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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> TV Theme

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!).


TV Cop Show Theme Songs album at Amazon.com
TV Theme's, "'Good Times' Theme"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Hangin' in a chow line
The Real Lyrics:
Hanging in and jiving
The Story: Interview with the authors of the lyrics:
chappelle played a quiz-show host, testing contestants’ knowledge of black culture. the question that stumped them all involved a lyric from “good times,” “hangin’ in a chow line.”
marilyn: well there’s no such line!
alan: it’s “hanging out and jiving.”
marilyn: no, it’s “hanging in and jiving.”
http://www.Timeout.Com/newyork/articles/music/2662/backstage-with-alan-and-marilyn-bergman - Submitted by: gB
TV Theme's, "'The Jeffersons' Theme"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Bo ho ga no na!
The Real Lyrics:
We're movin' on up!
The Story: Until I was about 14, I thought that The Jefferson's theme song started off with "Bo ho ga no na!". If you listen to the song now, after I told you about this, you'll hear it too! Being a very white bread country boy, I assumed that this was just part of the African-American culture. Umm, it's not. - Submitted by: Kenneth Drake
TV Theme's, "'The Nanny' Theme"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And the kids are actually smiling. (Charles Shaughnessy!)
The Real Lyrics:
And the kids are actually smiling. (Such joie de vivre).
The Story: Since this is the actor who plays Mister Sheffield, and since the last lyric line mentions Cici, I always assumed they just sang the actor's name at the end of that lyric line. I was a kid at the time, and I didn't even find out the true lyric until I was in my twenties. - Submitted by: Orlando
TV Theme's, "Car 54, Where Are You?"
The Misheard Lyrics:
There's a scout troop short a child
Khrushchev's nude and I go wild.
The Real Lyrics:
There's a scout troop short a child
Khrushchev's due at Idlewild.
The Story: Just that when I was a kid, 'nude' was a word you didn't say without thinking you'd get into trouble for it, and Nikita K. was scary enough with his clothes on. Nevertheless, I was belting out these lyrics at full volume one night, and my parents laughed so hard they could barely breathe. - Submitted by: galoux
TV Theme's, "Engie Benjy"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Engie Benjy, jump up and down
The Real Lyrics:
Engie Benjy, Jollop and Dan
The Story: My little boy who is 3 years old was singing the song over and over again with the misheard lyrics. I went online to find the song which is when I discovered the actual lyrics. Though my little boy still insists on using his lyrics which are he says "more fun". - Submitted by: Jillian Hinds
TV Theme's, "Maverick"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Riverboat ring your bell!
Fare thee well, land of hell
Adventures in New Orleans
The Real Lyrics:
Riverboat ring your bell!
Fare thee well, Annabelle
Natchez to New Orleans
The Story: I had no idea who 'Annabelle' was (the riverboat?) and had never heard of Natchez, ms. (I was nine years old when this show debuted.) Everybody else in the family insisted the phrase 'land of hell' was not in the song. - Submitted by: Doug Montgomery
TV Theme's, "One Piece"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Gotta go, gotta go.
The Real Lyrics:
Yah-yo, yah-yo.
The Story: I first saw the show and I thought the theme song was great. The next day I start singing it to my friends at school, who also saw it. They thought I was crazy, because I was saying gotta go, instead of yah-yo. I felt so embarrassed, but it was funny. Now I have the correct lyrics in my head. - Submitted by: Aj Raskin
TV Theme's, "Spongebob Squarepants"
The Misheard Lyrics:
He lives in a pineapple under the sink.
The Real Lyrics:
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
The Story: There was this guy on the internet complaining about the show and the theme song saying, ''He lives in a pineapple under the sink?!' Don't they know a pineapple goes bad when it's left laying around? What kind of crap is this?' Then two other fans of the show corrected him and cursed at him, calling him an idiot. - Submitted by: wadded beef
TV Theme's, "That's So Raven"
The Misheard Lyrics:
It's a new democracy.
The Real Lyrics:
Into future I can see.
The Story: I finally figured out this lyric after I heard my brother singing it. It's bad enough that he only watches the Disney Channel. This stupid song comes on every commercial break, but he goes around the house singing it. - Submitted by: Lieselette
TV Theme's, "Without Us (Family Ties theme)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Oh, it's like I started breeding on the night we kissed.
The Real Lyrics:
Oh, it's like I started breathing on the night we kissed.
The Story: Ever since Family Ties started airing, I thought the song was about conceiving the Keaton children. This made sense to me at the time, since there were three kids as the start of the show, who would eventually be joined by a fouth before the series ended its run. - Submitted by: Akira
TV Theme's, "Yo, Gabba Gabba"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Foofa! She's freakin' happy.
The Real Lyrics:
Foofa! She's pink and happy.
The Story: My wife and I were listening to the music while our kids were watching Yo Gabba Gabba on the minivan DVD player. My wife and I heard "She's freakin' happy!," and we freaked out. I thought, "They can't sing that on a children's show. It's inappropriate." So I checked the lyrics on the internet, and sure enough, they weren't what we thought. Still, I bet if people listened to the song for the first time, 9 out of 10 adults would hear the word "freakin" in that song!! - Submitted by: Alan
TV Theme's, "Yo, Gabba Gabba"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Foofa! She's freakin' happy.
The Real Lyrics:
Foofa! She's pink and happy.
The Story: My wife and I were listening to the music while our kids were watching Yo Gabba Gabba on the minivan DVD player. My wife and I heard "She's freakin' happy!," and we freaked out. I thought, "They can't sing that on a children's show. It's inappropriate." So I checked the lyrics on the internet, and sure enough, they weren't what we thought. Still, I bet if people listened to the song for the first time, 9 out of 10 adults would hear the word "freakin" in that song!! - Submitted by: Alan
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 Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.

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