Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Bob Marley
Misheard lyrics (also called mondegreens) occur when people misunderstand the lyrics in a song. These are NOT intentional rephrasing of lyrics, which is called parody. For more information about the misheard lyrics available on this site, please read our FAQ.
This page contains a list of the songs that have stories about their misheard lyrics submitted.
Song names are sorted by first letter, excluding A and The. This is sorted by song title only, not by song title and performer. So if two different performers preformed the same song, you'll see misheard lyrics for both on the same page (provided the song title was spelt the same both times, and misheard lyrics have been submitted for both!).
Songs of Freedom album at Amazon.com
Bob Marley's, "Buffalo Soldier"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Gridlocked rock star
or
Gridlocked rascal
The Real Lyrics:
Dreadlocled Rasta
The Story: First heard it and puzzled over what to make of the line, then thought I had it narrowed down to the two misheard possibilities above. Then I learned about Rastafarians and dreadlocks, making it easy to figure out the real lyrics. - Submitted by: Robert Jones
Bob Marley's, "Buffalo Soldier"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Stolen hermaphrodite brought to America
The Real Lyrics:
Stolen from Africa, brough to America
The Story: I was getting my hair cut, and this song came on the radio. I'm sitting there with the hairdresser cutting my hair, and I said what I thought were the right lyrics. Little did I know the lyrics I was singing were wrong. I got a loud 'What???' from her. She corrected me, and well, I was embarassed to say the least. - Submitted by: Dustin Wilcox
Bob Marley's, "Could You Be Loved?"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Could you be loved, and be loved?
The Real Lyrics:
Could you be loved? Then be loved.
The Story: I couldn't understand why Marley would ask if you could be loved AND be loved. I thought these were the lyrics for a long time. Then one day, I realized he was asking a question and then answering it. - Submitted by: johnny5
Bob Marley's, "Exodus"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Exit us
Moonmen of Japipo.
Moonmen of Japipo.
The Real Lyrics:
Exodus
Movement of Ja people.
Movement of Ja people.
The Story: I really thought it was a trippy sci-fi kinda deal. I had a whole story in mind of what it was about: an opressed race of alien 'moonmen' who had to leave their planet for other parts. Marley was the lone witness to this sad procession. I didn't know the religious term 'Ja' at the time. An artist friend of mine named a painting after my infamous (to us) mishearing. - Submitted by: SamusekTDS
Bob Marley's, "Exodus"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Exodus move the orgy people
The Real Lyrics:
Exodus movement of Jah people
The Story: I was telling my younger sister about this site and I happened to say 'You know, there is this guy that thought the real word of the song were 'Taxi bus move that bunch of people'.' She started laughing and said 'By the way, I think the original version is funny too'. 'Which original version?', I asked, and I burst out laughing when she said 'move the orgy people!'. - Submitted by: Jahcques
Bob Marley's, "Get Up, Stand Up"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Get up stand up
Stand up for your rice.
Stand up for your rice.
The Real Lyrics:
Get up stand up
Stand up for your rights.
Stand up for your rights.
The Story: I was three years old, and my friend Andy and I heard my mom's friend singing it while she was cleaning. It's a possibility that we actually heard her singing 'rice' instead of us making the mixup, but I still haven't heard the end of it fourteen years later. - Submitted by: Rebecca
Bob Marley's, "I Shot The Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I eat chocolate cheddar.
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff.
The Story: My 4 year old daughter heard this song on the radio at an ice cream truck---and sang along confidently with her own lyrics. - Submitted by: Ray
Bob Marley's, "I Shot The Sherriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I shop for Sherry.
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff.
The Story: I always imagined some guy in a store shopping for stuff for his wife named Sherry. (The grocery cart, I imagined, was huge.) - Submitted by: Jonathan
Bob Marley's, "I Shot the Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I popped the cherry
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff
The Story: As a kid, my mom would listen to Bob Marley quite often. One time my sister was in the shower when "I Shot the Sheriff" was playing on the stereo, and my whole family laughed hysterically as we heard my sister singing in the shower - Submitted by: Aimee Swallow
Bob Marley's, "I Shot the Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I shot the sherry
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff
The Story: My daughter used to sing this as a 5 year old. This past year(she's 19 now) her boyfriend's father decided to uproot the family and move to Florida - at the urging of his girlfried 'Sherry'. Needless to say, my daughter joked about wanting to 'really shoot the sherry'! - Submitted by: alison grosso
Bob Marley's, "Is This Love?"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I want a lawyer that treats me right.
The Real Lyrics:
I wanna love you and treat you right.
The Story: I caught a girl in my high school class singing that to herself. It provided a good laugh for months to follow. - Submitted by: Eitan Brown
Bob Marley's, "Stir It Up"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Serious
or
Cereal
The Real Lyrics:
Stir it up
The Story: My husband and his friend Gary had a fight over whether the song was cereal or serious. I happened to be there. They didn't believe me when I told them it was stir it up. They kept playing the song over and over. Poor Marley must have been rolling in his grave. - Submitted by: CMelder
Bob Marley's, "Sun Is Shining"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I'm a lesbian.
The Real Lyrics:
To the rescue.
The Story: I thought this was a gay pride anthem because of this line, and the line 'I'm a rainbow too'. - Submitted by: Jobolaya
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