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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Leonard Cohen

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!).


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Leonard Cohen's, "Everybody Knows"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Like your father or your doctor died
The Real Lyrics:
Like your father or your dog just died
The Story: How did I mishear this? I spend decades wondering why someone should as upset about their doctor dying as their father. - Submitted by: Graham From Perth
Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah"
The Misheard Lyrics:
But remember when I moved in you, and the holy duck was moving, too.
The Real Lyrics:
But remember when I moved in you, and the holy dove was moving, too.
The Story: It didn't really get that far due to the obvious mistake. (Given the character of the song it was somewhat unlikely that he would be singing THAT!) I checked up on the Internet shortly afterwards. However, the mental image of Jeff Buckley sharing a threesome with a duck (holy or not) will still be recalled every time I hear the song. It does sort of ruin my enjoyment of this beautiful song. - Submitted by: Timi Zhuo
Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Hey! I knew ya! Hey! I knew ya!
The Real Lyrics:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The Story: My son when he was 2 years old sang this. - Submitted by: Timi Zhuo
Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah"
The Misheard Lyrics:
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The mini balls, and Joan's facelift
The Real Lyrics:
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall, the major lift
The Story: I was singing on the street to get $$$. Then Joan Rivers walked by and hit me with my guitar. She told me my words were wrong. - Submitted by: Timi Zhuo
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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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.