People Share Their Worst Misheard Lyrics and It's Too Hilarious

Robin Zlotnick - Author
By

PUBLISHED Jul. 17 2019, 4:14 p.m. ET

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Source: NBC / Twitter

I don't know why, but when my siblings and I would belt out to The Lion King soundtrack when we were little kids, we'd sing "Can You Feel the Fluff Tonight?" at the top of our lungs. Did we actually think the Disney movie starring cartoon lions had a whole song dedicated to the texture of spreadable marshmallow? I don't know. Did it stop us? Definitely not. 

We've all misheard a lyric or two in our lifetimes, so when New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum asked the people of Twitter to share their "worst musical misunderstandings," more than 9,000 people delivered. And the answers are hilarious.

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1.

Obviously, in "Benny and the Jets," the lyric is "electric boobs." It makes way more sense than "electric boots," which is the actual word. That song has so many hard-to-understand lines. Growing up, I couldn't understand what a "mole hair suit" was or why anyone, let alone Benny, would want to wear one. It was only in adulthood that I realize the word was "mohair," and if I'm being completely honest, I still have no idea what that is. 

2.

I love this so much because not only is the line "Ain't no woman like the one I've got," but it's also the name of the song. Jennifer thought every member of the Four Tops was smitten with a troll woman known throughout the entire village as One-Eyed Glott. Glott clearly lived under the bridge and only came out at nighttime to terrorize people who dared to cross her path. But she had one sexy unibrow. 

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3.

Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" as a lot of these easily misheard lines. And honestly, "wife of a clothespin" makes just about as much sense as "clouds in my coffee" or "and you watched yourself gavotte." Who gavottes? What's gavotte? No one will ever know. So sure, it doesn't make any sense to be the wife of a clothespin, but in the context of the song, I can't blame this person for accepting that as the line.

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4.

I love this one so much. I love the idea that Toto is just casually shrugging about how it sometimes precipitates in Africa while they belt out this song. To be fair, who are these guys to "bless the rains down in Africa"? The African rains do not need their blessing. It makes just as much sense to be like, "I don't know, I guess it rains down in Africa. I've never been there. I'm just singing this song about it!"

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5.

This one made me laugh until I couldn't breathe, and then my fiancé asked me what was going on, and then I tried to explain it to him and it took me like six tries before I could get it out. I'm sorry. It's just so good. Clearly, the line to this classic TLC song wouldn't be, "Don't go chasing waterfalls." That's absurd. Obviously it's about a lost Power Ranger named Jason Waterfalls who's desperately trying to get back in with his crew.

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6.

You know, I like this version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer better." If "Olive the other reindeer" is the one laughing and calling him names, that's only one mean reindeer named Olive who doesn't like Rudolph. Unfortunately, the actual lyric is "all of the other reindeer," which is ten times as cruel. The real problem here is that the word reindeer is both singular and plural. If that wasn't the case, things would have never been confused in the first place.

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7.

This is amazing. Ah yes, Westville, Rodophia. Rodophia sounds like one of those vaguely European countries that are always made up for fairy tales and Hallmark Christmas movies. I believe Rodophia is just east of Genovia (from The Princess Diaries) and just south of Aldovia (from A Christmas Prince). The Fresh Prince is still a prince, after all. It makes sense that he'd be from Westville, Rodophia instead of where he's actually from, which is West Philadelphia.

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8.

The line is "She likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain," but if she likes those frozen tropical drinks, chances are she's also a fan of cheesy Mexican dishes, so I don't see anything wrong with this interpretation of the song. The real surprise comes when you realize this song, which is actually titled "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)," is sung by Rupert Holmes, not Jimmy Buffett. That's "Margaritaville," a completely different song about a beach-y cocktail. 

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9.

Kurt Cobain isn't exactly known for his perfect elocution, so it's understandable that this line from "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would confuse some people. The line is "Here we are now, entertain us," but I also like "in containers." It gives a nice visual and kind of gets the same point across. If that was the line, it would be like the Nirvana version of that "Little Boxes" song. We're all in containers of one kind or another.

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10.

Lorraine. What a heinous person who clouded Johnny Nash's judgment until she finally left him alone one day and the cloud lifted. With Lorraine gone, Johnny could finally see clearly. And because of that, he just had to sing. OK, we all know the line is actually "I can see clearly now the rain is gone." But I think I might actually prefer the version in which the villain is a completely annoying woman named Lorraine.

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11.

Listen, when you have singers with British accents, they could practically be saying anything. Mick Jagger sings about a lot of stuff in all his songs with The Rolling Stones. He could have very well been singing about an obese man named Bernard that he most definitely does not want to take after. Ini fact, I would happily listen to that song. But alas, he's singing about never being someone's "beast of burden." Oh well.

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12.

"Blinded By the Light," the song written by world's greatest mumbler Bruce Springsteen and recorded by Manfred Mann, is possibly the number one song in the world that has people just making the sounds that correspond with the song and not actually knowing the words. Because the actual words don't make much more sense than what Laura thought they were. "Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night"? What is that, a riddle? 

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13.

This is amazing. Faith Hill must see this and record a new version of "This Kiss" for KFC called "Biscuits." I will fund it. What else is Faith Hill doing these days anyway? We as a nation need this. I'm writing the rest of the lyrics right now. "It's the way you're crunchy, it's a feeling like this. It's a buttery ocean, it's perpetual bliss. Biscuits, biscuitssss!" Nailed it. Faith, call me. This needs to happen.

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14.

Peggy Lee, who famously covered this song, would not stoop to sing about beavers. She's too cool for that. The song is "Fever," originally recorded by Little Willie John, but I am now imagining a young Jessica singing this and screaming, "BEAVERS!" at that dramatic line, and I cannot stop laughing. The more I think about it, the more I absolutely cannot get over the idea of this suave R&B song being sung about beavers. Hilarious.

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15.

Last but certainly not least, this brave soul admitted to not just mishearing a lyric but completely misunderstanding a band's name. They thought Hall and Oates was "Haulin' Oats." Another Twitter user copped to thinking Olivia Newton John was a trio: Olivia, Newt, and John. I don't know which one he believed played Sandy in Grease. But I get it! If you never see these things written out, you're only going by what you hear. And your ears, clearly, can deceive you.

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