Misheard Lyrics -> Hold Me Closer Tony Danza and Other Misheard Lyrics Book
The Official amIright Misheard Lyrics Book
If you like amiright.com, you'll love Hold Me Closer Tony Danza and Other Misheard Lyrics. ChuckyG has picked the best misheard song lyrics from contemporary performers submitted over the past ten years to his websites, and put them in book form! Not only are there misheard lyrics, but there are also selections from the following sections:
- Add a Letter to a Song Title
- Change a Letter in a Song Title
- Remove a Letter in a Song Title
- What if Groups Merged
- Song Mash Ups
- Songs to Respond to Other Songs
- Bad Choices For On-Hold Music
It's published by Sasquatch Books, at a retail price of $12.95. The ISBN is 1-57061-533-0.
Signed Copies Available!
If you would like a signed copy, send an email to ChuckyG. Signed copies can be purchased with PayPal for $12 plus $3 for media mail shipping in the United States. If you already own a copy you would like signed, you can mail your copy to me, with return postage included and I'll sign it for free!
Introduction
What Are Misheard Lyrics?
Ever hear someone sing the lyrics to a song and get them wrong?
Chances are they didn't just misremember the lyrics; it is more likely they heard the lyrics incorrectly the first time around. The phenomenon of misheard lyrics was first termed "mondegreen" by Sylvia Wright in a 1954 Harper's magazine article about misheard lines of poetry. In a line of poetry, Ms Wright misheard the line "And laid him on the green," as the name "Lady Mondegreen".
Your brain will helpfully fill in the blanks for you when you are missing information. When you're watching a movie, your brain fills in the split second between frames to create the illusion of motion. When you're listening to a song, your brain fills in missing information using the surrounding words to try and make a guess as to what the garbled words might be.
The result of your brain's helpfulness can be a lot of fun, but it can be serious business, too. The indecipherable lyrics of the Kingsmen's version of "Louie, Louie" launched an FBI obscenity investigation in the 1960s. Concerned parents across the country wrote in to complain the lyrics were obscene, and the FBI sent out agents to gather "interpretations" after the crime labs couldn't figure out the lyrics either. While the feds found plenty of interesting interpretations, ultimately the obscenity wasn't in the song, just in the ears of some creative teenagers.
This book collects the best of the more than 100,000 examples of misheard lyrics found on my website (amiright.com).
Sample Pages
Featured Performers
Over 500 misheard lyrics with 3 or more songs from each of the following performers:
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Credits and Acknowledgments
This book would not exist without the contributions made by the visitors of amiright.com over the past seven years. So I am greatly indebted to many people for making this book come together.
The first and most important people to credit are my wife Susan and my son Neal. Susan on numerous occasions would sit over my shoulder and let me know her opinion on anything I was working on, and Neal from his crib would chime out in agreement. We have a shared love of pop music.
Without the editors and moderators of amiright.com, inthe80s.com, and inthe00s.com, I would never have reviewed the majority of the submissions received over the years. Thank you to 80s Cheerleader, Andrew G. Rock, Bobo, CatwomanofV, Ceramics Fanatic, Dagwood, Dominic L., Electric Blue, Gwen, HawkTheSlayer, IndyGent, Jacks, Jeff Reuben, Joe "70smoviefan" Smith, LucidLupin, Mandamoo, MidKnightDarkness, MooRocca, Nally, Odyssey, Powerslave, Quirk, Red Ant, RetroGuyDK, Rubix Girl, Silver Power, Stingr22, SusanG, Tam, Tia, Vapor Trails, and whistledog
Mostly, I'd like to thank the people who contributed misheard lyrics to amiright.com. Without those contributions, the site and this book wouldn't exist. I would love to list all of the people who sent in misheard lyrics , but there are two problems: there is not enough room, and I never saved the names of the people who contributed the lyrics.
Top40Db.net was an invaluable resource for verifying lyrics and song titles. It is one of the best researched lyrics websites on the Internet.
Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber of "Crap From The Past" for keeping my love of pop music minutiae alive with crapfromthepast.com.
And thank you to the people who submitted to the other sections of this book. Here's the huge list of people whose submissions we know we used:
*katie, 80songs, Aaerni, Admiral Memo, agent nerve, Alan the Ottoman, aldrAea, Ali, All The Pretty Little Horse Conchs, Amanda, Amber Malone, Amy W, Andi, Andrew, Anna Buehnenheim, Anne R. Key, Anonymous Bob, anonymous, Artichoke_Man, Ashley Michelle McGowan, Ashy, B.D. Joe, baa, bearcat, beatlebabe, Ben Ingram, Beth, Big Mark, Billy Boyd, Billy Florio, blood8815, Bob Lieberman, Bob, boblina, bottle of what, brandon, Brenda Kohn, Brian Kelly, bridget, brighttiger, Britney Spears into pruning hooks, britpop, britrock, Bucky Bunny, C.J. Spindler, Candace Mercer, Cape Canaveral Lavigne, Carolee, Cat, Chase Waggoner, Cheeseburger in Parodies, Chibi, Chris Bodily TM, Chynna, CJE, Consta Pate, Country and shepop, Courtney Gripling, crazydon, Crimsondagger, D'Yoink, D-Boz, Da Phoenix, daedolon, Danny, Dantana, Darla888, Dave, David Jones, David, Death_Zero, Deb A., DeBee, Deirdre Collins, Dennis Jimenez, Dennis, Diane McMaster, doesntmatter, Donna Gelpigi, Drewzi, Duhnees, Ed, Edward, Edyth Bowen, Eileen Wright, elwoodjblues, erica, Erika Clarkson, Erin Amidon, erm, me?, Eskii, Evan, evil, Ezra, Face Smasher, Fbug, feenyx, Ferragamo, ficticious, FiFi, Figgy, Fiona Apple Cider, Fixxyn, fluffy Bunny, Frank, Fred, FussBudgetVanPelt, Genevieve, Gretchen Wieners, Guise, Guise, haha i am dead, Hannah, Hannah, hardrock, Harry, Heather Brockwell, hec, Heck Noover Nuck, Heidi, hm, Hocus Pocus Kylie Minogus, Hot D, huuskonenen, hybrid, I am the viod, Igor Molotov, Indomitus, Indy, It Was The DNA, Jaccass, Jacqui O'Day, Jamie Burke, Jared, Jay W, JD, Jeff Spaniels, Jeffrey Hope, Jennifer, Jerseymilkferrets, Jess, Jessica Childress, Jizzo, joe, Joel Martinez, Joelle, Joey Lawrence (no, not the actor), John A. Barry, John S Bond, Josh 999, Josh, Julia Cox, Julia Farda, Junior, K.C., Katelyn, Kathy, Katie, Kayla Stewart, kelvin kola, Kerianne, Kevin Breslin, Kevin Hamula, King George, Kirsten Abercrombie, Kjersti, Kobi, KooKooDee, Kralia, Kris, Kristin Hadley's Boyfriend, Kyla, Lana, Lanie, Larcen Tyler, Legion, Lindsay Lowhound, Lindsay Short, Lindz, Little Lovisa, loonytune, Lucinda Blair, Mandy Seever, mandylee, Marcia Todd, Mare Ego Round, Marguerite, Marilyn Westbury, Mark Silverman, Mark, Marlo, Martha Irvin, Marv, Matt Swanton, Matt, Max Maxter, Mayu, McRat1968, me, Meg Owens, Melanie Bianca Green, MenaceO, Mickey D., Mikael, Mike Florio, Millie Verst, Mr. Hyde, music man, Mustang Dave, nally, Naomi Swanson, Natalie Cole Slaw, Natalie Snortman, Natasha Bly, nearlywed, neptunevsmars, newrock, No Name Given, o, oldrock, oldschool, oldsongs, Olga Ruiz, one, Opinion Girl, Pam Tabor, Papaya, Paul G, Peggy Pollock, Penelope Beckinsale, PerzinPen18, Peter, Pieter, pikapal, pmggp, Popeye the Drimaster Man, qaz, Rachel Stedman, raddog20002002, Ramona B., rap, Raphael Bivas, Raphael, Reb, Rebecca, Red Ant, Reese without her spoon, Regina Haniger, Regina Olsen, Relik86, Renee Sutton, retsehcekim, Rhoda Dohr, Rhonda Blankenship, rocky, Samantha Wayland, Sammee, sarah, Sarah, Serafina, sh@rk_bite, Sheila Evans, Shelley Potts, shepop, sherock, shyguy, Sir Alan George Palgut I, SisterGirl, Soraiya, soul ii, soul, Stacy McTasey, Stacy, Sunshine, Supernixi, SusanG, sxxxyx, Syncronos, Teensabre, Ten Second Braeden, Terror Reid, that guy, That No-one Candy Nye, The Incredible Myself, the mystic garbage, The Rev. A. Palgut, TheMatrixKid, Thessaly Danes, Thunderbolt, Tim, Todd Gallant, Tom, Topazslug, Tracy Frummond, trigger, Trina Lufkin, turkoizdog, Twila Paris Hilton, twinkie, VJON, Waddle Dee, walmartian, Warlock, Waterbabe, Wendy Torrance, weyKiller, who cares what my name is, William Wade, Windturf, YAY_FOR_PIE, Yvonne Sindri, Zachary Mitchell, Zenateur, Zenobia, ZSGhost