Misheard lyrics

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

When I was younger, there was no Internet so deciphering lyrics was much more difficult than it is now.

A perfect example is why I was never sure why Michael Stipe was saying "Call me Cheryl Baker" in The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, a lyric I was sure was something else, but it didn't know what. It wasn't until years later that I found out it was "Call me when you try to wake her".

I didn't think he was a Bucks Fizz and/or Record Breakers fan!

[bleakshaun]

This one isn't so much misheard but was changed for radio and tv broadcast
Primus - Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
"Grabbed him by the kiwis and he egg pressed for a week (and a half)"
originally
"Grabbed him by the kiwis and he ain't pissed for a week (and a half)"

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

When I was younger, there was no Internet so deciphering lyrics was much more difficult than it is now.

A perfect example is why I was never sure why Michael Stipe was saying "Call me Cheryl Baker" in The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight

I didn't think he was a Bucks Fizz and/or Record Breakers fan!

Maybe he wasn't aware of 'our' Cheryl

With the amount of make-up he used to wear, maybe it was more a comment on wanting to acknowledge his feminine side

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

Maybe he wasn't aware of 'our' Cheryl

With the amount of make-up he used to wear, maybe it was more a comment on wanting to acknowledge his feminine side

It did seem unlikely that Michael Stipe would spend half an hour each week watching Record Breakers with Cheryl Baker and Roy Castle, hence why I thought I did not know the correct lyrics.

[gag]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

When I was younger, there was no Internet so deciphering lyrics was much more difficult than it is now.

A perfect example is why I was never sure why Michael Stipe was saying "Call me Cheryl Baker" in The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, a lyric I was sure was something else, but it didn't know what. It wasn't until years later that I found out it was "Call me when you try to wake her".

I didn't think he was a Bucks Fizz and/or Record Breakers fan!

Yes got to agree it does sound like he singing that, but you know he isn't.

[Prince_Vajda]

Sympathy For The Devil, The Rolling Stones.

My lyrics...

Killed the czar and his mini-czars



Real lyrics...

Killed the czar and his ministers

[Susan Foreman]

Not exactly misheard, but possibly fits in here anyway

7 Accidental Mistakes Not Edited Out of Songs / Ultimate Guitar

Recording in a studio is a complex and arduous process. Some musicians do dozens of takes to get the perfect one for the finished product and in such an environment, mistakes are not acceptable, however, at times, a mistake comes along that makes the whole track more alive and generally better. Let’s take a look at 7 times when musicians decided to leave some accidental mistakes in the final mix.

Led Zeppelin - Black Country Woman
Taken from Robert Plant’s favorite Led Zeppelin album, Physical Graffiti, Black Country Woman starts off with a random plane flying over the house the band was recording in. Not only the band saved the take with the plane, but they actually included the short discussion on whether to edit out the plane or not, with Plant just saying “Nah, leave it” in the end.

The Police - Roxanne
Considering how popular Roxanne is in The Police’s catalog, it’s all the more amazing that the band had decided to leave an obvious mistake in. At around 4 second mark you can clearly hear a cluster of notes played on the keyboards followed by Sting’s laugh. Although the moment fits the song nicely, it wasn’t planned at all. During the recording of the song, Sting accidentally sat on the keyboards producing the sound. In the end, the band decided that it was best to keep the strange atonal mishap, and it seems they were right.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd and David Gilmour, in particular, are known to be perfectionists when it came to crafting a new album. On the track Wish You Were Here from the eponymous album you can clearly hear a cough followed by some breathing right before the main guitar comes in. The story goes that David Gilmour couldn’t hold in a cough due to his heavy smoking back in the day. When he heard the final take, he was so disappointed, he quit smoking cold turkey the following day. Whether the story true or not, the breathing only gives the song more atmospheric feel, so everything’s good.

The Mamas & The Papas - I Saw Her Again
Not only musicians can make mistakes during the recording. When The Mamas and The Papas were recording their self-titled record back in 1966, during the mixing process the engineer had put in the coda vocals in too early, he then proceeded to erase the mistake and put the vocals in the correct spot, but the mistake somehow stayed in. The producer Lou Adler loved the accidental repetition of the phrase so much, he decided to leave it like that for in the finished version. It definitely makes the song a bit more interesting.

The Kingsmen - Louie Louie
Well, this song itself is one big mess-up. Around the 00:54 mark, someone yells “****!”, the vocalist comes in too early, and that is not counting the vocal performance that was so mumbled even the FBI couldn’t transcribe the lyrics during an investigation. It’s still unclear why this particular take was deemed worthy of being published as is, but it wasn’t the wrong decision as the song quickly became incredibly popular and made good money.

Ben Folds Five - Steven’s Last Night In Town
Another accident that comes from recording in a house instead of a sound-proof studio. At around 2:55 mark there is a telephone ringing in the back followed by a short chuckle. It wasn’t an added sample or a planned thing, someone was just trying to reach Ben Folds while he was recording the song, as everything took place at his house. The ringing fit the timing of the song perfectly, so Folds decided to leave it in, making an already fun song even more alive.

Whiskeytown - Bar Lights
Ryan Adams’ Whiskeytown was always a without-a-care project but Bar Lights is probably the best representation of that attitude. Ryan forgot his line, started laughing, Caitlin Cary started laughing, and he broke a string all in a span of seconds, funnily enough, this is the take we hear on the record along with his remarks about the whole accident at the end of the song. The song feels more real because of these mistakes and loses none of its quality, so Adams definitely made the right choice to publish it that way.

[propoly]

Madonna - La Isla Bonita

real lyric - "A young girl with eyes like the desert"
sound like "A young girl with eyes like potatoes"

[MrBarlow]

Eiffel 65 Blue

Lyrics:
I'm Blue dabba dee a dabba da da be dee

What I hear:
I'm Blue If i was green i'd die or
I'm Blue i'd would beat off a guy.

Abba, Dancing Queen

Lyrics:
You are the dancing queen young and sweet only seventeen

What I hear: You are the dancing queen young and sweet only seven teeth.

Lady Gaga, Just Dance
Lyrics:
Just Dance, gonna be okay.

What I hear: Just Dance, gotta pee okay

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Another ABBA song: Dancing Queen.

I always thought the line "You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life" was, morbidly, "You can dance, you can die, having the time of your life".