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!).
Bush far
Bushfire
The Story: I misheard this completely partially due to regional accents. The B-52s are from Athens, Georgia. I get the same confusion from some of R.E.M.'s songs also. I love both these bands. - Submitted by: Northern Rock Lobster
Getting a Biscotti on Planet Z
Getting nothing but static on Channel Z
The Story: I was singing along to the song with the correct lyric. My boyfriend, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, told me, 'I always thought they were singing, 'Getting A Biscotti.'' - Submitted by: Mike
I'm just a little black girl.
I'm just a limburger.
The Story: I was playing this on a cassette in 1983 driving with my brother and he asked me why they said that. - Submitted by: Sonya
Why don't you dance with me? I'm not no limber girl
Why don't you dance with me? I'm not no limburger
The Story: I always thought it was funny that she answers her own question. The guy was looking for a limber girl to dance with, naturally. - Submitted by: Joel
Love shaft, baby love shaft
Love Shack, baby Love Shack
The Story: This is actually an old, and very innocent, private joke between me and my bud, Jennifer. She actually misheard the lyrics and was appalled that a song would say that until she was told what it really said. Now, we laugh hysterically every time the song comes on! - Submitted by: Paul Adamczak
Yo no quiero que me rompan el ano.
You're living in your own private Idaho.
The Story: Hi, this is from Argentina. The first time I heard this song, I was with some friends. We were shocked at that time, because thought they were really singing (about someone's broken rear end in Spanish.) - Submitted by: Mariano
Queen, queen of Oswego
Queen, queen of Las Vegas
The Story: I used to sing along with this song at work. Oswego is the name of a street in the neighbourhood. I couldn't figure out how it got into a B-52s song. - Submitted by: kansas
Oh, makes me want to
All around the world
Roam if you want to
Roam around the world
The Story: This songs is always playing at school when we walk from class to class. - Submitted by: Lauren
Row, Misty Wa Hoo!
Roam, if you want to.
The Story: This one cracked me up! My girlfriend was convinced that they were singing that gibberish, and she would dance around singing that. Eventually (when I felt sorry for her), I finally told her what the lyrics were. She turned red as a tomato and burst out laughing. We still joke about that one. - Submitted by: Mark
That's Satanic butter!
Pass the tanning butter.
The Story: In my defense, we didn't have tanning butter in the UK in the seventies. And the B-52s looked like they might be Satanic butter abusers. - Submitted by: Redstar
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
