah!
Clark Kent in the U.S.A.!
Clark Kent in the U.S.A.!
The Real Lyrics:
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., yeah yeah!
Rockin' in the U.S.A.!
Rockin' in the U.S.A.!
The Story: I'm glad I never sang this aloud. - Submitted by: Stevo
John Mellencamp's, "R-O-C-K in the U.S.A."
The Misheard Lyrics:
I love Sea Gate in the U.S.A.
The Real Lyrics:
R-O-C-K in the USA.
The Story: Growing up in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn in the 1980s there was a gated community in the western most section of the neighborhood called Sea Gate. My best friend and I thought it was a shoutout to that neighborhood. - Submitted by: mary
John Mellencamp's, "R-o-c-k In The Usa"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I love Seka in the USA.
The Real Lyrics:
R-O-C-K in the USA
The Story: I'm doubly embarrassed by this one. First, the only Seka I've ever heard of is in the, uh, adult entertainment industry. Second, John Cougar Mellencamp is a homeboy, so I oughta know better. - Submitted by: Galoux
John Mellencamp's, "R.O.C.K. In The USA"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Spotlight on Ma Teresa, don't forget James Brown
The Real Lyrics:
Spotlight on Martha Reeves, don't forget James Brown
The Story: I knew my false lyrics were ridiculous and couldn't be right, but that's all I could hear every time I heard the song. Therefore, I decided to google it, and I've since found out that it's "Martha Reeves", who I'd never heard of (no offence to fans of hers) - not Ma (Mother) Teresa!!! I just thought I'd include this, since it's quite funny, I think. :) - Submitted by: Peter
John Mellencamp's, "Rain On The Scarecrow"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Ninety-seven horses
Planted in the cold-a** yard.
Planted in the cold-a** yard.
The Real Lyrics:
Ninety-seven crosses
Planted in the courthouse yard.
Planted in the courthouse yard.
The Story: I heard the song in the car one day, and I told my friend, 'That's a lot of horses.' She replied, 'What?' I repeated myself, and she said, 'It's crosses.' My next question was, 'Is John Mellencamp really saying cold-a**?' She went, 'Are you stupid? It's courthouse.' Good. At least one of us can hear lyrics. - Submitted by: Does anyone care?
John Mellencamp's, "Rain on the Scarecrow"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Grandma's on the front porch with a bottle in her hand
The Real Lyrics:
Grandma's on the front porch swing with a Bible in her hand
The Story: Mellencamp sings some of the lyrics here so quickly that you can just barely hear him saying "swing". - Submitted by: Chris
John Mellencamp's, "Serious Business"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jack sat, Violet sat, Rock n Roll
The Real Lyrics:
sex and violence and rock n roll
The Story: I was a kid so my mom just let me go on thinking that Jack and Violet went to a party and sat because they were shy at some rock and roll party. I thought this until I was an adult. - Submitted by: Theda
John Mellencamp's, "Serious Business"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Sex and body fat and rock and roll
The Real Lyrics:
Sex and violence and rock and roll
The Story: That's what it sounds like: "body fat". I was sure that it wasn't "drugs" being said. - Submitted by: Buckeye Scott
John Mellencamp's, "Small Town"
The Misheard Lyrics:
It's katydid in a small town
The Real Lyrics:
Educated in a small town
The Story: Just watching Luke Bryan and Darius Rucker play this song on a tv special and the caption showed the correct lyric...decades of singing this incorrectly. - Submitted by: J.M.V
John Mellencamp's, "Small Town"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Talked to fetal Jesus in a small town.
The Real Lyrics:
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town.
The Story: My dad and I were pretty sure he wasn’t singing "fetal Jesus" but we couldn’t hear anything else? And we kinda might’ve sung it in front of my grandma and she might have looked mortally offended and I haven’t gotten any birthday money since. - Submitted by: Scott Baronette
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