The Mysterious Whale?

[karlgin]

Best mistake I ever heard someone say was in Stay..."Dressed up, like a c*** rash,"  instead of "Dressed up like a car crash."   Yikes!  Don't even want to know. 

[briscoetheque]

Listening to Glastonbury on the radio, I heard Bono sing:

"Don't put your faith in a God"

but when I watched it it's clear he's singing

"Don't put your faith in a clown"

I reckon the former works better 

[EnduringChill]

In Unforgettable Fire, I heard:
"And if you save your love, save your city eyes..."
Instead of, "And if you save your love, save it, save it all..."
I like the first one better.

[LoveComesTumbling]

Still like the story of how the Out of Control single in Japan had it's opening lines translated to "Monday morning, knitting years of gold".

Personally, I used to hear "...through alcohol" on Unforgettable Fire as "throughout the hall". Of course the original cd of TUF had no lyric sheet.

[Rayford27]

Personally, I used to hear "...through alcohol" on Unforgettable Fire as "throughout the hall". Of course the original cd of TUF had no lyric sheet.

I used to think that too!   And I still catch myself singing those lyrics every now and then.

Also, in Acrobat, I used to think it was "Don't know nothin' bout sex"  instead of "No, nothing makes sense."

 

[LoveComesTumbling]

Personally, I used to hear "...through alcohol" on Unforgettable Fire as "throughout the hall". Of course the original cd of TUF had no lyric sheet.

I used to think that too!   And I still catch myself singing those lyrics every now and then.

Also, in Acrobat, I used to think it was "Don't know nothin' bout sex"  instead of "No, nothing makes sense."

 

Ha ha yeah it took me ages to train myself out of thinking "...hall". I still sometimes think, "no he friggin says "throughout the hall, not "alcohol!!!" when I listen to the song. However I guess the next verse with "red wine" does support "alcohol" (well that and the officially printed lyrics). I knew I couldn't be alone though!!!

Bits and bobs with the song Wire:

1. No biggie but always heard "Innocent, and in a sense I am" as "Innocent and Innocence I am", as if the narrator is saying he embodies innocence entirely or something. However, the actual lyrics actually cast doubt on just how innocent the narrator actually is.

2. I used to hear "any time you're on the earth...is kissing time" as "anytime, you're only a kiss away." Now most fans of course know that Wire is about a junkie being confronted with the fact of his addiction, but the actual lyric here makes less sense to me than my original version! I had "anytime, you're only a kiss way" as meaning that the temptation to go grab the needle and spoon was always present and dangerous. The use of "kiss" being sort of sardonic in the way in which the junkie gets this immense pleasure and rush, but it's false and destructive; in fact nothing like a kiss at all. I'm not really sure about the meaning of the official "kissing time" lyric at all, and I'm so peeved at discovering my version was inaccurate I haven't bothered to analyse it!

It's funny how these little differences can affect the meaning and interpretation of a song. I reckon someone can have a field day with a thread merely devoted to interpretations of Elvis Presley and America...both before and after they got hold of the printed lyrics!

[Codex]

The confused babel at the start of Zooropa i still hear "Manchester United, Leeds, Norwich and Chelsea" repeated about 10 times.

[Stella]

Also, in Acrobat, I used to think it was "Don't know nothin' bout sex"  instead of "No, nothing makes sense."

 

I heard that one as "No I'm nothing but sex" 

[wwildhoney]

Read some of these in the news feed - laughed so hard I had to come add some of my misguided lyrics:

In All I want is you - I always thought it was "Eyes in a moment of Blindness..." apparently its eyes in a moon of blindness...

My sister hears "electric pistol", whereas a friend hears 'electric pornstar' for electrical storm

and I know it isn't this But for some reason  I always sing " I don't believe in guns and roses" in One tree hill....

[EnduringChill]

Heh. That's a good one.
Yesterday I was listening to Disappearing Act and I  heard "Your magic ripped and it is torn to shreds" instead of "you mattress..." Why are my lyrics so much cooler?

[simply]

Hiya from a newbie: This thread, I've read a couple of times, and finally wanted to post to it. Cause it makes me happy that other people mess up the same things I do.   And my kids...

I know I've mentioned this before, but I always sang 'You got Jungle Jane and love supreme' in 'Angel of Harlem'.  Now I know it's 'John Coltrane', but I can't stop singing my Tarzan version. 

I always heard "jungle gym & a love supreme"

It varies between Jungle Jane and Jungle Gym/Jim for me. I have no idea why.

Beautiful Day:
Bedouin fires, I hear as Bad Wind fires, which makes zero sense.

In One, I still hear: "Leisure baby, if you don't care for it"

I heard that for the longest time as well. Even though I know now that it's "leaves you" I still hear "leisure."

Oh! Me too. Shoot, I'll probably never be able to hear it correctly. Ever.

I remember this misheard lyric for me, though.
"...the leopards in your head" in One, instead of "lepers."

I hear leopards in your Bed. Which is less cramped than having them in your head. I think.

My youngest son used to sing the "I and I in the sky" bit from Elevation as "Ironman in the sky".

Another who hears "Edge is blowin' in the breeze", and also from Wild Honey, I hear "Good flowers for your hair", and not "I send you flowers, cut flowers for your hall" . So, I get that one all wrong. And I've been through the whole thread, so I know I'm not the only one...


In The Unforgettable Fire, I've only recently learned that the first word isn't "eyes".

For Bullet The Blue Sky, I know that for years I didn't realize what the heck he was saying, and was saying it wrong, but I can't remember exactly it was. It was really silly ( I tend to avoid that song though).

Vertigo, the Checkmated, Hours of Fun--It's somenonsense that I can't properly even type out what I hear and then it's... SHAzZAFAW (which is my text tone now. lol)
(My kids also demanded to know if Vertigo was a real place).

Not so much a misheard lyric, but my one of my 3 year old brothers was watching the 360 DVD with my dad, and he likes Mysterious Ways, but my brother calls it the "fatas ("fat ass") song"

My youngest son calls that The Gumpagoo song. And I haven't really got a clue why. I think it's maybe from the sound of the music or something. It's spawn2 for funky. But he started calling it that when he was about 3 or so, and that's become the name of the song for me.

The older boy thought that someone was eating from a Cow in Mysterious Ways, the younger boy thought someone was eating from a Cat. They both decided it was gross, no matter what they were eating from.

The stuff I hear wrong doesn't even make any dang sense, at all. At least what the rest of you mishear seems to make some sort of sense, lyrically. For the most part.

There are so many more, but I can't usually think of until I'm listening to the song, and go "why does he say that?" and my friend goes "we've talked about this, he's actually saying this".

And then I go "oooh" and promptly forget, and continue hearing it wrong, and then ask again a couple of months later.

[MacJoost]

From NLOTH:

Fez-Being Born: I hear 'goodbyes' instead of 'cut glass'
White as Snow: I hear Bono singing 'moon shine' instead of 'moon shone'

[EnduringChill]

From NLOTH:

Fez-Being Born: I hear 'goodbyes' instead of 'cut glass'
White as Snow: I hear Bono singing 'moon shine' instead of 'moon shone'

[/b]

Me too!

[ciaz]

The confused babel at the start of Zooropa i still hear "Manchester United, Leeds, Norwich and Chelsea" repeated about 10 times.

This is brilliant! I've been laughing for ages at this. Still listening to it now - great!

[Starguitar]

Stuck in a Moment
I heard:

I was a champion, for me it was a fall,
its a long way down to nothing at all.

Actual:
I wasn't jumping, for me it was a fall,
its a long way down to nothing at all.

I was disappointed when I heard the acoustic performance of this... and I noticed it wasn't 'champion'. I still like mine better though.