Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> Steely Dan
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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Steely Dan's, "Babylon Sisters"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Drink cashasa from a shell.
The Real Lyrics:
Drink Kirschwasser from a shell.
The Story: I brought the Brazilian liquor cashasa back from a trip to Sao Paulo a couple years ago and served it at a party. While playing the song "Babylon Sisters", a friend thought Steely Dan sang, "Cashasa!" - Submitted by: Joel Glende
Steely Dan's, "Babylon Sisters"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Drink gazpacho from a shell.
The Real Lyrics:
Drink Kirschwasser from a shell.
The Story: I am a really big fan of Steely Dan's music, especially this song in particular. When I first heard that song and when it got to that lyric, I almost died laughing so hard because it did sound like they were singing about drinking this cold tomato soup called gazpacho from a shell. It took me a while until I finally figured out the real lyric. Whenever I hear that song, it does sound like they are saying 'gazpacho'. - Submitted by: Jen
Steely Dan's, "Bodhisattva"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Goin' shoppin'
The Real Lyrics:
Bodhisattva
The Story: Years ago, a band I was in used to play this song. This girl who came to hear us used to always say, 'Hey, play that 'Goin Shoppin' song.' We never corrected her; it was too much fun. I'm sure she probably wondered why we always laughed when she requested 'Goin' Shoppin'. - Submitted by: scott
Steely Dan's, "Deacon Blues"
The Misheard Lyrics:
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Dick in Blue.
Call me Dick in Blue.
The Real Lyrics:
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blue.
Call me Deacon Blue.
The Story: My roommate in college who happened to be Asian, was singing this song with his native accent. Ironically, he happened to be wearing a blue shirt. We all laughed a lot. - Submitted by: Pete Gee
Steely Dan's, "Deacon Blues"
The Misheard Lyrics:
They call my family the kissin' type
Caught me deep in blues.
Caught me deep in blues.
The Real Lyrics:
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues.
Call me Deacon Blues.
The Story: I was never a huge fan of Steely Dan. But I liked them enough that I didn't change the radio channel when they came on. I never paid that much attention, either. It was only recently that I realized what they were saying. I don't know why I understood it that time after the many times I have heard the song over the years. And I always thought the title was 'Deep in Blues'. Plus I'm not into college sports so I was not aware of 'The Crimson Tide'. - Submitted by: Zymurgy
Steely Dan's, "Do It Again"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Scat, cat, do it again
The Real Lyrics:
Back, Jack, do it again
The Story: I wasn't the one who misheard the lyrics; it was my brother. He was playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and had only gathered the letters S-K-A-T of the word 'skate' (I don't play that game myself, so I don't know what that's all about). Anyway, noticing that, he started singing 'Scat, cat, do it again', until I corrected him. - Submitted by: lise
Steely Dan's, "Gaslighting Abbey"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Flame is the Game,
the game we call 'dance like a nanny'
the game we call 'dance like a nanny'
The Real Lyrics:
Flame is the Game,
the game we call gaslighting Abbey
the game we call gaslighting Abbey
The Story: My son is the one who misheard this one. We had listened to the cd quite a bit over the past few months, when in the car one day, he finally turned to me and said 'Mom, I like this song. But what to they mean, dance like a nanny?' - Submitted by: Connie Dufford
Steely Dan's, "Green Earring"
The Misheard Lyrics:
The rings your friend designed
The Real Lyrics:
The rings of rare design
The Story: Love the song, but always swore that "the rings your friend designed" were the lyrics. In a way, it sounds a lot more dramatic to steal rings designed by someone known to the person who's the victim of the theft implied in the song. - Submitted by: Melegorm
Steely Dan's, "Hey Nineteen"
The Misheard Lyrics:
The Cuervo Gold, the fine toothed Romulan
Make tonight a wonderful thing.
Make tonight a wonderful thing.
The Real Lyrics:
The Cuervo Gold, the fine Colombian
Make tonight a wonderful thing.
Make tonight a wonderful thing.
The Story: So the Romulan thing made perfect sense to a girl growing up in a house where Steely Dan and "Star Trek" were both major influences. I just always thought, "No wonder my dad really likes Steely Dan. They must be 'Star Trek' fans too." Of course, when I got older and started enjoying the Dan on their own merit and not just because I was subjected to it on a near daily basis, I realized my lyrics were entirely, incredibly wrong. - Submitted by: Lindsay Day
Steely Dan's, "Hey Nineteen"
The Misheard Lyrics:
The choir vocals, a fine-toothed comb
The Real Lyrics:
The Cuervo Gold, the fine Columbian
The Story: I thought it was this for 20 years. My brother-in-law, a Steely Dan fanatic, gives me quite a hard time about it. - Submitted by: Jdb
Steely Dan's, "Hey Nineteen"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Think where we'll go to find Colombia.
The Real Lyrics:
The Cuervo Gold, the fine Colombian.
The Story: I was 15 when this song came out. I thought, "Why couldn't they just use an atlas, then find Colombia?" Then they wouldn't have to wander around looking for it. - Submitted by: Cathy
Steely Dan's, "Hey, Nineteen"
The Misheard Lyrics:
The Cuervo Gold
The mitochondrian
Makes tonight a wonderful day.
The mitochondrian
Makes tonight a wonderful day.
The Real Lyrics:
The Cuervo Gold
The fine Colombian
Makes tonight a wonderful thing.
The fine Colombian
Makes tonight a wonderful thing.
The Story: I had just learned about mitochondrians in Biology when I first heard this song. - Submitted by: Rich Braham
Steely Dan's, "Kid Charlemagne"
The Misheard Lyrics:
1. Did you realize, you were Italian in their eyes?
2. All those dago freaks who used to pay the face
3. Everyone stoped to stare at your technical abilities
2. All those dago freaks who used to pay the face
3. Everyone stoped to stare at your technical abilities
The Real Lyrics:
1. Did you realize, that you were a champion in their eyes?
2. All those day-glow freaks who used to paint their face
3. Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motorhome.
2. All those day-glow freaks who used to paint their face
3. Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motorhome.
The Story: I heard a local band (whose members were very young or weren't even around in 1976) singing this song at a club, using lyrics in a couple of spots that I couldn't make out exactly, but didn't sound right. During a break I asked the lead singer about the lyrics he was singing - the misheard lyrics were his response - he told me he had learned the song, including the lyrics, by ear. He was glad I wasn't Italian after I had corrected him! - Submitted by: Jeff May
Steely Dan's, "My Cousin Dupree"
The Misheard Lyrics:
My cousin the p****.
The Real Lyrics:
Cousin Dupree
The Story: I sang this in the car in front of my entire family, who looked at me with a shocked face. And I just said, 'What? That's what he said!' ;-) - Submitted by: FloydWright
Steely Dan's, "Peg"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I like your pink stuff.
The Real Lyrics:
I like your pin shot.
The Story: I'm just glad I never sang it out loud in front of anyone the way I thought it was. It would have made me sound like a perv, and I just thought Steely Dan was being perverted. What the heck is a pin shot, anyway? - Submitted by: Jon
Steely Dan's, "Reelin' In The Years"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Are you livin' in the East?
Throwin' away your time?
Throwin' away your time?
The Real Lyrics:
Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time?
Stowin' away the time?
The Story: For a long time, from the best I could make of this song, I thought the singers had a really low opinion of life in the East, though I wondered which 'East' they meant -- the eastern U.S.? The 'orient'?, etc. When I learned the song's title from a CD, I realized I had known essentially nothing about what the song is saying. For that matter, I still know essentially nothing about what the song is saying. - Submitted by: Alison Runyon
Steely Dan's, "Reelin' In The Years"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Are you reelin' in the eaves?
The Real Lyrics:
Are you reelin' in the years?
The Story: I have been wondering about this song for years and years. I finally looked up the real lyrics (this was the first site that popped up on Google with them). Guess I wasn't the only one who couldn't figure it out. - Submitted by: Sari
Steely Dan's, "Reelin' in the Years"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Reelin' in the cheese
The Real Lyrics:
Reelin' in the years
The Story: Actually heard on HBO's 'Taxicab Confessions'. Steely Dan members are in the taxi in Las Vegas. They pick up a blonde, and she tell them how great the lyrics are. She starts to sing the lyrics. Classic! - Submitted by: Blond in HBOs'Taxicab Confessions
There are more Steely Dan misheard lyrics available.
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