EDITING 101: 62 – Using the Wrong Song Lyrics…

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

Using the Wrong Song Lyrics

If you’re going to go against standard editorial advice (given in Editing 101 post #8) and use song lyrics in your book, for heaven’s sake, be sure you have the CORRECT lyrics!

Well, duh, Editor Lady. That’s what all those Internet lyric sites are for, silly.

Umm, no.

Do not trust lyric sites on the Internet to have the true, accurate lyrics. Most of them are not any more accurate than the mondegreen you may have heard.

What the heck is that??

A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase—as a result of near-homophony (go back and visit post 16 for an explanation of homophones)—in a way that gives it a new meaning. What you heard may not be correct.

An example would be a line in ZZ Top’s song, “Sharp-Dressed Man,” which apparently some people have heard as “Everybody’s crazy ’bout a shot glass man.” It’s supposed to be “Everybody’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man.”

And in Roberta Flack’s classic “Killing Me Softly,” the line, “strumming my pain with his fingers,” has been misheard as “stuffing my face with his fingers!” Yikes!

Then there’s my favorite. These are the words I’ve heard since I was a child, and even though I now know they aren’t correct, it’s what my brain fills in when I hear the chorus of “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” (several people sang it, but here’s the link to Dan Seals’ version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxdsk-cFX-k):

“I’m not talkin’ ’bout the linen

And I don’t wanna change your life.

But a warm wind’s blowin’ the stars around

And I’d really love to see you tonight.”

Sounds fine, right? Well, except for maybe the “linen” part, which I have to admit I never understood. Why in the world was he singing about the sheets? He wasn’t! However, I’m not the only one who heard those words. Here’s a link to an Internet lyrics site—Remember? The ones I warned you about?—who heard the same thing and now tells people those are the “correct” words. Only they’re not the correct words to the chorus. It’s really supposed to be:

“I’m not talkin’ ’bout movin’ in

And I don’t wanna change your life.

But a warm wind’s blowin’; the stars are out

And I’d really love to see you tonight.”

Check them out HERE

Do you have any favorite misheard lyrics?

We’re Dun for today, so keep on Writin’!

Next week we’ll discuss ‘Are you overwhelming your social media followers?’

Susan

To see the index and catch up with missed episodes of this series – CLICK HERE

50 thoughts on “EDITING 101: 62 – Using the Wrong Song Lyrics…”

  5. This is smart AND funny. I recently had a big (fun) argument with a friend about the Carly Simon song that says “clouds in my coffee.” She was sure the lyric was “Cream in my coffee.” I won that argument. And how about the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise”? For years I sang: “There’s a bathroom on the Right.” 🙂

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  6. My children have dual Irish and French nationality and have always been a bit vague about the difference between the two. One of them (who will remain nameless) thought until she was almost of an age to vote that the line:
    ‘Allons, enfants de la Patrie,’
    was:
    ‘Allons, enfants de Saint Patrick,’

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  8. Dave Barry wrote a whole book on misheard lyrics. It’s great. My personal favorite is “There’s a bathroom on the right,” which is what I always heard when listening to “There’s a bad moon on the rise.” Hahahahahaha. Even though I knew it was wrong, I kept hearing it that way every time. 😀 Fun post!

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