Paul Simon

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!).

Graceland album at Amazon.com

Paul Simon's, "Graceland"

The Misheard Lyrics:

The way she brushed her hair was foreign.

The Real Lyrics:

The way she brushed her hair from her forehead.

The Story: I was convinced I was right, then I saw the other misheards for this lyric, and thought 'Hey, what they've got written down for the real lyric is wrong!' So I went and checked my CD case, and sure enough... - Submitted by: Sarah

Paul Simon's, "Kodachrome"

The Misheard Lyrics:

Mama don't take my country home
Mama don't take my country home
Mama don't take my country homeaway.

The Real Lyrics:

Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away.

The Story: Until I was in my 20's, I thought this was called and about someone's Mama taking their country home away. I was looking at a Paul Simon Greatest Hit cd a friend of mine had purchased and said I had never heard of Kodachrome. He said we just heard it. I told him that it was Country Home. So he played it for me - several times - before I actually got Kodachrome. Guess I never paid attention to the words growing up. - Submitted by: Kimberly HIcks

Paul Simon's, "Kodachrome"

The Misheard Lyrics:

Mamma don't take my motor home away.

The Real Lyrics:

Mamma don't take my Kodachrome away.

The Story: My boyfriend and I were in the car after I listened to some Paul Simon and Simon and Garfunkel at home. He started humming the tune of the song; and pretty soon, he's going, 'Mamma don't take my motor home, mamma don't take my motor home away.' I nearly peed my pants laughing! - Submitted by: Tonya

Paul Simon's, "Loves Me Like A Rock"

The Misheard Lyrics:

I'm a constipated board.

The Real Lyrics:

I'm a consecrated boy.

The Story: My five-year old sister randomly sang this version out loud in the grocery store. - Submitted by: Jillian

Paul Simon's, "Slip Slidin' Away"

The Misheard Lyrics:

Hokum boleration
The more you're slip slidin' away.

The Real Lyrics:

You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away.

The Story: I thought this line was made up nonsensical words like Lennon sometimes used to do in his songs. I'm blessed with a pretty good voice and in a car with a group of 4 or 5 friends I was singing along to the radio quite loudly to this song. When I came out with "Hokum boleration", everyone burst out laughing. It still sounds like that to me, though. - Submitted by: zigzag

Paul Simon's, "Slip Slidin' Away"

The Misheard Lyrics:

Slip slide in the rain
Slip slide in the rain
You know the nearer your destination
The more you slip slide in the rain.

The Real Lyrics:

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away.

The Story: When I looked up the lyrics on another website, I was surprized to find: A) that it was a Paul Simon work, and, B) that it was composed in the late '70s. I had always assumed it to be an early-'70s C&W hit of the 'Skip-A-Rope' variety. But I'm a classical music fan, so I tend to be out of the loop on pop music. - Submitted by: 360decrees

Paul Simon's, "Slip Slidin' Away"

The Misheard Lyrics:

Slip slide in the rain
Slip slide in the rain
You know the nearer your destination
The more you slip slide in the rain.

The Real Lyrics:

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away.

The Story: Before looking the lyrics up I had no idea that this was a late '70s Paul Simon song. I assumed it was a late '60s or early '70s country & western number in the 'Skip A Rope' vein. - Submitted by: Priceless Provost

Paul Simon's, "You Can Call Me Al"

The Misheard Lyrics:

I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me now - call me now!

The Real Lyrics:

I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al - call me Al.

The Story: Suffice it to say that I never saw the title of this song, and thought the guy was just impatient for the girl to make the first move. My college roommate never let me hear the end of it after she corrected the misheard version that I was singing at the top of my lungs. - Submitted by: Bekah

Paul Simon's, "You Can Call Me Al"

The Misheard Lyrics:

[They're] saying infinity He says eight

The Real Lyrics:

Spinning in infinity He says Amen

The Story: You know when you're a little kid, you have a big imagination, and you conjure up these images? I imagined this guy was arguing with a group of people about a symbol written on a mysterious piece of paper, and they said the symbol was infinity, and he turned it sideways and said '8!' - Submitted by: Lunkhins

There are more Paul Simon misheard lyrics available.

Indexes:

[#]

[A]

[B]

[C]

[D]

[E]

[F]

[G]

[H]

[I]

[J]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[O]

[P]

[Q]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[U]

[V]

[W]

[Y]

[Z]

New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Karen. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.

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