One night my dad and sister were watching Everybody Loves Raymond together.  In the episode, Raymond and Robert are showing off their dance moves to “Jungle Love.” While singing along to the music, my dad sang “Chug-a-lug” instead of “Jungle Love.” When my sister called him on his mistake, he claimed that those were the correct lyrics and the song was about drinking.  They finally looked up the lyrics, and father found out he had been singing the wrong lyrics for twenty-five years!

Everybody has mumbled over a song’s lyrics when they couldn’t quite make out the words, but sometimes we think we know the lyrics for years before realizing we’ve been embarrassing ourselves.  Misunderstood lyrics are called mondegreens (mŏn,də-grēn), and there are several sites dedicated to posting the most famous mondegreens in music history.  One of the most well known mondegreens is in Jimi Hendrix’ Purple Haze.  Many people hear “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” when the actual lyrics are “Excuse me while I kiss the sky.”

While you can see how easily it is to confuse the Purple Haze lyrics, some mondegreens are little more farfetched.  One of our very own Muzak employees believed Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” actually said, “No mustache could have been clearer.”

Have a laugh at the mondegreens below, and comment with any that fooled you for years.

Mondegreen / Actual Lyrics / Artist

In-a-gadda-da-vita, honey /  In the Garden of Eden, honey  /   Iron Butterfly

*The singer bungled the lyrics while drunk in 1968, and they decided to keep them this way.

She’s got a tick in her eye /  She’s got a ticket to ride /  The Beatles

Bald Headed Woman / More Than a Woman / Bee Gees

I’ll never leave your pizza burning / I’ll never be your beast of burden / The Rolling Stones

You made the rice, I made the gravy / You may be right, I may be crazy / Billy Joel

Are you going to starve an old friend / Are you going to Scarborough Fair /  Simon & Garfunkel

The girl with colitis goes by / The girl with kaleidoscope eyes / The Beatles

Every girl’s crazy ‘bout a shot glass man / Every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man / ZZ Top

Contributed by Allyson Shelton