I've compiled a list of lyrics that I've personally misheard, or people that I know have. I'll present them in a format similar to how they are in the above-mentioned books, which is:
Misheard lyric
Artist
"Song"
Correct lyric
There are a few songs (Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It [And I Feel Fine]" come to mind) which could have contributed several entries to my list - and again, that's just from my own experience and that of people I personally know (and who have told me of their mondegreens), but I've given special dispensation for those songs. I don't know if there's any insight to be gained from how songs are sometimes heard, as opposed to how they're written and sung. If nothing else, sometimes the mondegreen comes out better than the original lyrics.
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Our love is a lie
Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman
"Stumblin' In"
Our love is alive
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You know it's kind of hard just to get a lot today
The Offspring
"Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)"
...just to get along today
(A lot of what? I'm not sure. Don't know what I thought they were thinking)
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He want to save you from the wrecking ball
Elton John
"Island Girl"
He want to take you from the racket boss
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Hey, Chelsea
Gin Blossoms
"Hey Jealousy"
Hey jealousy
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Where women blow and men thunder
Men At Work
"Down Under"
Where women glow and men plunder
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Just like a one-winged dove
Stevie Nicks
"Edge Of Seventeen"
Just like a white-winged dove
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Just you and me and Leslie, groovin'
The Young Rascals
"Groovin'"
Just you and me endlessly groovin'
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I'll follow your horse downtown
Blondie
"One Way Or Another"
I'll follow your bus downtown
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No Dukes of Hazzard in the classroom
Pink Floyd
"Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)"
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
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Even downtown, voices carry
'Til Tuesday
"Voices Carry"
Keep it down now, voices carry
(It's not just a suburban issue, folks!)
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Ain't that a shame? Chantilly lace
Fats Domino
"Ain't That A Shame"
Ain't that a shame? My tears fell like rain
(Apparently, the guy that came up with this one figured Fats was not a Big Bopper fan? Thought it was a shame that he had that hit song?)
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Not bad, for a prejudiced white boy
Extreme
"Get the Funk Out"
Not bad, for a pasty-faced white boy
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Asians can't be trusted
The Mamas & The Papas
"Creeque Alley"
Agents can't be trusted
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...and Van Halen is overrated
Train
"Drops of Jupiter"
...and that heaven is overrated
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I'm not talking 'bout Bolivia
England Dan and John Ford Coley
"I'd Really Love To See You Tonight"
I'm not talking 'bout moving in
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Rockets in the ballroom, in the cold November rain
Guns N' Roses
"November Rain"
...or I'll just end up walking in the cold November rain
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Stepped on a Pop-Tart
Jimmy Buffett
"Margaritaville"
Stepped on a pop top
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Wrapped up like a douche
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
"Blinded By The Light"
Revved up like deuce
(A deuce is a deuce coupe, a nickname for the 1932 Model B Ford - the same car The Beach Boys sang about in "Little Deuce Coupe." This is a very common mondegreen, apparently due to a technical flaw in the recording. The lyric is much more understandable on Bruce Springsteen's original version of the song. Bruce sings "Cut loose like a deuce," if you're scoring at home. Or, if I may quote Keith Olbermann, if you're alone.)
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You'd say anything to a butterfly
Huey Lewis and The News
"If This Is It"
You'll say anything to avoid a fight
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Toonces on the tube, tender Asian boobs
Nirvana
"In Bloom"
Bruises on the fruit, tender age in bloom
(Toonces, if you're unfamiliar, was a recurring character on "Saturday Night Live" about 15 - 20 years ago. She was a cat who could drive. Each skit would end up with Toonces apparently saving the day by driving the car, only to crash it over the side of cliff. Every skit. Every time. Stopped being funny long before the stopped doing it. I doubt I need to explain to anyone what Asian boobs are. If need be, there are several websites that can help you, I'm quite sure.)
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She called out to me, talking 'bout dead Japanese
Humble Pie
"30 Days In The Hole"
Chicago green, talking 'bout red Lebanese
(Given that those are drug references, probably strains of marijuana, I don't think it's such a bad thing that I didn't know what they were singing about.)
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I like smoking lightning
Steppenwolf
"Born To Be Wild"
I like smoke and lightning
(Not sure how I thought one would accomplish the smoking of lightning. But I almost have all the right syllables, just screwed up the context.)
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Losing weight without speed-eating sunflower seeds
Jimmy Buffett
"Cheeseburger In Paradise"
Losing weight without speed, eating sunflower seeds
(This time, I did have all the right syllables. But I really tanked it on the context.)
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Hey now, hey now, the dream is over
Crowded House
"Don't Dream It's Over"
...don't dream it's over
(Kind of changes the meaning of the song, wouldn't you say?)
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...wishing you were here by me, two in this misery
Del Shannon
"Runaway"
...wishing you were here by me, to end this misery
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I can look at you until you don't love me no more
Bill Haley and His Comets
"Shake, Rattle And Roll"
I can look at you and tell you don't love me no more
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I can't for the life of me remember a Saturday
Paul Simon
"Mother And Child Reunion"
I can't for the life of me remember a sadder day
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Choco pudding everywhere
The Monkees
"Another Pleasant Valley Sunday"
Charcoal burning everywhere
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What did you do when you got horny?
Derek and The Dominoes
"Layla"
What'll you do when you get lonely?
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She loves to move, she loves to groove, she loves eleven things
Journey
"Any Way You Want It"
...she loves the lovin' things
(But no more than 11, dammit! Woe unto you, who suggests a twelfth thing for her to love. [Typing "twelfth" was weird. My fingers didn't want to do that "lfth" part. I think they thought it must have been wrong.])
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And what I think is the best one any one that I know has ever thought they heard.....
Bubble money squash
The Scorpions
"Wind Of Change"
I follow the Moskva
(I don't imagine that my two friends who came up with that really thought those were the actual lyrics. But, they had no idea what the guy was singing, and that's the closest to real words that they could make it sound like, I guess. To be fair, this was in the days before the Internet (at least before we knew about it), so finding song lyrics wasn't as easy as it is today. And, before I read the lyrics to this song, I had never heard of the Moskva. And Klaus, the leas singer for The Scorpions, can be pretty hard to understand. Still, "bubble money squash" stands head and shoulders above all the others, as far as I'm concerned.)
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