There’s been much written about mondegreens – aka misheard song lyrics – and I’m happy to add some more.
T
here are so many of these to choose from – even just from my own experience. Of course, there’s the classic “Hazy” hearing of Hendrix, “‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy…” And the ever-mondegreen of Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” which millions still sing as “Wrapped up like a douche…” Some of us sing it that way even after we find out what the real lyrics are, just because it’s fun to do so.
Summer Wine
One of the first rock bands I remember playing my hometown of Summerside when I was a kid was April Wine. They played at the town’s hockey arena, known locally as “the rink.” It was very exciting. There was a buzz all around town that summer. It was their “Whole World’s Goin’ Crazy” tour, in support of their 1976 album of the same name. I didn’t go to the concert. I was 12.
But it was their previous album, 1975’s double-platinum Stand Back, that I came to love a few years later when I started buying records. It included the hit Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love. These are the lyrics in the bridge… or at least this is how I always heard them:
Love is such a sweet thing, oh yeah
It’s easy when you realize
These moments are forever, oh yeah
Its magic can incinerize
Yes, Its magic can incinerize. Like, love is so hot, its magic burns so bright, it’s like an incinerator.
Yes, love can dispose of solid waste.
Hey, that’s not so crazy, is it? Of course, it was years later when I learned the actual lyric: It’s magic and it’s in her eyes.
I dunno. I kinda like my take on it better.
Moon-degreen, or Lost John
Another classic mondegreen involves the CCR classic “Bad Moon Rising.” I remember reading on the Internet that someone thought the lyrics in the chorus were sung thusly:
Don’t go around tonight
Well, it’s bound to take your life
There’s a bathroom on the right
That’s one of my favourites. Even CCR frontman John Fogerty seems to like it. Check out the clip below. I think this is from an appearance on “Austin City Limits” several years ago. Am I crazy, or does he throw in a little self-mondegreening the third time the chorus comes around, at about the 2:00 mark?
That is awesome.
What are your favourite mondegreens?
