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 jailorman and Sailor-san
The jailorman and Sailor Sam
The Story: For a short while, I thought it was paying homage to the legend of Japanese school uniforms being sailor suits. - Submitted by: Colin Slater
Stuck inside these four walls Frankincense forever.
Stuck inside these four walls
Sent inside forever
The Story: This was the first song lyric my husband discovered that I sang wrong. It was the beginning of a lot of laughs for the both of us! Over the years he revealed many, many more wrong lyrics I would sing. - Submitted by: Lydia Harris
Well the room exploded with a mighty crash as we fell onto the rug.... All the Band is on the Rug The Band is on the Rug!
Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun, And the first one said to the second one there I hope youre having fun. Band on the run, band on the run
The Story: I was a little kid when I heard this 8 track... it was one of my uncle's favorites and he played it over and over again in his room. I sang the incorrect lyrics FOR YEARS thinking they were right, because- there was Paul and the band, right there on the cover, standing on a freakin' RUG. - Submitted by: Christine
Seagoon
C Moon
The Story: When this was out, my sister had the Goon Show Scripts book. Neddie Seagoon, as played by Harry Secombe, was always the hero in the Goon Shows, and it was my brother who was heard to be singing 'Seagoon' whenever the Wings song came on the radio! The Goons were big with the Beatles - John Lennon especially. - Submitted by: pickle*
And Jet
I thought the major was a little lady suffragette
And Jet
I thought the major was a little lady suffragette.
The Story: I thought it HAD to be a misheard lyric. But then, given Paul's habit of whimsical silliness in his lyrics, it was not a total surprise that it was not. - Submitted by: Randall
I'll make her Paul Shaffer.
Ah Mater, much later
The Story: I seriously heard the lyrics as this, I'm not mocking the song here. I really thought they were talking about that bald guy with the shades on Late Night (he was famous back then too, right?) and the song makes little sense anyway. - Submitted by: j.c.pn
Jeff!
Jet!
The Story: Back in the 1990s, my previous stepfather Joe had a friend named Jeff Flaurey. One of those days when I've listened to Paul McCartney's "All The Best" CD, when I was listening to the song, I heard my mom calling out for Jeff (Joe's friend). - Submitted by: Mickey D.
Mark Slater
Much later
The Story: Growing up a freind of mine, I would always sing "Mark Slater", who was the name of someone in our class. - Submitted by: Jim Spangler
Want 'Chet' to always love me.
Want 'Jet' to always love me.
The Story: This was actually my friend who thought the whole Wings' song 'Jet' was called 'Chet'! So, if you can imagine, he substituted 'Chet' everywhere McCartney sang 'Jet'. Ah youth! - Submitted by: Thunderbird 2
When you were young and your heart was an open door.
When you were young and your heart was an open book.
The Story: I heard it live like that. - Submitted by: maria
Little lead guy
Live and let die
The Story: My boyfriend thought they were singing about a toy soldier made out of lead. - Submitted by: Terri
Isle of Kintyre
Oh, we're strolling in from the sea.
Mull of Kintyre
Oh, mist rolling in from the sea.
The Story: For me as a German, 'Isle of Kintyre' sounded very reasonable, because our English-teacher once brought a postcard from an holiday-trip to Campbeltown. And on this postcard was written 'Isle of Kintyre'. The funny thing about it was that our teacher -even after he was there- didn't know that Kentyre is an peninsula! - Submitted by: german1
Leetle leetle beetle gypsy get around.
Live a little, be a gypsy, get around.
The Story: In high school, one of my friends and I used to be into analyzing lyrics. Needless to say, we never figured this one out! - Submitted by: Martha
Little little, she's a kitty, gets around, (gets around)
Keeps her feet up off the ground
Little Little gets around.
Live a little, be a gypsy, get around, (get around)
Get your feet up off the ground
Live a little, get around.
The Story: I have a friend who breeds cats, and she had this adorable little hyperactive kitten who she was trying to find a home for. She didn't want to name the kitten, but she had to call it something, so she called it Little Little. Now, Little Little never sat still, even for a minute. She was always on the move, hence 'Little Little gets around'. - Submitted by: IHaveNoBrain
With a little f***, we can help it out
We can make this whole damn thing work out.
With a little luck, we can help it out
We can make this whole damn thing work out.
The Story: A good friend of mine and I were seniors in college at the time that this song was popular. It was played on the radio constantly. We used to do a lot of cruising around in the car. When this song would come on, we would both get very quiet. We wanted to hear Paul McCartney sing the 'f' word in the opening line of the song. We would then howl like idiots after that first line! To this day, I still hear him sing the inappropriate word. Give it a listen some day and see what I mean. - Submitted by: Joe Lesnick
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.