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!).
Homegrown album at Amazon.com
UB40's,
"Can't Help Falling In Love"
White men say, only fools wear jeans.
Wise men say, only fools rush in.
The Story: My friends and I were cruising around and we started to listen to this song and of course I was SCREAMING the lyrics I thought were the real ones and they just started BUSTING out laughing at me! I felt so stupid! - Submitted by: Rachel
UB40's,
"Can't Help Falling In Love"
Wise men say only fools wear jeans.
Wise men say only fools rush in.
The Story: Anyone else who sings this enunciates it clearly enough. But the way Ali Campbell does, it really sounds like he's coming out against the wearing of denim. Are Dockers supposedly better? - Submitted by: Eric Andrews
UB40's,
"Can't Help Falling in Love"
White men say, only fools love sheep,
but I can't help, falling in love with ewes
Wise men say, only fools rush in,
but I can't help, falling in love with you
The Story: I came in to work and started telling my friends that UB40 must be a bunch of weirdoes because they sing a song about falling in love with sheep. All my work mates were curious which song it was, so I sang it for them. Needless to say... they almost died laughing at me. - Submitted by: Liz
UB40's,
"Food For Thought"
I married Madonna, donna give my love
Waiting for her man uhm, calling yesterday
Iron is a poison, empty as her eyes.
Ivory Madonna dying in the dust
Waiting for the manna coming from the west
Barren is her bosom, empty as her eyes.
The Story: I was singing this old tune out loud today and tried to find the song on the net. I was amazed that I could not find it with the title 'I married Madonna' until I found out the right title and lyrics...;-) - Submitted by: Bart
UB40's,
"Food for Thought"
I'm the Ayatollah
Ivory Madonna
The Story: This came out shortly after the revolution in Iran and the Ayatollah was in the news a lot - Submitted by: John Fredericks
UB40's,
"Here I Am (Come And Take Me)"
I can't belive beer is free!
I can't believe that it's real.
The Story: I wondered what the beer had to do with the rest of the song, but I thought free beer sounded like a great idea. - Submitted by: Dasha Holmes
I was wrong, now I find
That just one makes me funky
Red red wine
I was wrong, now I find
That just one makes me forget
Red red wine
The Story: My original UB40 tape of "Labo(u)r of Love" didn't have a lyric sheet and my UB40 hits compilation CD doesn't either. - Submitted by: You Bee Sloshed!
Monkey jockey pocket gonna feel real fine.
Monkey pack him rizla pon the sweet dep line.
The Story: Just that we were on our way back from lunch today & this song came on. We were singing along until we got to this line & then we just started laughing. - Submitted by: Niki
Tell me why
Why I forget?
Red, red wine
Makes me forget.
The Story: When I was a little girl, I loved that song I was only about 6 or 7 years old. Now 16 I always look back and laugh at my mistake of lyrics for "Red, Red Wine" when I knew the song was called "Red, Red Wine". - Submitted by: Bec Owen
Wally P'Zing make me do my own thing
Whole heap a zing,
Make me do my own thing.
The Story: That's just what it sounds like. - Submitted by: JR
UB40's,
"Tell Me Is It True"
Forgetting my mistakes
Forgiving my mistakes
The Story: Once again, why we confuse "forgive" and "forget". - Submitted by: Cody Finke
There are more UB40 misheard lyrics available.
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
