Bjork seems into me.

July 31, 2007 6:28 PM

Misheard Lyrics are a minor meme on Youtube. Some of them really suck. Some of them are Informative. Some of them, though, are Pure Comedy Gold. (Previously)
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia (48 comments total)

Throw your hands up in the air for three-link youtube-filter!

Wave 'em round like they throw you all-a-kilter!

Walrus cloudy now its clear.

I love this FPP, oh my dear.
posted by googly at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2007

Six-link youtube-filter. Sorry.
posted by googly at 6:39 PM on July 31, 2007

Seven links, but who's counting?

smaller print witty retort goes here
posted by item at 7:03 PM on July 31, 2007

I thought AFI was "always false instruction", a tool for use in PLC programming...
posted by Eekacat at 7:06 PM on July 31, 2007

man youtube is something else
posted by nervousfritz at 7:08 PM on July 31, 2007

I thought "pure comedy gold" was an oversell that was going to kill this post. I was wrong.
posted by DU at 7:11 PM on July 31, 2007

The american pie video is really great.
posted by Arturus at 7:20 PM on July 31, 2007

Sean Paul is particularly good material for these.
posted by cmgonzalez at 7:23 PM on July 31, 2007

But wait, there's more!
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:32 PM on July 31, 2007

An old one, from System of a Down.

And I echo Arturus on the Don McLean one.
posted by oats at 7:33 PM on July 31, 2007

Only thing with the American Pie video was that "Killing Me Softly with His Song" was about Don McLean's song "Empty Chairs," not "American Pie."

But yeah, some good stuff. A wonderfully strange furry friend of mine used to do this same sort of thing in comic form--I'll never forget him standing in a hotel room, singing...

Bereaving a mop, I'm parking a pear
I never fought a big seal or three-ee-ee
Tying my leg to a string on a chair
Who could it be?

Believe it or not, it's KT.
posted by darksasami at 7:39 PM on July 31, 2007

Thanks to YTMND, I can't hear the song "Party Like a Rock Star" without singing "party like Iraq, party like a lobster..."
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 7:44 PM on July 31, 2007

You know where else mondegreens are a minor meme?
posted by rob511 at 7:47 PM on July 31, 2007

Make me fries! Potato wave!
posted by miss lynnster at 7:57 PM on July 31, 2007

Don't forget Luleelurah!
posted by lubujackson at 8:03 PM on July 31, 2007

Does it make me uncool if I don't know who those last two bands are?
posted by zardoz at 8:03 PM on July 31, 2007

There used to be a hand-drawn flash animation of the lyrics to Yellow Ledbetter (not the youtube clip posted above), but I can't seem to find it anymore. Anybody still have the link. It was hi-larious.
posted by macmac at 8:05 PM on July 31, 2007

I'm a little man, and I'm also evil, also into cats.

Also into cats
posted by Brainy at 8:26 PM on July 31, 2007

I steal misheard lyrics. Sometimes I will listen to a song and think, wow what a lyric. Then I will look it up and I got the lyric wrong. I then use that lyric when I write my own songs.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:28 PM on July 31, 2007

When I was in junior high, this song called Motownphilly was popular. One of the recurring lines in the song is where they say, "Boys 2 Men, ABC, BBD!"

Anyway, my friend's dad thought they were singing "Oystermen, ABC, BBD!" and it put this hilarious image into my mind of Boys 2 Men doing this choreographed dance routine wearing oyster costumes, which they would then open and close, Pac-Man-style, while they were singing.

Oystermen, ABC, BBD!
posted by Afroblanco at 8:40 PM on July 31, 2007 [2 favorites]

This post was worth it for the American Pie interpretation alone.
posted by headspace at 8:57 PM on July 31, 2007

Afroblanco: now you've put the image in my head of Boyz 2 Men singing their cover of Yesterday in that same Pac Man-oyster fashion. I'm going to have some interesting dreams tonight.
posted by invitapriore at 9:04 PM on July 31, 2007

And lest we forget long-dead memes, Yatta!
posted by 1adam12 at 9:41 PM on July 31, 2007

Watching the American Pie one made me realize something.

In 9th grade, my english teacher, Mr. Muradian, made us study American Pie backwards & forwards and analyze all of the hidden meanings. It was an unorthodox thing to be studying in english class & I remember thinking it was interesting but silly. I know I got incredibly sick of the song by the time we were done. I remember standing in front of the class to do my American Pie report, & I also remember we also studied Animal Farm and Heart of Darkness that year too.

Then it hit me... I don't have such vivid memories of the curriculum of any other class I've ever taken in my life. Clearly Mr. Muradian was one of the very best teachers I ever had... wish I'd had this epiphany a few decades ago & told him or something.

/derail
posted by miss lynnster at 9:46 PM on July 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

I think I used to have a porpoise (then again, that might have been a dream).
posted by katillathehun at 10:00 PM on July 31, 2007

botch is a good one.
posted by andywolf at 10:15 PM on July 31, 2007

I was 25 before I finally discovered that the line in Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" is

the dark sacred night
NOT
the dogs say goodnight

I always thought it was a poetic way of referring to dogs barking. You know, at night.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:53 AM on August 1, 2007

I like this one, from Adam Buxton of "Adam & Joe" fame.
posted by bokeh at 3:48 AM on August 1, 2007

Too funny. Thanks.
posted by unknowncommand at 5:26 AM on August 1, 2007

Okay, the "yeah yeah yeah" in the Christina Aguilera video made me laugh for about two minutes straight. Worth it for that alone.
posted by AV at 5:31 AM on August 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

It'd probably be more meaningful if I had actually ever heard any of these songs.
posted by RavinDave at 5:33 AM on August 1, 2007

Is your comment something I'd need a TV to know about?
posted by yerfatma at 6:02 AM on August 1, 2007

My freshman year of college was spent in this jerkwater town in the boot heel of Missouri called Cape Girardeau. We called it Cape Retardo. There really was nothing for us to do there since we weren't into crystal meth.

Did I mention that Cape Girardeau was Rush Limbaugh's hometown? There was a mural of famous Missourians on the floodwall downtown, and between none other then Mark Twain and Harry S. Truman was Rush's smiling, piglike countenance, his beady little eyes just staring down at you.

The highlight of our week was this party at a place called the White House - so called because it was white and it was a house. The "party" itself was held in the basement, and it was actually more like a dungeon (not the cool s&m kind, but the weird shitty kind with mold and dried puke and the Macarena). Believe me when I say that if you had ANYTHING else to do (we didn't) you would choose that over going to the White House. Anyway, the one thing that they had in their favor was shitty beer, and lots of it. So we went there. And we drank.

Anyway, once a night, like the daemonic hellmasters that they were, the White House staff would instigate an embarrassing ritual that I will remember until my dying day.

They would play the song "American Pie" in its entirety. Not the radio version, but the whole blessed thing. But it wasn't just the song that was painful. No, there was a whole ritual involved.

You see, when the song would start, everyone in the White House basement would link up arms in a circle - usually there would be 2 or 3 big circles - and sing along. And the worst part, the most painful part, the part that troubles me even to this day, would come at the chorus, where there was special audience participation:

SONG : "This will be the day that I die,"
MISERABLE DRUNKEN COLLEGE STUDENTS : "Cape Girardeau!"
SONG : "This will be the day that I die."
MISERABLE DRUNKEN COLLEGE STUDENTS : "Drinkin' beer with my fucked up friends!"

And there you have it, folks, one of the most painful memories of my teenage years.
posted by Afroblanco at 6:30 AM on August 1, 2007

And then there are lyrical "interpretations" by folks who seem to have only heard the song in question, like, twice ever.

This is great because I've been looking for somewhere Mefi-related to post this since I first saw it a couple of days ago. It reminds me of PinkStainlessTail's classic Jingle Rock Bell so much. Thanks for the opportunity!
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 6:33 AM on August 1, 2007

The Aint No Other Man video is great.
posted by chunking express at 6:59 AM on August 1, 2007

You know, after following the link to the Yellow Ledbetter takeoff, I'm struck dumb by the similarities between the intro to Pearl Jam's incomprehensible classic and the intro to Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing.

Compare and contrast :

Little Wing
Yellow Ledbetter
posted by Afroblanco at 7:16 AM on August 1, 2007

also previously.
posted by hellbient at 7:41 AM on August 1, 2007

I'm hearing impaired and this is pretty hilarious because I often mishear things that others hear fine, to comic result. I wish I could remember an example, but it often falls along the lines of "Did she just say that she had to fart?" when she really said she was about to start.
posted by desjardins at 8:24 AM on August 1, 2007

Hungry and dreaming of some french toast.
posted by inigo2 at 8:31 AM on August 1, 2007

The all-time best is still the Nightwish video.

Hamster! A dentist!
posted by vorfeed at 9:40 AM on August 1, 2007

My favorite youtube comment, from Brainy's link:

Would take you less than a minute to look them up on Google, just type "Fall Out Boy Arms Race lyrics".
posted by Squid Voltaire at 9:42 AM on August 1, 2007

In 9th grade, my english teacher, Mr. Muradian, made us study American Pie backwards & forwards...

...was one of the very best teachers I ever had...

...wish I'd had this epiphany a few decades ago & told him or something.

This does not compute. American Pie was released in 1999, so based on your statement, you were in the 9th grade no earlier that that. Which would make you no older than 23. So you haven't even been ALIVE for a few decades yet.

All that aside, unless Mr. Muradian was really old or had some accident, he's probably still floating around the educational system somewhere. You should call him and tell him thanks for being a good teacher. :)
posted by tadellin at 10:01 AM on August 1, 2007

Dude, she's talking about the song, not the movie.
posted by Afroblanco at 10:14 AM on August 1, 2007

Thanks Afroblanco. I always wondered how exactly the American Pie movie was a tribute to Buddy Holly. So much unlearning to do...
posted by hellbient at 10:35 AM on August 1, 2007

Good post.
posted by wfc123 at 12:04 PM on August 1, 2007

Dammit - it took me years to know enough about music to understand American Pie - and here it is handed to the youtube generation on a plate.

/shakes fist, fences lawn

ps It's the informative link for anyone who wants to avoid mishearings of crap pop.
posted by Sparx at 2:18 PM on August 1, 2007

Fuck yeah Afroblanco, I mean, I dig that legends come first then those who listen to them alot end up (un)intentionally mimicing them.. but yeah, I tried to explain to anyone who would listen when Yellow first was released that it was, well, Jimi. But then most riffs from them were...

(Not hating, PJ fans relax)
posted by cavalier at 6:19 PM on August 1, 2007

Actually, after making the comment, I did a bit of digging, and it turns out that Pearl Jam is aware of the similarity as well.
posted by Afroblanco at 8:41 PM on August 1, 2007