Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> The Beach Boys
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!).
Sounds Of Summer - The Very Best Of The Beach Boys album at Amazon.com
The Beach Boys', "Barbara Ann"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Baa, baa, baa, baa- baa- baa-ram
The Real Lyrics:
Ba, Ba, Ba, Ba, Barbara Ann
The Story: I'm with my sister, her husband, my brother, and a friend on a little road trip. The song Barbara Ann comes on the radio. I start singing along with the right lyrics, and suddenly my brother says, "Barbara Ann? I always thought it was 'baa-baa-baa-ram"". Of course, the rest of us start busting up laughing...everyone, that is, except my sister's husband, who is suspiciously quiet. A moment later (after said laughter died down), he 'sheepishly' admits he also thought it was 'baa-baa-baa-ram.' - Submitted by: Erin Schadt
The Beach Boys', "Barbara Ann"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Bohr, Bohr, Bohr, Bohr, Bohr, Berähn
The Real Lyrics:
Bar, Bar, Bar, Bar, Barbara Ann
The Story: I had this in my earphones when I was at the dentist. ('Bohren' is German for 'drill'.) - Submitted by: unci narynin
The Beach Boys', "Barbara Ann"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop- a- ran!
The Real Lyrics:
Bar, Bar, Bar, Bar- Barbara Ann!
The Story: I've been singing along to this song since I was just a little girl. I was born in 1980, so I thought maybe bop-a-ran was type of dance from the 60's or so. My mom and my older brothers and sister just let me go on and maybe they didn't know either. My freshman year in college my best friend was like- what? Bop-a-ran? Did you make that up? We started cracking up when she told me and we still maintain that it really is Bop-A-Ran. - Submitted by: Mary
The Beach Boys', "Barbara Ann"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Bop, Bop, Bop, Bop, Bopper Ann!
The Real Lyrics:
Bar-Bar-Bar-Bar-Barbara Ann
The Story: Apparently, my mother was singing it the wrong way for over a decade. Though by the time I was born, it was just a funny, if mildly embarrassing, story. I think she was singing it in front of some friends; and they all laughed at her when they realized what she was singing. - Submitted by: Rebecca
The Beach Boys', "California Girls"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And we stay on the beach, California
And we stay on the beach, California
And we stay on the beach, California Girls!
And we stay on the beach, California
And we stay on the beach, California Girls!
The Real Lyrics:
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls.
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls.
The Story: I always thought that the singer had a funny way of pronouncing 'stay', it sounded like he'd said 'And we shtay on the beach'... But I just thought it must be another dialect of English I hadn't heard about (English is not my native tongue). - Submitted by: Tarja Kojola
The Beach Boys', "Fun Fun Fun"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And she'll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the Z-Bird away.
The Real Lyrics:
And she'll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the T-Bird away.
The Story: I was really little when I misheard this but my mother and my cousin heard me singing that song and when I got to the chorus I started singing: 'And she'll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the Z-Bird away' and my mother and my cousin laughed at me and they yelled 'T-BIRD!' I smiled at them and my mother asked me if I liked the song and I just said 'yes!' - Submitted by: Celeste Keenan
The Beach Boys', "Good Vibrations "
The Misheard Lyrics:
Good, good, good
Goodbye Clayton!
Goodbye Clayton!
The Real Lyrics:
Good, good, good
Good vibrations!
Good vibrations!
The Story: One morning, as I was getting ready for work, I was singing along to this Beach Boys classic. All of a sudden, it dawned on me when I thought about this one time crush I had in church. He started dissing my crooner vocal style ( I am a singer by the way ) that I started singing ' Goodbye Clayton ' instead of ' Good Vibrations '. So there you have it. - Submitted by: Jennifer
The Beach Boys', "Help Me, Rhonda"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Healthy barn, health-healthy barn
The Real Lyrics:
Help me Rhonda, help-help me Rhonda
The Story: I only found out the real lyrics about 3 years ago ... I'd been singing the wrong ones for 20 years. And I still can't help it, every time I hear the song I imagine a big barn with dancing, healthy chickens and roosters. And I still sing 'healthy barn', it takes about half the song to realise I'm doing it. - Submitted by: Dean
The Beach Boys', "It's Ok"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Jock itch, Cruex
Got it, through it
Jock itch, women.
Got it, through it
Jock itch, women.
The Real Lyrics:
Gotta go to it
Gonna go through it
Gotta get with it.
Gonna go through it
Gotta get with it.
The Story: I was a 4th grader listening to my father's car radio somewhere in Maryland, 1975. I heard a commercial for Cruex Jock Itch Spray. Then the station played this song, which I thought was an extension of the ad, with the Beach Boys (at least to me) endorsing Cruex and singing about jock itch. - Submitted by: oldsongs
The Beach Boys', "Kokomo"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Bodies in the sand
Drop the cocaine, baby, in your hand.
Drop the cocaine, baby, in your hand.
The Real Lyrics:
Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand.
Tropical drink melting in your hand.
The Story: A young boy in church said he wasn't allowed to listen to the song because (it had) the word "cocaine" in it. - Submitted by: Bill Golden
The Beach Boys', "Little Deuce Coupe"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Little blue scoop
The Real Lyrics:
Little Deuce Coupe
The Story: On hearing the song, my Mom was perplexed. She shook her head and said, 'Why you kids want to listen to a song about a little blue scoop is beyond me.' - Submitted by: Karl Sjodahl
The Beach Boys', "Little Deuce Coup"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And there's one more thing
I got the big flip paddy!
I got the big flip paddy!
The Real Lyrics:
There's one more thing
I got the pink slip daddy!
I got the pink slip daddy!
The Story: I always thought it was 'big flip' until my boss (an attorney) gave me a dictation tape to type, and at the end he sang Little Deuce Coup (he was a rare breed of attorneys - he had a personality!), with the correct lyrics!! Okay, that was much funnier when it happened, but on 'paper', it's so-so. - Submitted by: Eileen Theis
The Beach Boys', "Surfer Girl"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Little surfer, little worm
The Real Lyrics:
Little surfer, little one
The Story: Strange how your ears can play tricks on you. Even though I am familiar with this song, I heard it on the radio today. My ears very clearly perceived 'little worm', even though I knew what the real words to that line are. - Submitted by: Adrienne Muldaur
The Beach Boys', "Surfin' U.S.A."
The Misheard Lyrics:
If everybody had a notion
To cross the U.S.A.
Then everybody be serving
I can't afford IA
See 'em wearin their badges
And raunchy Sanders, too
A pushy p**** blonde-haired dude
Servin' U.S.A.
To cross the U.S.A.
Then everybody be serving
I can't afford IA
See 'em wearin their badges
And raunchy Sanders, too
A pushy p**** blonde-haired dude
Servin' U.S.A.
The Real Lyrics:
If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californi-a
You'd seem 'em wearing their baggies
Huarachi sandals too
A bushy, bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U.S.A.
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californi-a
You'd seem 'em wearing their baggies
Huarachi sandals too
A bushy, bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U.S.A.
The Story: Until I discovered it is a surfing song, I thought it was a legal song about being investigated. - Submitted by: PJ
The Beach Boys', "The Little Saint Nick"
The Misheard Lyrics:
She's a handicapped deb who wants to ski for awhile.
The Real Lyrics:
She's candy-apple red with a ski for a wheel.
The Story: We've been listening to a lot of holiday music; and this is how my seven-year-old daughter heard it. She later made it make more sense by singing 'She's a handicapped woman who wants to go skiing' even though she knew it wasn't quite right. We were cleaning the house this morning and as this was playing I told my son to turn off the computer, and she was singing to the song. So into the silence she she sang this line. It was weird enough that I turned it on and replayed the song to hear what the line really was. By that time, she'd rewritten it. - Submitted by: Bella Rollison
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