A rather random post, as something innocuous seems best suited to current conditions.
Tonight on the The Current’s “Transmission” show (yes, I love real live actual radio!!) I heard a wonderful 80’s song that still holds up: “Overkill” by Men at Work. Oh, how that ode to insomnia was the theme song of my youth. And also the object of my misheard lyrics. Instead of “Ghosts appear and fade away,” I heard “Go Severe and fade away.” Well, that makes sense…sleep-deprivation can make you think, act and feel pretty severe.
No, I’m not claiming I’m the only one who’s misheard lyrics, but clearly my mistakes are the cutest and most endearing.
I’ll give you just a few more recent examples–or at least, not 80’s examples. Okay, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” IS from the 80’s but I only recently learned I didn’t have the lyrics right when we started performing it with “Pigeons From Hell.”
| Song | Artist | Real lyrics | Amy version | Witty commentary |
| Wasted My Youth | Jenny Lewis | I wasted my youth on a poppy | I wasted my youth on a puppy | Come on, my version makes much more sense. I’ve wasted my youth and middle age on a puppy!…I guess “poppy” is a drug reference, |
| Tints | Anderson Paak | I need tints | I need tits | Tints are sunglasses…ah-ha! |
| Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around | Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty | That’s the game, yeah, what am I supposed to do? | Just a girl, yeah, what am I supposed to do? | Sometime I sing my version just because I like it– it’s ironically feminist! |
| Shut Up Kiss Me | Angel Olsen | Shut up, kiss me, hold me tight | Shock me, blah blah, blah $#%^ | My version isn’t appropriate for mass distribution |
| Brimful of Asha | Cornershop | Everybody Needs a Bosom for a Pillow | Everybody Needs a Bosom for a Pillow | Hey, I was right! I was, however, totally confused by the song title |
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