Misheard Lyrics

[TheOtherTed]

Just watched a snippet of one of Conan's podcasts in which he talked about how he used to get the lyrics to popular songs completely wrong.  So I figured I'd make a thread about it, because, you know, you need to know.

 

I can't remember any instances off-hand of my own guilt in this.  I have no doubt that I am guilty, several times over, but I can't remember anything specific.  So I'll tell you about the time I caught a college buddy getting lyrics wrong, called him out on it, and realized that his version was actually better, in a way.  Here's the song in question:

 

 

The couplet in question start at 1:21:

 

For all those born beneath an angry star,
Lest we forget how fragile we are

 

My buddy thougt the first line was "For I was born beneath an angry star..."  Being the territorial Sting fan that I was, I initially roasted him for it, but, while doing so, I realized that his two-word change completely refocused the entire song in a direction that actually worked, though darkly.  So I apologized with a beer and a fist-bump.

 

 

Edited March 20 by TheOtherTed
I have my reasons. That should suffice.

[kanga]

Bit like Peter Kay? 🙂

 

[temnix]

Your reasons for editing SO suffice, bro, that you can edit without giving any! Try it! About lyrics: sometimes you hear them correctly, but lyrics found somewhere on the Internet give a wrong version. I used to be perplexed by this, because I had assumed that the lyrics are provided by the music companies or the artists, but actually what you get on those lyrics sites is just what someone's ears have caught. In Gorillaz' famous "Clint Eastwood" I was sure I had the first line right, "I'm happy," the "am" drawn out to suit the meter, but online lyrics tried to make me think it was "I ain't happy." I was adamant, because that would not have made any sense. When I realized how dubious those websites are, that gave me a little ground for pride.

 

 

[TheOtherTed]

Whoah - completely spaced on this thread.  LIkes for everyone!  All two of you!

 

12 hours ago, temnix said:

In Gorillaz' famous "Clint Eastwood" I was sure I had the first line right, "I'm happy," the "am" drawn out to suit the meter, but online lyrics tried to make me think it was "I ain't happy."

Sound-wise and meaning-wise, it could go either way IMO - "I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad" sort of makes artsy-fartsy sense if one takes the first phrase as saying "I'm not merely happy."

 

That said, though, the animation is playing against you.  Starting at 0:30 in that video, 2-D's mouth doesn't close until he hits the "p" in "happy." That said, I suppose Hewlett (?) could have missed that trick and Albam let it ride.

 

In any case, thanks for reminding me of the Gorillaz - they and Tom Waits were my go-to after dealing with all the "happy shiny people" in my job back in the day.