Top 10 Song Lyrics that Everyone Gets Wrong
#10: “Kicking your can all over the place”
“We Will Rock You - Queen Numerous fans sing this song as if the legendary Queen frontman has a vengeance against cats. As it turns out, Freddy Mercury wasn’t encouraging people to do anything harsh towards animals in this iconic song. Instead, he just was promoting the good ol’ fashioned kicking of a can. Modern audiences might still be confused about why that would make it into a song in the first palace. But when you look back into history, Mercury was making a reference to a children’s game that became popular during the era of The Great Depression. If anyone’s still skeptical, they can look at how the can lyrics perfectly tie to the previous lines about a boy playing in the street.
#9: “…and when we done I make him buy me Balmain”
“Anaconda - Nicki Minaj Unless you often talk about high-end French fashion brands, you probably don’t often use the word Balmain in conversation. We mention this because how familiar you are with said brand probably indicates how likely you are to hear or mishear certain lyrics in Nicki Minaj’s 2014 hit, “Anaconda”. In one of the track’s middle verses, Minaj talks about an…energetic encounter with a man. Their steamy meeting ends with her making the guy buy Balmain. We don’t blame anyone for thinking that Minaj just wants him to get Chinese food after their physical activity. The fact that she rhymes the line with “Romaine” probably encourages listeners to think about food more and makes Lo Mein sound even more correct.
#8: “Dirty deeds, and they're done dirt cheap”
Steve Stevens Working with Michael Jackson on Dirty Diana
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” - AC/DC Fourteen years before AC/DC released “Thunderstruck - a number of fans heard an electrifying strike in 1976 in “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”. Rather than hearing the title of the song in the chorus, many thought Bon Scott or Brian Johnson screamed out “Dirty deeds and the Thunder Jeep”. But the lyrics were actually about the guy being “dirt cheap” Considering the song is about a hitman, it makes more sense that he is advertising his services as economically friendly. In this fictional take on that profession, price which would be more important than the car he uses.
#7: “Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul.”
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“Drift Away” - Dobie Gray or Uncle Kracker With their amazing vocal harmonies and California sound, throwing on a Beach Boys album is honestly a great way to free your soul and get lost in their genius and inventive rock and roll. Or maybe that’s just an excuse for a common mistake many of have made. In the chorus of “Drift Away” fans have sung “Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul” for many years - whether they’re listening to the original by Dobie Gray or the cover by Uncle Kracker. And honestly, that take on the lyrics definitely fits in this mellow song. But the actual lyrics are “Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul”. Even hardcore Beach Boys fans have to admit that the real lyrics perfectly float into Drift Away’s melody.
#6: “…hold me tighter than my Deréon jeans.”
Another Top 10 Song Meanings Everyone Gets Wrong
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” - Beyoncé No one’s getting the chorus wrong in this one. Not only is “put a ring on it” part of the extended title of the song, but the expression itself exploded within pop culture thanks to Beyonce. Although many of us are familiar with “putting a ring on it - not everyone has kept up with the Deréon clothing brand. This is why lyrics about the pants have been misheard as “…hold me tighter than my very own jeans”. However, this phrase isn’t as wrong as it looks .Deréon is a clothing line started by Beyonce and her mother. So, in a way, they are her “very own jeans”.
#5: “I bless the rains down in Africa”
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“Africa - Toto We’re willing to bet that around 90% of music fans have belted Toto’s Africa at some point in their lives. But that statistic that might be harder to measure is how many of them know what happens with the rain in that song. Over the years, a good number of people thought Toto sang“I miss the rains down in Africa” And even 100 men might not be able to ever drag them away from those lyrics. But there’s a very simple fix here. All you need to do is replace “miss” with “bless” and you’re good to go! And just in case you thought that you’ve heard it differently elsewhere, we can tell you that it’s still “bless” in the Weezer version as well.
#4: “Been through some bad sh**, I should be a sad b****
“7 Rings - Ariana Grande Were Ariana Grande, or anyone else for that matter, actually to go through bat feces, there’s a possibility that they would emerge with a lung infection known as Histoplasmosis. Whether that’s savage or not, we’re not here to judge. We’re just here to inform you that Grande isn’t singing about walking through bat guano. And it doesn’t take Ace Ventura to figure out what the lyrics actually are either. The poop she’s been through is “bad” and it should have made her “sad”. While this pair of lyrics isn’t exactly as clean as the average Dr. Seuss rhyme, it’s just as catchy.
#3: “Here we are now, entertain us”
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“Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana Nirvana’s monster hit song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has often been called an “anthem for apathetic kids”. But it’s not usually seen as promoting being crammed into tiny spaces. The latter might have been appropriate had the lyrics of the song actually been “Here we are now, in containers”. But given that Kurt Cobain sings, “Here we are now, entertain us - the apathy tag makes more sense. The line prior to that one is also often misheard. Many have sung “With the lights out, it’s Las Vegas”. However, Cobain actually says, “With the lights out, it's less dangerous”.
#2: “Exit light, Enter night”
“Enter Sandman - Metallica The idea of the Sandman would surely not be as scary if part of his deal was that he brought you eggs and light before taking you off into the world of dreams. But alas, that was not the thematic idea Metallica was going for on the lead single off their 1991 self-titled album. Additionally, the idea of James Hetfield singing “Eggs and Light, end all nights” isn’t very ‘heavy metal’. But a WordFinder survey found that 70 percent of the people misheard those “Enter Sandman” lyrics. That leaves a stunningly low 30 percent of people who recognize “Exit light, Enter night” as the actual lyrics.
#1: “I can’t hide”
Top 30 Song Meanings That Everyone Gets WRONG
“I Want to Hold Your Hand - The Beatles When Bob Dylan first met the Beatles, he was surprised to learn that none of them had ever smoked marijuana at the time. Why did that surprise him you ask? Well he, like many other people, had been listening to the band’s mega-smash hit song “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. Dylan was sure Lennon and McCartney were singing “I get high” in the post-chorus verse. Since the song is about holding hands, it did seem a little odd to mention a recreational smoking activity. Even though we know the proper lyrics, it’s pretty hard not to hear “I get high” when the guys sing “I can’t hide” in this Beatles classic.
