It is raining here, and thundering, and I have two chicken mastiffs trying to squeeze under my desk. Sheesh.
When I was writing THE ELEVATOR, I mentioned one of our local bridges, the Howard Franklin, several times. It’s a three-mile span that links our county with Tampa.
Well, the astute copyeditors at Steeple Hill informed me that the bridge is really called the HOWARD FRANKLAND. You could have knocked me over with a finger. 🙂 I’ve called it the “Howard Franklin” for years, and so has everyone I know.
Reminds me of my dear hubby. Remember the old Carly Simon song, “You’re so Vain?” There’s a line that says, “You walked into the party, like you were walking onto a yacht.” and goes on to say the guy was with the “wife of a close friend, wife of a close friend, and (beat), you’re so vain.”
Anyway, for years my hubby thought Carly was singing, “wife of a clothes pin.” LOL! These days, does anyone even know what a clothes pin IS?
Okay, fess up now–what lyrics or term have you always mis-heard?
~~Angie
The funniest lyrical mistake in our family lately is with the Jars of Clay song Dead Man from their Good Monsters CD. The words are supposed to be:
I’m just a dead man
Lying on a carpet
can’t find a heartbeat
My 7 year old sings it:
I’m just a dead man lying
lying on a carpet
something ’bout a hobbit
I giggle now every time I hear that song 😀
Years ago I was playing Michael W Smith in the car and the song was “Goin’ Thru the Motions” my son was in the backseat singing, “Going to the ocean”
How I wish that were true!
The song “Hungry” has a chorus line: “And I … I’m desperate for you!” A young friend came home from Sunday school happily singing, “And I … I want to eat you!”
LOL! These are cute! And Elsi, I suppose since Jesus is the Bread of life, that line is apt . . .
One of my favorite kid translations is “Up from the gravy, a rose!”
Angie
I do this all the time, but can’t think of any examples now.
When I was little I said something to my mom about baby Jesus wetting the bed and she asked what I was talking about. I said the song says, “Sleep in heavenly pee”
When my oldest daughter was in 2nd grade I drove her to school each day. One morning John Lennon’s song “Instant Karma” came and I reached for the radio knob to turn it up. Before I could begin to sing along with the song, she piped up and started singing…is that car gonna get ya…instead of the instant karma. At least, now that I think of it, I hope that’s the correct name of the song. She does, afterall, take after her mother.
Beverly
Not actually a case of mistaken lyrics, but my husband is a gifted musician and he and I served together on worship teams for years. He was known for “ruining” great songs by changing the lyrics during rehearsals just for the fun of it. The one that most sticks in my mind is his rendition of “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” — “You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my dead toupee. . . ” (of course, it really is “my debt to pay”). For many years every time we’d sing that one at church I’d grin through the whole chorus.
George Harrison (I think) “I’ve got my mind set on you” …
I’ve always thought it said “Wake up, I might sail on you” …
The funniest one happened in our preschool Sunday School class, and a 3 year old girl asking to sing the song about “how you shouldn’t march in trees” – took me a minute to figure out “I’m too young to march in the infantry” …
(Just what would an infant tree look like, anyway?)
Accidentally Poetic Susan
My dance teacher is famous about getting lyrics mixed up. This year we’re going to do Jaci Velasquez “On My Knees” and the lyrics are supposed to be …”I get on knees. there before the LOVE…dada da dada da…and we were thinking she was saying before the Lord. similar with the Gloria song from Flashdance movie.
What a fun topic, and I’m late chiming in. There’s a country song that goes “There might be a little dust on the bottle, but don’t let it fool you about what’s inside….it’s one of those things that gets sweeter with time.” For the longest time I thought they were singing “There might be a littel dust on the BIBLE, but don’t let it fool you about what’s inside.” Well, that works, too, doesn’t it? God’s Word DOES get sweeter with time. : )