Mondegreen

[Wingnut]

You may not be familiar with the word mondegreen, but surely you're familiar with the concept. A mondegreen is a misheard phrase, often in song. (Example: "there's a bathroom on the right" instead of "there's a bad moon on the rise" from Bad Moon Rising by Credence Clearwater Revival.)

What are some of your favorites, whether they be your own mis-hearings, or those from others?

Right now, my daughter is four years old, and is still figuring out how certain sounds go together. This week I noticed that the classic show Woody Woodpecker was streaming on Netflix, so I happily introduced her to it. This morning she's prancing around, talking about how much she likes Woody Pecker, which I think is pretty hilarious.

[Hala401]

One of the songs in Handel's Messiah has a line that has always sounded to me like, "It all pays the same", and while I knew that I was mis hearing it, I could not figure out what was being said. Finally, I figured out what song it was and looked the lyrics up online and as it played I followed along and found that the line was vastly different than I had thought.

[applepansy]

My son recently introduced my 4yo grandson to Woody Woodpecker this week too. I've been laughing all week.

The first laugh wasn't immediate. I didn't know he had been watching Woody so when he asked to watch the Pecker I had no idea what he was talking about. LOL

I think mondegreen happens a lot with songs and 4yos.

[Loudmouth_Mormon]

Sing with me:

[Hala401]

Could I have that empty seat beside you?

[Vort]

Yes:

I'll be the roundabout. The words will take you out and out. I'll spend the day your way, call it morning driving through the sound and in and out the valley...In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky -- and they stand there!

I wish I knew what Jon Anderson was really singing.

(What's that, you say? It's not a mondegreen? Pshaw! Don't let's be silly.)

[Iggy]

When I was in Kindergarten we had a song about Traffic Cops. The phrase was: Listen to the Traffic Cops. I heard it: Listen to the Crappy Cops.

The first time I sang the song to my parents, my Uncle and Aunt were visiting. My Uncle was a cop- with the Seattle Police Department. He and my Dad fell off their chairs laughing. My Aunt on the other hand was certain that my folks put me up to it.

Nope, misheard it on my own.

[Hala401]

I now wear powerful hearing aids. Without them I do quite a lot is mishearing!

[classylady]

Whenever I hear the song "Little Purple Pansies" (a Primary song), I'll always remember my mother telling me that her younger sister would sing "Little Purple Panties..." Hilarious!

Another one is "Up Up in the Sky", small children often think it's "A pup in the sky".

[volgadon]

You may not be familiar with the word mondegreen, but surely you're familiar with the concept. A mondegreen is a misheard phrase, often in song.

It might have been in the 30s, but a woman heard the Scottish coronach "Bonnie Earl o' Moray," with a line of "Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands Oh quhair hae ye been, They hae slain the Earl of Moray, And hae laid him on the green." The woman asked wanted to know what happened to his Lady Mondegreen!

5 Hand Reel - The Bonnie Earl o' Moray - YouTube