This installment of Misheard Lyrics belongs to my five year old daughter.
We were playing R.E.M.’s album Document this morning. My daughter really likes the song “Exhuming McCarthy”.
As we were riding in the car later, she started singing it out of the blue.
R.E.M. – “Exhuming McCarthy”
Actual Lyrics
Exhuming McCarthy
Exhuming McCarthy
What She Sings
Exhuming my car key
Exhuming my car key
What is important is that she leaned about “Exhuming.” Buy her a shovel of her very own!
Misheard lyrics are the glue that bind the world together, or some such thing.
I agree with Dr. Zaius–well done to your daughter for learning and using “exhuming.” I know many trained crime scene professionals who still use the term “dug up” instead.
She’s on to something.
Two lyrics that I swear I heard:
“I left my car in San Francisco”
“Girls just wanna chew gum”
Regards,
Tengrain
There’s a term from misheard lyrics: mondegreens. There was a Scottish ballad that had this line written in some scholarly text.
For they killed the Earl of Murray,
And Lady Mondegreen.”
Except the second line is supposed to be And laid him on the green.
S.F. Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll loves these things like I love gigantic child brides.
When I lived in El Salvador, I went to a bar where a local guy was being paid to sing and play the guitar. He was doing some Neil Diamond songs, and in Song Sung Blue”, he turned “you’ve simply got no choice” into “you sing it out your shorts”.
A much better line, as all will agree.
Nice work!
Whether misheard or heard correctly, nothing beats the random song lyric uttered at completely inappropriate times. I often use “Pulling mussels from the shell,” said twice in only the slightest sing-songy voice, to disorient and dismay others.