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!).
Is This It (Different Artwork) album at Amazon.com
Honey I like Wally but you just like Turks
Honey I like flowers but you just like dirt
The Story: Everybody in the uk is raving about the Strokes right now, so I bought the single New York City Cops to see what all the fuss was about. When I heard the line I thought I heard I was shocked- Forget asking who the hell 'Wally' is, what have The Strokes got against people from Turkey? So I told my friend that on principle, I wasn't buying the Strokes debut album because of what I felt were' nyc cops' racist overtones. She looked at me all puzzled and asked me what the hell I was talking about, so I told her the story. Anyway, She got really concerned too, and She and I ended up searching for the lyrics on the web. Needless to say I was so embarrassed when we found the real lyrics! But hey, it's not my fault Julian Casablancas' (lead vocalist) diction is really poor. - Submitted by: Gina Southam.
New York synagogue
New York City cops
The Story: Heard the song on the radio, didn't catch the name, so didn't instantly hear "New York City cops". - Submitted by: Alva
They dress like Ron Wood
But they act like tarts
They dress like Romans
But they act like Turks.
The Story: Every time I heard the song, I just kept wondering why would somebody want to dress like Ron Wood and not like Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. It just didn't make any sense. But I kept singing like this until my sister heard me and started laughing at me. She then explained to me how the correct lyrics. - Submitted by: Carol
Oh please,
Leave me alone tonight,
Before I get depressed.
Oh please,
Leave me alone tonight,
Forget the past.
The Story: I used to sing like that (wrong version) for years! Then I looked up the lyrics and found out that I misheard it, just like most of the people misheard Julian's singing, because he tends to mumble a bit (that mumbling is nice to hear tho). A radio program in my country jokes on English misheard lyrics that kinda sound like they are sung in Italian, and The Strokes are one of the most joked! (I mentioned you in the Facebook page where you can listen some of those jokes) :D - Submitted by: Alessandra
Racing against sun beams
Losing against their dreams
Racing against sun beams
Losing against fig trees
The Story: It's not that I heard the lyrics wrong but I saw a fan made video on Youtube that had lyrics for the song and they had made the lyrical mistake. Of course it is an easy mistake to make because if you listen to song it does actually sound like Julian says "Losing against their dreams" but overall a wonderful song. Its the song of my youth. - Submitted by: Jonathan Jefferson
My ex says I'm lacking in depth.
Maya says, 'I'm lacking in depth'.
The Story: Everybody says it's My ex, but Julian himself confirmed that it's Maya. - Submitted by: Jenni
My ex says I'm lacking in depth
Maya says I'm lacking in depth.
The Story: Albert Hammond Jr confirmed that the lyric is actually "Maya" https://twitter.com/alberthammondjr/status/248881117615230976 - Submitted by: strokesfan
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
