Misunderstood lyrics
and other wrong things


I'm sure everyone misunderstands a lyric of a song now and again. Some artists mumble, others sing too fast, sometimes you don't understand the language etc. Here's a collection of some famous mistakes I made while singing a song - only to be corrected by friends of relatives. Plus, some other stupid mistakes I have made in the past.


a. "And rock inside a corpse in a shell" instead of "and rot inside a corpse's shell". [Michael Jackson's Thriller]

b. In 1998, I thought the band was called "Afghan Wings" instead of "Afghan Whigs".

c. In 1998, I thought the band was called "Nine Inch Tails" instead of "Nine Inch Nails".

d. In 1994, I thought Cobain sang "For the last time in the future ..." instead of "With the lights out, it's less dangerous". [Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit]

e. "Michael Caine" instead of "My cocaine". [Liquido's Narcotic]

f. "The Cider House Rules" = The Cider House is cool, it rocks. Instead of "The Rules Of The Cider House".

g. Surfjan Stevens vs. Sufjan Stevens

h. "The subplot of a mindfuck America" instead of "The subliminal mindfuck America". [Green Day's American Idiot]

i. "Sing the streetsong serenade" instead of "The streetsuss serenade". [Dire Straits' Romeo And Juliet]

j. "Travolta non farlo scappare" instead of "Stavolta non farlo scappare". [Valeria Rossi's Tre Parole]

k. I thought "Brothers In Arms" meant "brothers, friends together, arm in arm". It turned out to be about guns.

l. "Now the cops were born and the Jews just know the homicide" instead of "The cops reported you as just another homicide". [Bruce Springsteen's Murder Incorporated]



Julian De Backer, 27 June 2008