Story about this misheard lyric by: Peggy Pollock

For years, I thought myself thoroughly familiar with this song. I would never have doubted that 'baby' was the correct word at the end of the lines cited above. Then just a few days ago, I heard a karaoke singer singing the song and clearly singing 'plaything', where I thought surely the word was 'baby'. Since karaoke singers sometimes change the words around, I thought surely that was what was happening. But just to make sure, I started looking at the monitor during the second chorus. I was surprised to discover that 'plaything' was actually on the screen. But karaoke discs don't always get all the words right, I've discovered. So I decided I'd search lyrics sites to make sure. Entering the couplet above into a google.com search, each way yields 116 hits when 'plaything' is entered. But none at all when 'baby' is entered. So that makes it pretty certain beyond doubt that 'plaything' is the correct word. Interestingly, my discovery makes the song even more cynical than I previously thought it was. For 'everybody's somebody's baby' would refer to romances that turn out happy in some cases. But 'everybody's somebody's plaything' implys that all get caught up in disfunctional relationships. [Ed.'s note: Glad you got that all off your chest, Peggy. ;)]