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!).
A wee blind sheep have gone astray
All we like sheep have gone astray
The Story: I had to learn the Hallelujah Chorus 20 years ago. All We Like Sheep was on the burn CD, but didn’t have the name of the song on it. I thought the choir was singing “A Wee Blind Sheep” about the New Testament parable of the lamb getting lost and Jesus going to find it. I didn’t know it was “All We Like Sheep” about the Old Testament story about all sinners being lost. It still sounds like A Wee Blind Sheep to me and I like the story better, so I’m sticking with my misheard lyrics. - Submitted by: Lindsay
A wee blind sheep
All we like sheep
The Story: I vaguely remember singing this song with 400 teenagers 20 years ago and the bored tenors singing “baa baa baa,” like a sheep whenever they sang the word sheep. They must have changed the lyrics, too, because I always thought it was “A Wee Blind Sheep.” - Submitted by: Lindsay
Bow before Him, ye mothers and children,
Bow before him, ye shepherds and geese.
Bow before Him, ye mothers and children,
Bow before him, ye shepherds and kings.
The Story: This is on a real neat CD that I bought, called "Spirit Of The Season". This song was familiar to me, but not the exact English version. It is an originally French carol, and there are various English versions. When I heard these lines, it totally sounded like they said, "shepherds and geese". But that got me thinking, I don't remember any geese in the Christmas story. But I couldn't hear it any other way. Luckily this is a CD whose liner notes have lyrics in them, so I was able to find out the real words. Still the idea of geese honking in the manger is intriguing. In fact, the very next song on the CD is "I Saw Three Ships". And geese in the manger is so totally more feasible than its tale of Mary and Joseph whistling and singing on ships sailing into Bethlehem. - Submitted by: Karen Smith
There are more Mormon Tabernacle Choir misheard lyrics available.
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.