Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Eric Clapton
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!).
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Eric Clapton's, "After Midnight"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Captain Midnight, we're gonna let it all hang down
The Real Lyrics:
After midnight, we're gonna let it all hang down
The Story: I was listening to this song on a little AM radio in 1970 (I was in grade school back then) and I thought it was about Captain Midnight (I had read an old book of my Dad's about Captain Midnight not long before that.) I imagined Captain Midnight flying around after midnight on missions. - Submitted by: Kettir
Eric Clapton's, "Alibis"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Don't give me no 'I love Alice'.
The Real Lyrics:
Don't give me no alibis.
The Story: My husband thought for the longest time Eric was singing about "Alice". When I heard him singing this, I laughed so hard. Then I told him what the lyrics were. He had to listen to the cd to make sure. - Submitted by: Debbie Jones
Eric Clapton's, "Cocaine"
The Misheard Lyrics:
If you wanna hang out you gotta take her out.
Okay. If you wanna get down, down on the ground.
Okay. ...She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie. Okay
Okay. If you wanna get down, down on the ground.
Okay. ...She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie. Okay
The Real Lyrics:
If you wanna hang out you gotta take her out.
Cocaine. If you wanna get down, down on the ground.
Cocaine. She don't like, she don't like, she don't like cocaine
Cocaine. If you wanna get down, down on the ground.
Cocaine. She don't like, she don't like, she don't like cocaine
The Story: My sister thought this was a story of a guy coming to pick up a girl for a date. The father answers the door and starts to tell the guy about his daughter. See mistaken lyrics for how she was able to manage this scenario. - Submitted by: girlwonder
Eric Clapton's, "Cocaine"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Spokane
The Real Lyrics:
Cocaine
The Story: We never could understand why the 50 year old woman, the owner of a little diner, would jump up and start dancing around when this song came on. She then informed us she grew up in Spokane, WA and this was the only song that mentioned her hometown. - Submitted by: Tim
Eric Clapton's, "Forever Man"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I will be your four-level man.
The Real Lyrics:
I will be your forever man.
The Story: Having lived in California all my life, I've seen many four-level freeway interchanges which are structurally impressive feats. I thought a four-level man might mean strong, enduring, and complex. - Submitted by: Sherry
Eric Clapton's, "Forever Man"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I'll try to be your four-level man.
The Real Lyrics:
I'll try to be your forever man.
The Story: Throughout the song, I was convinced Eric was saying 'four level man'. And even now that I've seen the correct ones in print, I still think at the end, he's repeating "level man, level man" instead of 'ever man'. My wife thinks this confirms my stupidity. - Submitted by: Scoop
Eric Clapton's, "Forever Man"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Won't you be my poor rebel woman?
I'll try to be your poor rebel man.
I'll try to be your poor rebel man.
The Real Lyrics:
Won't you be my forever woman?
I'll try to be your forever man.
I'll try to be your forever man.
The Story: I thought this was a song about southerns in love, BOY was I mistaken. - Submitted by: Jericho
Eric Clapton's, "Forever man"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Foreheaded Woman
Four Headed Woman
Four letter woman
Four Headed Woman
Four letter woman
The Real Lyrics:
Forever Woman
The Story: I was < 10 years old when this happened and, needless to say, I was quite confused about the message of the song. Is, 'you're my four headed woman' supposed to be a compliment? Of course, my parents were put in a bit of a tight spot when I asked them to explain to me what a 'four-letter woman' was. - Submitted by: Pagano
Eric Clapton's, "I Shot The Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
But I did not shoot the dead pony.
The Real Lyrics:
But I did not shoot the deputy.
The Story: I thought it was stupid that the singer was confessing to shooting the sheriff, but did not want to take the rap for shooting a horse that was already dead. - Submitted by: small change
Eric Clapton's, "I Shot The Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I shot the sherry
But I did not shoot no deputy.
But I did not shoot no deputy.
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the Sheriff
But I did not shoot no deputy.
But I did not shoot no deputy.
The Story: During my whole childhood, I imagined this song as someone singing in a Western bar about shooting a glass of sherry. I had made up a whole story thinking he must have shot a gun, hitting a glass of sherry. A deputy had been shot in the bar and the police were saying he did it. I always sang it that way...until my dad caught me once. And he still laughs about it. - Submitted by: Lexi
Eric Clapton's, "I Shot The Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Nice shot, Sherry!
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff.
The Story: First heard the song just after a girl named Sherry had broken my heart bigtime. Guess it made it easy to mishear it as someone congratulating Sherry on her 'Nice shot'. - Submitted by: Rod Lund
Eric Clapton's, "I Shot the Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I shot the Sharon.
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff.
The Story: Sharon is my mom's name, so I thought this was about her when I was a kid. - Submitted by: Spencer Griffin
Eric Clapton's, "I Shot the Sheriff"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff
But I didn't shoot the gun.
But I didn't shoot the gun.
The Real Lyrics:
I shot the sheriff But I didn't shoot the deputy.
The Story: My former buddy Sam Williams insisted that this was the correct lyric. We couldn't convince him otherwise. - Submitted by: Rob R
Eric Clapton's, "Lay Down Sally"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Hey, Doc Savage
The Real Lyrics:
Lay down, Sally.
The Story: I watched a little known TV movie at a friend's house called 'Doc Savage'. A few days later, my friend told me he heard a song about Doc Savage on his way home the night before. Later that day, we heard it, and he had me convinced that the lyrics were indeed 'Hey, Doc Savage'. There was some beer involved during the decision making. It wasn't until about a month later that it was discovered by another (sober) friend of ours that the lyrics were 'Lay down, Sally'. - Submitted by: Lessersivad
Eric Clapton's, "Lay Down Sally"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Lay down, Sally, brisket in my arms
The Real Lyrics:
Lay down, Sally, rest you in my arms
The Story: I must have been hungry or something. I was driving along listening to this song for the 20,000th time and I could have sworn Clapton was singing 'brisket in my arms.' This may be your only case of someone mishearing a lyric when they already know what the correct lyric is. But now I hear 'brisket in my arms' every time I hear the song, whether I've eaten lunch or not. - Submitted by: Fahrquahr O'Malley
Eric Clapton's, "Lay Down Sally"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Way down south
I arrested you with arms.
I arrested you with arms.
The Real Lyrics:
Lay down Sally
And rest you in my arms.
And rest you in my arms.
The Story: My wife and I heard this song and she started singing along with the wrong lyrics. I laughed so hard I almost had to pull over. - Submitted by: Jeff
Eric Clapton's, "Lay Down Sally"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Way down south
The Real Lyrics:
Lay down Sally
The Story: I had a cassette tape of a bunch of us kids singing 'Way Down South' happily... never even realizing we were hearing the lyrics wrong. To this day, my friends make fun of me every time this song comes on. They all point and yell, 'Hey, it's Way Down South!' Oh God... But when I'm alone and no one else is around, I sing 'Way Down South' if I hear it on the radio. Today, I can't for the life of me figure out how we ever got 'Way Down South' out of 'Lay Down Sally', but I guess those things happen... *sigh* But it'll always be 'Way Down South' to me. - Submitted by: Brian Cormier
Eric Clapton's, "Layla"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Bacon double cheese
The Real Lyrics:
Begging darling, please
The Story: Once I heard some one sing it that way, I couldn't get it out of my mind. It was kind of like hearing Elmer Fudd sing "I Will Always Love You'. Very disturbing (LOL) - Submitted by: Ginger
Eric Clapton's, "Layla"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Lay down, happy oh my breeze baby
Lay down, there you darling please
Lay down, darling won't you please my buried time?
Lay down, there you darling please
Lay down, darling won't you please my buried time?
The Real Lyrics:
Layla, you've got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging, darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind?
Layla, I'm begging, darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind?
The Story: For years, I kept hearing this song on the radio and could never understand what it was he was saying. It wasn't until my parents said that the song was called 'Layla', not 'Lay Down' that I looked up the lyrics and found that I was completely wrong. - Submitted by: Genevieve
Eric Clapton's, "Willie And The Hand Jive"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Angina, angina
Ooh, that crazy angina.
Ooh, that crazy angina.
The Real Lyrics:
Hand jive, hand jive
Ooh, that crazy hand jive.
Ooh, that crazy hand jive.
The Story: I've heard the lyrics this way since I've been a little kid. I am now a cardiologist-in-training, so it makes even more sense to me now. Imagine my surprise when my husband started laughing as I sang! - Submitted by: Andrea
Eric Clapton's, "Wonderful Tonight"
The Misheard Lyrics:
We go to the potty.
The Real Lyrics:
We go to a party.
The Story: When I heard this song, I started laughing so hard because I really thought Eric was singing about taking a bathroom break in that lyric. - Submitted by: Jennifer
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