Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Story: One day I had 'Aeroplane' on my cd player with my little brother, David, in the room. As the song is very catchy we were singing it all throughout the rest of the day. I stopped singing it briefly to get my shoes out of my cupboard and he carried on singing it happily with those wrong words. He thought the song was about birds and how they were nice to watch but that he didn't like it when they do the toilet on your head. (Strange boy) - Submitted by: Rachel

The Story: The true story behind this lyric is actually a good one in and of itself. I personally know a man by the name of Mike Johnson that used to be the road manager for RHCP. They were doing a show in Wisconsin and had a backup bassist playing because Flea had to tend to a personal matter. They had played a few shows with this bassist and done with "sock on the cock" costume for them all, but the backup bassist was unaware that they used a new sock for every show to prevent it stretching out and falling off. Unfortunately for this bassist, the sock did fall off - unfortunately for the band was being watched closely by local police that weren't pleased with their music and once the sock fell off they had perfect reason to shut down the show and arrest the band for indecent exposure to minors. As soon as they finished (no pun intended) the band ran off stage and Mike Johnson was right there trying to usher them into the bus - but they had a different plan and told him to step aside "Step aside Mike Johnson" and meet them out of town the next day. The band attempted to escape through the "Woods of Wisconsin" and eventually were picked up by a fan on the side of the road whom gave them a place to sleep. The next morning the band got in contact with Mike and met him just out of town to avoid the police. True story, and makes much more sense than "Step aside my Johnson". - Submitted by: Eric Steinhouser

The Story: Was singing this with my friend one day a few years ago and when it got to this part I sung this. We lost it and after laughing for a while, he showed me the real lyrics. - Submitted by: Danny Sanchez

The Story: My sister "had an accident" laughing when I reiterated what I thought I heard and at the time I was bemused by her reaction because I assumed Anthony was trying to stretch 'you're breaking' over a few more seconds in a rather strange way. - Submitted by: Devil Jones

The Story: It was just after we saw them in concert. My friend came out with this lyric. When we laughed, she said, 'What, is that not it?' - Submitted by: Don'tHaveAName

The Story: Thought that was what they were saying forever until I decided to look up the meaning of that line and learned I was off (and still don't get the meaning!) - Submitted by: Mike

The Story: I was about 5 and was drinking milkshake, and my dad put this song on, i said "daddy, why does he have to kiss MY banana milkshake?!!" LMAO - Submitted by: kira

The Story: My brother was singing it in the car and my mom turned it off and called it 'smut'. - Submitted by: Kenny Whitebird

The Story: Singing this real loud on the street, a short person walks by. Well, use your imagination. Not a pretty sight. - Submitted by: Dirty Drill Sergeant

The Story: I just thought it was hilariously literal. I was pretty sure it had to be wrong but it fit so well! - Submitted by: AC Nels

The Story: I played around my girlfriend and her mom, who are both Mexican. Her mom freaked out. - Submitted by: Eric

The Story: For the longest time I thouhgt they were using some sort of bird mating call. - Submitted by: Le Blue Dude

The Story: I guess I had that show Love Boat on my mind... - Submitted by: Thaddeus Gammelthorpe

The Story: Sometimes it is hard for me to understand what some singers are saying in their songs. All singers have unique sounds, but sometimes their clarity is not good. - Submitted by: ANONYMOUS

The Story: Was thinking this was Lady Marmalade down in old California! - Submitted by: Cody Finke

The Story: I always wondered why it was called "Californication". Then a friend pointed out I had the lyrics wrong. Oops!!! - Submitted by: Louise

The Story: My girlfriend and I drove to her place, and we listened to 'Californication'. Then she suddenly said: 'I don�t get this. Why should the first born get a cold?' It was hilarious. - Submitted by: Sebastian Martin

The Story: Sang this lyric in class and everyone stared at me - Submitted by: Julia

The Story: Japanication anyone? - Submitted by: Doommaster1994

The Story: When I was younger, my parents would always listen to their music selection whenever they had the opportunity to. Being a kid, and being a fan of Drake and Josh, I always assumed that Bell was referring to Drake Bell. - Submitted by: Amanda

The Story: I was pleasing a fisherman, alongside my friend, and his boat's CB radio belted out the newest Red Hot Chili Peppers single, "Dani California". With all the moans of ecstacy, a club drug, came much confusion. Thus my misheard lyrics were born. - Submitted by: Matthew

The Story: I love playing this on rock band, but our old TV sucks and I couldn't read the lyrics. - Submitted by: Shanyan

The Story: I was listening to this song on the radio. When they sang this lyric, I thought, "Oh my God!! They aren't really saying that, are they?" I looked up the real words as soon as I got home. - Submitted by: Tessa

The Story: I always make up stories to go with songs I like, and assumed Tess was some sort of assassin, who wanted to be like a sort of elite assassin, and to do this, she would had to kill the queen. It would make an awesome movie. - Submitted by: Hoju

The Story: I burned a cd for my girlfriend with "Freaky Styley" on it. My girlfriend works in a photo lab, so I thought it was an appropriate song. - Submitted by: Bill Erickson

The Story: I was hearing this and thought it sounded like something Spanish. Ole! - Submitted by: Cody Finke

The Story: This is what they keep repeating towards the end of the song. At first I just kept singing "funkin' trippopottamus, funkin' trippopotamus!" without really thinking about it. I eventually came to the conclusion that they were saying "funk is just a part of us" because, well, they played funky music. I literally just found out they correct lyrics 5 minutes ago after seeing the name of the band's fan club on a web site. - Submitted by: Thaddeus Gammelthorpe

The Story: My sister is a singer, so sometimes when she hears something she'll just start singing it even if she doesn't know the words to practice her voice. This is what came out of her mouth one time. - Submitted by: wadded beef

The Story: I first thought they were singing an anti-drug song - Submitted by: Randall Bowman

The Story: Sounded like it had to do with someone Italian. That's amore! - Submitted by: Cody Finke

The Story: When I heard that I was like, 'Aww....someone should buy them a toaster so they can toast their homemade bread!' - Submitted by: Ansley Hord

The Story: Fortunately, I discovered this misheard lyric for myself and not by embarrassing myself, BUT! I dunno, especially the protozoa part....I had a strong suspicion that couldn't possibly be right, but I could not un-hear it. Now that Live 105 is back in action over here, they play it enough that I finally heard it correctly, but I laugh every time I hear this song and still just sing "Spread my protozoa" occasionally. What does that even mean?? - Submitted by: Anjo

The Story: When they said "long," it sounded like "low" when I first heard it. - Submitted by: Daniel Meldrum

The Story: I thought it was "I'm asleep with Colin Powell" until maybe 2005 or 2006 - Submitted by: Spencer Jackson

The Story: My husband and I were riding to work together the first time we heard this song. I turned to him and asked, "did he just say buzzard s**t on the radio?" He replied, "I was just about to ask you the same thing." We called the radio station to find out what the actual lyric was. The DJ was not amused, but we thought it was hysterical. - Submitted by: Roni Sutton

The Story: On a biology field trip - no one knew the real lyrics and someone quickly came up with these - especially relevant for the biology crowd - Submitted by: jaysa

The Story: When I first heard this song I had a big argument with another person: they insisted it was "With the burning shared it's a lonely view" while I insisted it was "It's the Burgess Shale; it's a lonely view". I thought the Burgess Shale lyric was a grim reflection on humanity's looming extinction, hence the Burgess Shale and fossils. They thought it was a love song about "sharing the pain" with someone else. As you can imagine, we were both disappointed when we settled the bet by buying the CD. - Submitted by: Aidan Whitmore

The Story: My friend Anna was singing very loudly these lyrics to 'Scar Tissue' into my ear. Maybe she should check the words before belting them out? - Submitted by: Kailyn

The Story: I'm a Simpsons fan, so I heard a Simpsons reference in this song (Mr. Burns) when there was none, I talked to a friend, knowing my misheard lyrics had to be wrong, and he joked around saying 'What, is it from Smithers' perspective?' - Submitted by: Jared

The Story: I didn't even stop to think that it didn't sound right until caught in a karaoke - Submitted by: Macaroni Man

The Story: My husband just looked at me at first and then after shaking his head for a few minutes he asked, 'Is it that you think the Chili Peppers are into Paganism or something that they would write lyrics like that, or do you realize that you are completely wrong?' We both burst out laughing. - Submitted by: Jeanne

The Story: Little kids feeling like big kids, screaming the wrong lyric on the street in front of their house. - Submitted by: Nancy

The Story: I was watching Much Music with captions on when I discovered the correct lyric. I had firmly believed that my non-sensical lyric was correct. - Submitted by: J Brett

The Story: I jammed those lyrics up with all my friends. Until now, I had no clue. Now, I have a lot of calls to make. - Submitted by: Angie

The Story: My friend misheard it this way. Even after visiting this site(!!!!), he won't accept that it isn't the salami thing. - Submitted by: Martin

The Story: Back in high school, our friend Daniel swore that these were the actual lyrics. No amount of reasoning could convince him, nor could the internet. He maintains to this day that the birds represent the outside world, and that salami is a metaphor for love. - Submitted by: LeMat

The Story: I thought this song was about a neigbor's dispute. I thought a neighbor (Bubba) built a shed that obstructed his neighbor's view out of his window. I was mentioning this in class one day to my students, and they told me what the song really said. They got a good laugh out of it. - Submitted by: Lisa

The Story: It makes sense after the line, 'blood loss in a bathroom stall' - Submitted by: Zach Mueller

The Story: I had always assumed that the singer had gotten into a bar fight (with sarcastic Mr Know-It-All) over the girl (the young Kentucky girl with a scarlet drawl) and he was shedding blood from a cut or something that he got. It seemed to make sense, since usually one bleeds before he gets a 'scar tissue'. So I assumed I was right---until I saw the right lyrics on the CD liners (which don't make any more sense). - Submitted by: jo

The Story: was singing and my cousin started laughing because what I thought they sang... - Submitted by: Anna Arratia

The Story: I've been wondering about this line for 15+ years and laughing about it the whole time. Kind of fun (and sad) to see the real lyric. Your site is damn fun and funny. - Submitted by: Cliff Ruffian

The Story: It has been nearly 20 years (it will be 20 next year) since this song was released as a single and I can't believe it has taken me this long and via a misheard lyrics website to finally find out the actual lyric sung by Anthony Kiedis. For some reason I just assumed that Kiedis was making a comment about some Berber from North Africa was giving him some shade while he was at the beach, or had loaned him some sunglasses specifically from North Africa and because of that the view was much more lovely. - Submitted by: Peter

The Story: I thought the lyrics were the first version I wrote, but my friend and mom thought it was the second version I wrote because they said it made more sense. So when I finally checked the lyrics and found out I was closer, I rubbed it in their faces because we had made it into a big debate. It was really funny! - Submitted by: Peanut

The Story: My boyfriend kept singing it this way every time it came on the radio. He was very convinced these were the right words. I asked him why the lead singer of rhcp would be in a shed with birds. Then I let him down gently and told him the right words. Though he's still convinced he's right and I'm wrong. - Submitted by: Johanna

The Story: I was singing this wrong line off key at the top of our voices while driving down a busy street with the window open. I looked like a fool when someone in another car told me the right words. - Submitted by: Scump

The Story: Well I was driving down the road with some of my friends including my crush, the hottest boy in school! Anyway the song came on and to impress him I started singing this song at the top of my lungs (its his favorite band). Well needless to say I got the lyrics wrong which really offended him. I was completely mortified as he started telling me not to disrespect the band and he has ignored me ever since. To top it all off he spread the news around school and ever since I've been known as the 'lyric loser'. - Submitted by: debbie

The Story: my father thought this too. - Submitted by: Spencer Jackson

The Story: What I heard was "with the birds that shed it's a lonely view" and all I could think of was that birds don't shed, they molt." So maybe it's "WIth the blood that's shed it's a lonely view." Sounds kinda emo, but it's better than birds shedding, right? I wrote about it on a forum somewhere and someone explained what it really says. - Submitted by: Sarah

The Story: My 18-year old daughter and I argued about this line for months until she looked it up on the internet. That's when we found the 100 of other misheard versions of this line. Has there ever been a misheard line with so many variations? I doubt it. - Submitted by: Bob Breyer

The Story: That's what it sounds like. - Submitted by: Daniel Meldrum

The Story: My wife an I first heard this on our honeymoon. It was playing constantly on the radio and for the life of us we couldn't firgure out what they heck he was saying. So we figured the whole song was about how his whole life changed when his son (Shane) was born. In retrospect, I kind of like the lyrics we came up with better! - Submitted by: KR

The Story: Thought they were talking about being lonely cause they were drunk and high a lot. - Submitted by: Claudiapatx

The Story: I sang it at a campsite with old friends from high school. - Submitted by: Ad

The Story: I thought this was a revelation about how someone may experience the world after a stint in rehab. - Submitted by: radioradio

The Story: My sixth grade carpool had a giant debate going on about what the true lyrics to this song really were. Everyone had their own idea. Turns out, none of us were right. - Submitted by: Rhubarbarbara

The Story: My brother was driving down the road with his son (and my little nephew) Griffin, listening to music. Griffin said, 'Play the baloney song, Daddy'. My brother couldn't figure out what he was talking about. He kept trying different songs, until finally he put in 'Scar Tissue'. Griffin yelled, 'This is it!' When the lyrics, 'With the birds, I'll share this lonely view' began, he sang the misheard version. - Submitted by: Teresa

The Story: It wasn’t just Boston’s song “Peace of Mind” that got misheard as “piece of pie” - this song really did the same as well! - Submitted by: Cody Finke

The Story: My mom has been singing "dying Jesus freaks" this entire time at the top of her lungs, she just found out the real lyrics - Submitted by: Victoria

The Story: For ages, my mates and I thought that 'funkalestarol' was a (made up) chemical produced in your body that made you feel funky. Hence if you busted into it, you would feel the funk flow. We still use it to this day when we dance or go a little crazy. - Submitted by: Paul Arnold

The Story: I believe I got this one from playing the Skyrim quest “sanguine rose” - Submitted by: Brandon Morissette

The Story: I thought the lyrics was "Kiss me, people hurt me!" because I assumed it was his way of saying, "I've been hurt so many times; KISS ME!" This goes to show you how naive and stupid I am. - Submitted by: Melissa

The Story: This is how I sang it for the first year I was aware of the song. - Submitted by: Chuck

The Story: Sounded like it was mothers and fathers. - Submitted by: Cody Finke

The Story: No funny story........I was shocked when I first heard it like wtf?! - Submitted by: Sandd

The Story: Always thought the lyrics with the word "shit" was what they really sung, as they sing "motherfucker" twice in other parts of the song. But I was wrong. - Submitted by: Alex Portnoy

The Story: Watch the movie "Say Anything" with closed captions turned on to see these misheard lyrics. - Submitted by: Jason Hunt

The Story: In the movie "Say Anything", turn on closed captions to see this misheard lyric. - Submitted by: Jason Hunt

The Story: I just now, on 4/18/18, found out the correct lyrics. - Submitted by: Spencer Jackson

The Story: I have a few mates that really like this song, we always sing it when were out. My friend Ian was singing on stage and sang 'I could not get my carpet clean'. We couldnt help but laugh, and we noticed the audience laughing too.(Good thing my friend didn't hear, it was his first night at his new job.) - Submitted by: lillie mathers

The Story: My band decided to cover this song at our gig. I sang the misheard line instead. You should've seen the looks on the people's faces! - Submitted by: George

The Story: A lot of their lyrics are raunchy, so I figured it was bite my "love". Nudge-nudge wink-wink. - Submitted by: D

The Story: I heard this song on the radio the other day for the umpteenth time, and I could have sworn these were the lyrics. I could have embarrassed myself with a hard core Chili Pepper fan. Anyway, I thought it was a cool twist of poetry. Siam was the City of Angels. I still love the song. - Submitted by: Christi Leigh Richard

The Story: When they said "bridge downtown", I heard "mistletoe". - Submitted by: Daniel Meldrum

The Story: I swear it was referring to the Rescue Rangers! - Submitted by: Cody Finke

The Story: I was a horny teenager when the song came out. Everything was sex to me. I'm bisexual so my dirty mind always fantasized wildly in an orgy of adolescent furor. I thought the song was about a boy that was gay and couldn't get it up for a girl and she laughed at him so he got mad and she revealed that she was on her period thus revealing to him she too had her own sexual roadblocks so for advice he was talking to his dad for advice and telling him what happened in the form of a song and the dad was jumbling it all together in his mind ... under the bridge, my son, could not get it up Under the bridge that girl, Is where she showed him blood. - Submitted by: Jake Porter

The Story: I was excersising listening it to on my Ipod and singing out loud and yea... - Submitted by: Molly