Some Books And Some Justin Timberlake, Too

Hi.

I have some announcements for the class. And an anecdote. Or maybe just something that would like to be an anecdote but probably isn’t quite there yet.

I need to stop over-explaining, don’t I?

– My friend Chrystal Hurst has a book called Kingdom Woman: Embracing Your Purpose, Power, and Possibilities coming out today, and I want to make sure to mention it because I read an early copy and really responded to the book’s tone, practicality, and encouragement. Plus, Chrystal’s co-writer and father, Tony Evans, is the pastor who is most likely to make me talk right back to the radio when I listen to him in the car. That Evans family is chock-full-o-gifted communicators. And if you buy the book between now and July 20th, you can also get an audio version of the book for free (details here).

– Speaking of books (TRANSITION!), I found out a couple of weeks ago that my book (it’s called A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet) (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it) (feel free to roll your eyes) is Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Moment for July. This is something they do to feature books in different categories, and I’m mighty honored that they picked mine for religion. Barnes and Noble has been really, really good to my little book, and I am very grateful. I’m also fighting the urge to put an exclamation point at the end of “book of the moment” and then use jazz hands. But I think we all know that I’m weird.

Seriously. I can’t resist.

Book of the moment!

– I’ve been on the road a good bit this summer, so I’ve had plenty of time to fine-tune my road trip playlist (get it? fine-tune? talking about music? HILARIOUS). One of my favorite driving songs is “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake, a fact that I’m sure would thrill him to no end since suburban mamas in their 40s are clearly his target audience.

Here is the song if you are not familiar (and here’s a link to buy it if you like it).

Let us take a moment and sigh with contentment at the sight of a real band playing real instruments and wearing real suits.

Anyway, I have listened to this song about 50 times over the course of the summer, and here is what I’d sing when I’d get to the chorus:

“‘Cause with your hand in my hand / And a pocket full of soap / I can tell you there’s no place we couldn’t go…”

I know. A pocket full of soap. I thought it was odd, too. But I told myself that no matter where they went together, at least they’d be clean.

Last week I decided that the whole “soap” thing couldn’t possibly be right, so I looked up the lyrics on the internet, just like the kids do. And sure enough, the word there is “soul.” A pocket full of SOUL.

That sounds so much better, don’t you think? And even though the practical side of me thinks that they’d really be better off with soap instead of soul because, as I mentioned earlier, CLEAN, I’m so relieved to have some clarity on the lyrics. Thank goodness that I’ve never had any reason to sing along with a group of teenagers. Can you even imagine how low my Hip and With It quotient would plummet if a bunch of 17 year-olds heard me belting out “a pocket full of soap”?

It would be humbling. I’ll just say that. HUMBLING.

Does anybody else have some lyric blunders they’d like to share with the class? I hope so – because I sure would love to read them.

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Comments

  1. Love that song too! A friend told me that he wrote it about his grandparents’ marriage, because they have been married for ages and he is really touched by their relationship. In my mind that makes him and the song all the more sweet. :)

  2. Not so much a lyric blunder as it is just a complete lack of understanding, but I spent my entire life thinking Reba’s “Fancy” was about Reba’s momma sending her to prom. Finally listened to the words a few years ago and was APPALLED. APPALLED, I tell you!

  3. Nancy D says:

    My former boss tells the story about how for years he thought the words to that Kenny Rogers song was “You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille, with FOUR HUNDRED children and a crop in the field…” And I”m sure they were all hungry too. He just learned the real lyrics about a month ago.

    • I DID, TOO!

      • Oh, I did, too. Lucille was a horrible woman to be leaving him with FOUR HUNDRED children AND a crop in the field. Also, I may have also thought it was a “one-winged dove” Stevie was singing about.

    • All during my childhood I sang that loud and proud….four hundred children! I was adult when I figured it out too!

  4. “Oh, Cinnamon gum….knowing how I made you feel…cinnamon gum…” (Oh Sherry)

  5. ABSOLUTELY loved your book. I laughe and cried, sometimes at the same time!

  6. OH YES! My special moment is when I was with my 18 year old Luke Bryan lover (a.k.a. my daughter) and we were belting out the Chorus to “Country Girl Shake It For Me” and the part that says “Shake it for the crickets, and the critters and the squirrels” I busted out with “Shake it for the crickets, and the TURTLES and the squirrels”. She screamed out IT’S CRITTERS, TURTLES SOUNDS STUPID…..um….. anything in that particular line of the song is questionable as far as I’m concerned. But, Luke can sing the phone book and I’d listen.

  7. “Pocket full of soap” … I just laughed and laughed.

  8. I can’t claim this as my own lyrical blunder, but I had an uncle who thought CCR’s “Bad Moon on the Rise” was “There’s a bathroom on the right.”

  9. Susan P says:

    My little sister used to sing “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus” with these lyrics: What can wash away my SKIN? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me HOLD A CAN? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

  10. Mary Lucy says:

    I used to think the Rolling Stones were singing “I’ll never be your big Suburban” instead of “your beast of burden!” It made total sense to me, because Suburbans are really big!

    • I have ALWAYS thought this, too!!! Baahaahaa! So glad I’m not the only one who sang it loud and proud, but oh so WRONG!

    • Kelly G says:

      My husband tried to convince me that it was “I’ll never leave your pizza burning.” He said it was a euphemism for getting someone all hot and bothered and then leaving them high and dry.

  11. Sorry, I got caught up in the Jazz Hands video and can’t stop laughing! May you have a Double Dream Hands day.

  12. In college my best friend swore up and down that the Hey Ya! by Outkast lyrics were “shake it like a bonafide teacher”. <— what does that even mean??! The actual lyric "shake it like a polaroid picture". Ah yes, that makes a bit more sense! :)

  13. Timmarie says:

    My favorite lyric blunder was my daughter’s. Instead of singing “Who is like the Lord? nobody,” she sang, “Who will slap the Lord? NOBODY.” I just said, “Amen.”

  14. Amy in Italy says:

    “Everytime you go…away…
    You take a piece of meat with you.”

    Can’t take the credit. It was a friend’s mom who sang along with it like that. She quickly became my favorite.

    Thanks for the giggles!!!!

    • This was my son’s “blunder” too. Every time that song came on he would sing that line at the top of his lungs! Guess it made sense to a 10 year old boy who was always hungry!!

  15. Sallie Belle Howell says:

    Ok Thank you for my stroll down memory lane with some Hal Leonard. I have been known to step touch while doing the travel hands, rain hands, jazz hands combo. I must say quite a professional I was back in the late 80’s. while wearing sequins!

  16. Have you ever watched Justin Timberlake & Jimmy Fallon’s History of Rap on YouTube?!
    I LOVE IT! I think you would not just love it, but LERVE it.

  17. My little brother was in the car with a good friend years ago and Alanis Morissette came on the radio. And to my brother’s horror and eventual hysterical laughter, his friend sang AT THE TOP of her lungs (over and over, mind you), “Before Eddie ran me over!” Close. So close. You already won me over, before Eddie ran me over. I’m sure Ms. Morissette was fine with either option.

  18. Yes. My brother and I were driving in the car when we were both in high school and the Beetles song, “Paperback Writer” came on, only my brother was instead singing, “Take the back right turn…” I still smile every single time I hear the song! :)

  19. Oh. My. My lyrics blunders are too many to list, but definately epic. For now, I’ll just laugh along with yours! Love you, Boo!

  20. Laughing so hard that I’m crying here at my desk! Pocket full of soap!! Tickles me to no end.

  21. Bwahaha! That’s awesome. I love JT and especially love that song. Soap rocks, too, ya know? :)

    I still need to get my hands on your book! Soon, I promise!

  22. “Rock the Cashba” = Rock the Cash bar.

    I think what we have here is an example of NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE in regards to the “cashba” so my brain automatically assumed…

    • Cindy L. says:

      I thought it was “casba”, whatever that is!

    • I used to think it was cashbar as well until my husband corrected me. But, it made perfect sense to me. What the heck is a casba?

  23. When my sister was in the 2nd grade, she came home from practicing Christmas carols for the school’s PTA performance. Daddy asked her what they were singing, and she busted out at the top of her voice with “Chester’s NUTS roasting on an open fire!” I thought my daddy was going to pee his pants, he laughed so hard. We still sing that to her every year and laugh our heads off.

  24. Debbie in Tennessee says:

    Back in the day… “I’ve got a never ending love for you”, became, I’ve got another Indian love for you. Go figure.

  25. BaaaHaHa!!!! :-) :-) :-) I’m still laughing at the jazz hands video. Thanks for making my day just a little bit better.

  26. Well, in my quest to relate to my kids and stay “up” on some of the current songs, I mess up lyrics all the time! Fortunately for me, I live with the 4 smartest kids in the entire world, and they are always ready to correct me (insert eye-rolling) (theirs and mine).

    My husband would die if he knew I shared this, but when he was younger, he thought the words in the song, “Dream Weaver,” (REO Speedwagon) were actually “Green Beaver.”

    Eeek!

    And, on a cute note…when one of our boys was little, he sang a song he’d been taught in Sunday School…”the joy of the Lord is my string (strength).”

  27. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head personally, but a friend’s sister growing up thought it was “white winged duck” instead of “dove.” She got the bird part right, at least.

    All I know is that once you do actually learn the correct lyrics, it’s next to impossible to actually re-learn to sing it correctly!

  28. I’m sure there have been many, but the one I still laugh about is Clay Walker’s song “Days that end in y”. I sang the chorus as “Daisy, Indian, Whhhhhhhyyyyyyy”. It didn’t make sense AT ALL, but I LOVED the song and sang it all the time. Learning the real words, AND that they’re the song title, just made me laugh and laugh!

    • Those were the exact lyrics that tripped me up too! But, I thought the lyrics were “only on days that Indians whine”! I was so very disturbed that such a seemingly nice artist could sing such hateful lyrics, although I wasn’t sure if those lyrics were actually hateful or just some sort of old country saying that I wasn’t familiar with. Thankfully, my mom was able to set me straight before I set to the streets with my petition to end the song’s airplay.

  29. Good grief, this post made me laugh out loud. My favorite lyric blunder was my son, who belted out “I’m SHAVING!” along with Garth Brooks, who was actually singing “Shameless”. He was about 5 and I guess he figured that a song completely dedicated to shaving was exactly how life was supposed to be.

    • Beverly says:

      I was about to post this same thing! My son loved this song and always wanted it on the jukebox of our hamburger joint! Then he (also) belted out the “I’m SHAVING” lyrics loud and proud!! I always let him because I thought it was SO FUNNY!….because that’s the kind of Mom I am……

  30. Not a lyric blunder but definitely a pop culture blunder… and I made it in front of my English 101 class of 18- and 19-year-olds.

    I called Naomi Campbell, Beyonce.
    I later called Alice Cooper, Alice in Chains.
    All in the same class period.

    It was months later before I realized what I had done. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

  31. Oh, oh! I almost forgot. When I was very little, I thought “Stop in the name of love” was “Stop in my neighborhood.”

  32. The next time you sing the hymn “Lead on, Oh King Eternal,” remember that my friend sang it in college as “Lead on, Oh Kinky Turtle.” It was on purpose. And it totally ruined the hymn for me.

  33. Brookles says:

    I always thought “Secret Agent Man” was “Secret ASIAN Man”
    I could even argue about. Someone said Secret AGENT…..like a SPY. and I said “NO! Secret ASIAN like a NINJA!
    I now know the difference and I still say ASIAN because I just can’t help myself.

  34. Cindy L. says:

    My favorite Christmas CD has a version of “Go Tell it the Mountain” that puts a lot os emphasis on “GO”. When my daughter was 4 years old she sang. “Yo! Tell it on the Mountain!” With so much enthusiasm I just could not tell her it was “Go”. She sang it that way for years, even in church.
    The jazz hands video cracked me up! I have laughed so hard. My kids think I am crazy. It made me think of the episode of Friends when Joey pretends he is a dancer and has to teach the dance routine and they do the jazz hands at the end. So funny!

  35. You know that line in “Bennie and the Jets” that says “she’s got electric boots”? My older sister, for YEARS, thought it was “electric boobs”….very different meaning!

  36. My best friend had a pretty hilarious one for the song “Loser” by Beck. She thought the chorus was “soiled nude pantyhose, I’m a loser baby so why don’t you kill me.” In her defense she has the second half right and the first half is “Soy un perdedor” so really how would you get that right?? :) Was still pretty hilarious the first time we heard her shout/sing along and say “soiled nude pantyhose” – ha!

  37. Annette says:

    When our son was 3 or 4 he thought ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ was saying, “We don’t have a grandma”. Sang it out loud in the car and gave us all the best laugh :)

  38. I love every word and comment of this post!!!!!!!!!

    There are a few I can remember. It took me a while to figure out what FANCY was doing too.

    I was WAY older before I realized Jimmy Buffet was looking for his lost shaker of SALT.

    And Garth Brooks holds a special place with Friends in Low Places. Sausage gravy instead of social graces.

    Keepin’ it classy!

  39. As a child I sympathized for Whitney’s lack of dinner compainion when she sang “Oh, I want to dance with somebody. I want to be able to eat with somebody!”

    And my dad thinks that the Moody Blues’ “Wildest Dreams” is “Wild Irish Dreams.” I corrected him once, which he soon forgot. Now I love it so much I regret ever trying to change it!

  40. I’m laughing with you because I ALWAYS get the words in songs wrong. Terry just laughs and laughs… You know the song… “Don’t you worry don’t you worry child… See Heaven’s has a plan for you” Well, I thought they were saying “See Alice has a plan for you.” Or “Cialis has a plan for you.” Yeah… think about it. I now proudly sing the correct version. Ha!

  41. HAHAHA…I love your blog..you are so REAL..and that makes me happy :)
    My kids shudder to hear me sing, cause evidently I cant hear when I am singing along with the radio…My “fav” blunder…is old CCR “Bathroom on the Right”. aka Bad moon on the rise…
    I still get a chuckle everytime I hear it and get enjoyment of seeing the eyes roll when I sing along. :)

  42. Cyndie in Ohio says:

    When my son was about 5 years old I took him with me to choir rehearsal and we sang Up From the Grave He Arose. Later my son commented, “Mom, I really like that song you sang about the gravy and the rolls”. Gotta love him.

  43. I saw an ad for your book in Southern Lady and immediately downloaded it to my Kindle. I enjoyed it very much! I’ve also added your blog to my Feedly. Keep on writing!

  44. Not a song lyric but when my dad saw Sound of Music where Daddy Von Trapp is saying goodbye to Baroness Schraeder and says “Auf Wiedersehen”, my dad said “Did he just tell her he’d eat her steak??” We still say that when we’re saying goodbye…..I’ll eat your steak!

  45. I was in the car with my 11 year old daughter recently when we heard Taylor Swift’s song 22 for the first time. I heard “It feels like the perfect night to dress up like hamsters”. Then, instead of “22” she heard “bathing suit”. The great thing is we laugh every time that song comes on!

    By the way, I just finished reading your book and I loved, loved, loved,the last chapter (I enjoyed it all but that one just spoke to me.)

  46. Jennifer Morgan says:

    I thought Michael Jackson was getting started with the man in the MIDDLE. Unsure what that man was in the middle of…

    • Lisa A. says:

      You mean it’s not “man in the MIDDLE????” I have no idea what it’s supposed to be then.

      My blunder is (and I’m aging myself here) Mr. Roboto. I always thought and still hear “don’t know where you got to, Mr. Roboto.” Doesn’t that make sense?? My husband makes fun of me to this day. Nice.

      Love your blog!!

      • MJ’s saying Man in the Mirror.

        Mr. Roboto lyrics: “Domo arigato” is what they’re saying – means Thank you very much in Japanese. How do they expect us to know to words to songs in other languages? We didn’t have Google back then!

  47. My 2 year old sings “There is pow, pow, bunny rabbit pow in the blood of the lamb.” I haven’t had the heart to correct her because, well, it’s just too sweet.

  48. Mary Kat's Mom says:

    O.K. I will admit it. In the Swedish House Mafia song, “Don’t You Worry Child,” I was singing “She hasn’t got a plan for you!” and it is “See Heaven’s got a plan for you.” My daughter just told me to ask her if I had questions and I didn’t think I was wrong until I was belting it out in front of her and her boyfriend! Also, I was sining “pocket full of soap” until just a few moments ago! Thank you for clearing that up for me! Loved the Jazz Hands tribute to your book and I’m so very proud of you!!!!! Yay!!!!! And thank you for the entertaining Justin Timberlake clip! Loved the entire thing and when he went in the audience and pointed to the girls I got chills. I know I’m too old for that but it happened.

  49. Marilyn says:

    When my son was very young he asked me, “What’s a sign-oh?” I asked him to use it in a sentence. “Jesus loves me this sign-oh.”

  50. Jeanine Hood says:

    There are way too many goofs for me to mention but my favorite is when I was talking to my daughter who was 16 at the time and asking her exactly what “Blink” was. She of course had no idea what I was asking about until she finally got that I meant “Bling”. I promise I thought that was what everyone was saying when they were showing off all their glitter jewels because it made you BLINK!!!

    Score zero for me and a million for the rest of the hip world. :-)

  51. My mom listened to the radio all the time when I was a kid. I can go into any grocery store that is playing “soft rock” and sing along to every single song. Always (Yet I can’t remember where I put my car keys the night before, but anyway).

    The song ‘What a Feeling’ by Irene Cara, I thought she was singing “Take your pants off / and make it happen”

    Oops.

    That one made my mom’s eyebrows go up when she heard me singing along…

  52. This post just made me bust out laughing so hard during my boys’ naptime! I also just finished your book last week and I’ve been passing my copy around to lots of good Southern women!!! ;) Love your blog AND your book! Keep it up, girl!

  53. I thought “Material Girl” was “I’m a Cheerio Girl.” Obviously, we didn’t have cable TV, so I had no exposure to music videos to teach me otherwise. If my lyrics were correct, MTV would’ve featured Madonna lusting over breakfast cereal instead of channeling Marilyn Monroe!

  54. The jazz hands almost made me snort coffee all over my screen. Where do you find these things?

    My latest lyric blunder had my 18 year laughing all day. In the Imagine Dragons song “Radioactive” I kept thinking it was saying “Ready to whack you” instead of “radio-active”

  55. Robin in New Jersey says:

    A friend of mine took her 8 year old daughter to choir practice with her where they sang a song with the word abundance in it. After practice her daughter said, “Mom, what kind of dance is a bun dance?” !!!

  56. My favorite blunder is a story of my husband’s. (And oddly enough relates to Anita’s previous comment.) He was in show choir in high school and his teacher would not let them sing Irene Carra’s “What A Feeling” because she thought the words were “Take your pants off” instead of “Take your passion”. Needless to say, all the kids would belt out, the song acapella anyway emphasizing the “take your pants off” part.

    I love this post and these comments. Not only are they so entertaining, they remind me of why we cherish those we love so much. Even the mistakes are memories.

  57. Allison says:

    I am a mom in my mid thirties…who likes to boogy down in her swagger wagon. I always wondered who “Shirley” the club-going girl was who seemed to get mentioned in All The Rap. Um yeah, it’s “Shorty.” :P

  58. Lynnette R says:

    ELO…”Strange Magic” My 50 something year old husband thought until about 6 months ago they were singing “Change My Chick.” I can barely type it without laughing still. I thought he was joking but No!

  59. My oldest child used to LOVE “Angels We Have Heard on High.” He was so sweet singing “Glooooooooria, in Old Chauncey’s Dog House.”

    We have no idea who Old Chauncey is or what he did that made him sing glory in his dog house, but man the kid was convicted about it.

  60. Cathryn says:

    The line of a song was “I see you winding and grinding..” My sister would sing ” I see you whining and crying all on the floor”

  61. When my brother was little, he thought the Collective Soul song said, “We’re having an election now” instead of “Heaven let your light shine down”. It’s been 20 years, but I still want to sing it that way when I hear it.

  62. Jenny R says:

    Recently my 11 year old son and I were riding in the car and Phillip Phillip’s song, “Gone, Gone, Gone” was on the radio. Towards the end he said, “Mom, can I ask you something?” and I said, “Sure”. He said why does he say “I’ll be your CROTCH when your legs stop moving?”… I burst out laughing!!! I told him that the word was “crutch” not “crotch”. Then he burst out laughing! Now everytime we hear that song and that part of it, we just give a knowing look to each other!

    • Wendy C. says:

      Hahaha, I THOUGHT THE SAME THING the first time I heard that song. Too funny!

  63. My little girl used to sing, “He is exhausted, the King is exhausted on High,” instead of, “He is exalted…”

  64. Amanda Jones says:

    These are all awesome. Jackson used to sing the Sanctus Real song, Lead Me, like this:
    “Lead me with strong hands
    Stand up when I can’t
    Don’t leave me hungry for lunch (love)…”

  65. I’ve been singing these lyrics for “Blinded By the Light” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band for, well, I’m 43 — that should tell you something. And for the last 17 years, my husband has been in stitches every single time the song plays. My eyes get as big as saucers when the intro starts playing and I belt out MY lyrics. I’m a wee bit attached to them, I guess.

    ACTUAL Lyrics:
    Blinded by the light,
    revved up like a deuce,
    another runner in the night

    MY Lyrics:
    Blinded by the light,
    rack up like a douche,
    another runner in the night

    There’s more, Sophie. But it gets so tangled, your head would spin if I went much further. But this…THIS is MY SONG! It reminds me of everything wonderful from my youth. Not quite sure why, but it’s just my happy song.

    • Same song, but my lyrics were…..
      Blinded by the light,
      wrapped up like a douche
      in the rollin’ of the night

      I still belt it out just like that. Ditto on the great memories attached to the song. Douche and all!

      • Yay! I’m not alone! I like yours much better, Better. Makes more sense that a douche would be wrapped up instead of racked up. As if they’re stockpiling douches!

        • That whole song is a mash of messed up lyrics….

          Silly con sister with the manager mister, told me I got what it takes.
          He said dirty world something to the something strong with the song with the boogie breaks.

          I have no idea what they are really singing, but that is what I have been singing for the last, uh-hum, 35 years….(for the record, I was young when the song came out)

  66. The Kenny Chesney song “I Lost It”

    Real lyrics:
    No one can make me cry
    Make me laugh
    Make me smile
    Or drive me mad like she does

    What I thought it said:
    No one can make me cry
    Make my laugh
    Make me smile
    Or drive me mad like a cheetah.

    (Please go listen and you’ll totally understand.)

    • Also, I grew up Methodist and FOR EVER I thought the end of “Glory be to the Father” was God without head, amen. Amen. Instead of world without end. I was always kind of freaked out to sing it!

  67. A pastor came to my high school in the 90’s to inform us during chapel of the perils that awaited us in the lyrics of secular songs. His example presented to make his case was simply the title “Do the Naked Lady” by Aerosmith. Imagine his horror when the entire school burst out laughing when we realized he meant the song “Dude Looks Like a Lady.”

    • Jodi,
      I just laughed so hard four ladies walked into my office to see what the deal was. I also may have spewed my ice tea from my nose and onto a report…

    • man, i wouldve loved to have been there!

  68. I just found this out a couple of weeks ago, when CBS Sunday Morning interviewed the female backup singer on the Rolling Stone’s song “Gimme Shelter”.

    I have always thought the chorus was
    “Oh, tell her. It’s just a shadow away, shadow away”

    The second chorus was
    “Hey Mother! It’s just a shadow away, shadow away”

    I will let you Google the actual words, because it is kind of swarmy. I still like the song, I just have to use my words.

  69. Shannon says:

    As someone who has lived her life getting the words wrong, I looked up the lyrics, and this is what I found… Maybe you weren’t wrong, Sophie! ;-) This one says “pocket full of soap”!

    http://www.lyricsmania.com/mirrors_lyrics_justin_timberlake.html

  70. Oh my…you all are so funny, I have tears rolling down my cheeks!

    A friend of mine still sings the Jim Croce song , “Operator” just like he did when he was a kid … “Oh burrito” can you help me place this call…

  71. My worst was Elton John’s Rocket Man…. I always belted “rocket man….burning down the fields of avalon.” I don’t really know what that meant but thats what it sounded like!!
    Real lyrics: ” Rocket man… Burning out his fuse up here alone.”

  72. Brittney k says:

    When my little sister was about 3, she loved Bon jovi. My step mom is the culprit here. But we have a video of my sister with my iPod on belting “you give love…. A BAND AID!” We have laughed about this for years!!

  73. I have a couple and they are all church songs! My boys use to sing a song about the 12 disciples and my son was singing “Judas is a carrot” instead of Judas Iscariot. Makes sense to me! And then on the hymn “At Calvary,” He “punched” me to victory in lieu of He “plunged” me to victory beneath the cleansing flood!”

    Our church used to do a big Easter drama each year. Everyone was involved, especially in the big crowd scenes. Once we were all acting/singing the scene about Barabbas being released to the people. I heard a little boy beside me singing loudly, “Brer Rabbit, Brer Rabbit, release to us Brer Rabbit.” Loved it!!!!

  74. Oh, how you make me laugh!! And yes, I must admit, I did indeed just go and use the Google (I may have just finished reading your book…just sayin’…and I LOVED IT!) to look up the lyrics myself.

    In the spirit of JT lyrics misinterpretations, I share this one on behalf of my 3-year-old. She was singing her little heart out to “Suit & Tie” when it was on the radio, and sang “Let me show you some TOOTHPASTE!” as my close personal friend Justin was actually singing “Let me show you a few things…”

  75. Mariposa says:

    My then four year old daughter sings Travis Cottrell’s version of Victory in Jesus all the time and changes the lyrics from then I repented of my sins to “I repented of my self” it’s too cute and pretty right on so I have not corrected her.

    Thanks to all for the comments I have been sitting here laughing. And thanks Sopihe fir your blog and book.

  76. Alexa Cacibauda says:

    If it makes you feel better, I’m 20 years old and in my prime “cool years” (right??) and I’ve been singing “pocket full of soap” TOO! I generally make up half of the words in every song I listen to.

  77. My daughter thought the lyrics in the song Everlasting God(Strength will rise when we wait upon The Lord) was, “He is the defender of the week” like the days of the week instead of “Defender of the weak”. She finally realized her mistake one Sunday when she read the overhead with the lyrics on it and saw how it was spelled. She teases her younger brother for thinking that Amazing Grace had lyrics saying “Saved a wrench like me” instead of wretch like me. I would think that is a pretty common mistake though. :)

  78. My daughter was young when Lord I Lift Your Name on High was at its height of popularity. She thought we were singing “From the earth to the cross, my dead toupee”. I cannot sing this chorus without smiling to this day :)

  79. “There might be a little dust on the ‘Bible,’ but don’t let it fool ya about what’s inside.”

    • Heather says:

      As a kid I always thought it was “there might be a little dust on my BOTTOM, but don’t let it fool ya about what’s inside”. Like he’s a nice guy even though he’s dirty (from farming I assumed, since it is a country song!)

  80. Ashley Turner says:

    My 3.5 year old daughter, Allie, loves Taylor Swift and one day her song “Begin Again” came on Allie said “mommy! This is guinea pig guinea pig!” My husband and I CRACKED up.

  81. When my son was just learning to talk and sing, he would belt out:

    Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,
    Mary had a little lamb who pees as white as snow

    I still have to think about what the real words are!

  82. My 5 year old came home from school one day and said he sang and danced for show and tell. I asked what song he sang and he said “Open Condom Star.” I was horrified! It was supposed to be “Gangham Style.” Honestly, though, it really does sound like that is what he is saying in the song! Thank goodness my son didn’t actually know what that means. I just quickly corrected him and said we shouldn’t listen to that anymore. His teacher probably thought I was mother of the year for sure! Ha :)

  83. Cindy Moses says:

    My niece sang an old Radney Foster song that began, “Can’t you tell by the spell that I’m under…” Her version: “Can’t you tell by the smell that I’m under…”

    My daughter’s version of Britney Spears’ “Oops, I did it again. I played with your heart. Not scared of planes,” instead of “got lost in the game.” But it actually came out in her little soulful voice, “nascareda planes.”

    This post and the comments have provided some side-stitch laughter!

  84. Years ago, I heard the song “Independent Women” by Destiny’s Child while riding in the car with my mom. The real lyrics to the stanza she botched are below:

    The shoe on my feet, I’ve bought it
    The clothes I’m wearing, I’ve bought it
    The rock I’m rockin’, I’ve bought it
    ‘Cause I depend on me

    For every line, she replaced “I’ve bought it” with “I farted”! Could not believe it when I heard it but makes me laugh so hard years later!

  85. When Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch came out with “Good Vibration” I thought the words were

    Is that your good vibration?
    Is that your SWEET DIXIE CHARM?

    (Real Lyric: It’s such a good vibration/It’s such a good SENSATION)

    My apologies to Mr. Mark and his Funky Bunch

  86. I am horrible about understanding lyrics and frequently have to look up the actual words.

    But the funniest story I know about song lyrics involves my daughter, who granted was young at the time. In church, we heard the song “Adonai,” originially an Amy Grant song. My daughter thought the phrase “my Adonai” was “My aunt and I.”

    What made it even funnier, though, was the lady who sang this song is a family friend my kids thought of as an aunt. My daughter thought her “aunt” was singing about another “aunt”.

    Oh, and we’re Texans so we pronounce aunt as ‘ant’.

  87. You are fabulous! I’m reading your book and will be giving copies to friends and family. And, thank goodness I now know the correct way to do jazz hands. My family will be so impressed.

  88. Lindsay says:

    Remember “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups?

    I must have had a Halloween obsession when I was a kid, because I always sang “going to the jack-o-lantern, gonna get married.”

  89. Sallie Baker says:

    Had a friend in college whose last name was Goree. ( pronounced Gor-ee)
    He always thought they were singing praises to his family at church when they would
    sing the hymn” hallelujah, I’m a Goree!!” ( Hallelujah, Thine the Glory!!)

  90. A friend of mine made it to adulthood before he realized that the song “Jump” says “might as well jump!” and not “maxwell jump.” MAXWELL jump!! lol!!!!!

  91. I sang “items in the street” for months before I realized it was actually “Islands in the Stream”.

  92. My lyric blunder (for years, mind you) was from Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville:
    I blew out my flip flop/ Stepped on a pop-tart
    My husband would try to convince me how crazy that was, but until I verified it myself, I didn’t believe him. Ugh.
    In unrelated news- I am a very new, but VERY devoted reader! I can NOT put your book down, (and am going to be weepy when I finish it) and am convinced that since my maiden name is Hudson, and my people are from the deep south, we really must totally be related. ;)
    It’s been a long time (and I’m pretty serious reader) since I have laughed out loud while reading a book. I’m telling everyone I know about it!! and am going to blab about it on my blog when finished.
    God has given you a wonderful gift- thank you so much for sharing it with us!
    blessings, Elizabeth

  93. A few years ago my God son was in the car with me and the song Gold Digger came on the radio. He was singing and said “We want TRINA, we want TRINA, yeah!” I started laughing and said “No son, that says we want FREEDOM, want want FREEDOM, yeah!” About a week later the husband and I were in the car and the song came on again. I was telling him about our God son singing it wrong, and went on to say how I corrected him. My sweet husband started laughing uncontrollably and finally told me I was also very wrong on the lyrics. Apparently it says “We want PRENUP, we want PRENUP, yeah”. Hm….so much for me being a know it all :)

  94. Ok…so I’m driving home from the grand opening of the new Sprouts grocery (oh my word the produce- the produce alone is worth the journey!) Anywho so I hear Mirrors and I can say that now it is officially “soap” in the pocket!!

    Oh my personal blunder, thought forever jimmy buffett blew out his poptart, which in my mind is a horrific incident. I was in my early 30’s before someone told me that was a pop top. Yeah, I guess that makes sense too!

  95. I am full of lyric blunders, but none of them are all that interesting. However, my daughter (2 years old) has recently taken a liking to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. We skip through much of the movie, but she loves the parts she gets to watch. At night, she was laying in bed trying to sing some of the songs, so I loaded “Be Our Guest,” “Belle,” and “Gaston” to the ol’ playlist. She sings her little heart out and messes up a lot of the lyrics while I try not to lose it in the front seat. Last week, she was singing “Gaston” at home on her own and says, “NO ONE POOPS like Gaston…” It should be shoots….We had a long talk about how it isn’t nice to talk about Gaston’s poop (she INSISTS those are the lyrics). I keep waiting for a call from her teacher with confusion about who Gaston is and why she knows about his poop…..

  96. Probably dating myself here but I thought the words to the Oak Ridge Boys song were “Come on in, baby take your clothes off” and until very recently I thought the lyrics to Hot Blooded by Foreigner were “Come on baby do you do modern dance” (actual lyrics are ‘do you do more than dance” I thought all that dancing made your blood heat up!

  97. Hillsong’s “All I need is you” says “you hold the universe, you hold everyone on earth…” I thought it said “you OWN the universe, you OWN everyone on earth” haha! I thought, well God does own everything… Hold makes more sense though! I finally saw the lyrics on the screen at church :)

  98. Rebecca says:

    My son mistook the words for “Juke Box Hero” to be “Juice Box Here” everyone needs one….and I had a dear friend from MS who was on a date and bellowed out these words, “DO you recollect?” Her date shut off the radio and said, “What are you saying?” She said, “the words to this Prince song, Do you Recollect” It was Little Red Corvette…she never went on another date with him!

  99. I always thought “Lay Down Sally” was “Way Down South” and Boyz II Men “….let’s not wait til the water runs dry” was “…let’s go into the water and try” Because every relationship is best mended in the bathtub.

  100. I just swear that Lady Gaga is saying Love and a pair of pants, not love and a bad romance. A good pair of pants is hard to come by, in my opinion. so it made sense until my teen heard me singing it and corrected me.