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!).



Badmotorfinger album at Amazon.com

"Birth Ritual" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Lyin' like Nedo I'm Forrest Gu-ump The Real Lyrics: Lyin' like needles

On forest earth The Story: I knew it wasn't right, Chris' lyrics are much to poetic to be that goofy. But we had fun with it until we finally looked it up. - Submitted by: Don-ee-el

"Black Hole Sun" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Backhoe fun, won't you come, and wash away the pain The Real Lyrics: Black hole sun, won't you come, and wash away the rain The Story: I was in the car with a friend and Black hole sun come on the radio and i started singing it my way, not even wondering why someone would write a song about an earth moving machine. Needless to say i never heard the end of it. - Submitted by: Kirby

"Black Hole Sun" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Black hole sun

Makes you run. The Real Lyrics: Black hole sun

Won't you come? The Story: My 7-year-old sings it this way no matter how many times I tell him it's not that way. - Submitted by: Maggie

"Fell On Black Days" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: I sh*t on my na-chase The Real Lyrics: I sure don't mind the change The Story: For the longest time I couldn't figure out what this lyric was. I told my buddy who also liked Soundgarden about it, and then every time we heard it we would sing along and do the part I misheard the loudest. Then he complained that he couldn't listen to the song anymore without thinking of my stupid lyric. :) - Submitted by: Chris Durkin

"Fell On Black Days" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: S*** on my new chaise

or

Sure don't mind the chaise The Real Lyrics: I sure don't mind the change. The Story: My friend and I were driving along in her 280Z when this song came on, and she was singing the bastardized lyrics. I asked her to repeat the lyrics, and she did. I pointed out the true lyrics and that hers didn't make any sense! [Ed.'s note: Sara's lyrics were also wrong, so I added hers to her sisters lyrics. Sorry, Sara.] Still, she replied that she liked hers better, and was a little miffed at me for pointing out the mistake. By the way we are both doctors now! - Submitted by: sara

"Fell On Black Days" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Sit on my new chairs. The Real Lyrics: I sure don't mind a change. The Story: When I first heard it , I had no clue what he (Chris Cornell) was singing. At first I thought it was, 'Pseudo-minded change.' Then, 'S*** on my new chains!' Finally, I decided it sounded most like, 'Sit on my new chairs!'. My friends agree when listening to the song, all the while bursting out in laughter. - Submitted by: Frank

"Fell on Black Days" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Sit on my guitar The Real Lyrics: I sure don't mind the change. The Story: A friend of mine thought this was the lyric, she sang it that way - Submitted by: ed9871

"My Wave" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Don't come over here

Peas on my gate

Keep it off my wave The Real Lyrics: Don't come over here

Pi'' on my gate

Keep it off my wave The Story: I heard it when I brought Soundgarden's 1994 album Superunknown - Submitted by: Karl

"Pretty Noose" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: And I don't like what you got me hangin', Franz. The Real Lyrics: And I don't like what you got me hangin' from. The Story: I often wondered who the h*** this Franz was. 'Maybe he was Chris Cornell's roommate in college who once hung a rope from their ceiling, and Chris didn't like it,' I thought. - Submitted by: Greg

"Pretty Noose" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: I got the perfect stain, I cleaned it off, with a dirty feel The Real Lyrics: I got the perfect steal

A cleaner love with a dirty feel. The Story: As of 2015-11-14 I still thought those were the real lyrics - Submitted by: Daniel

"Spoonman" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: All my friends are idiots The Real Lyrics: All my friends are Indians The Story: I always thought about mishearing it as "idiots". - Submitted by: Cody Finke

"Spoonman" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Strawman The Real Lyrics: Spoonman The Story: My girlfriend and I were on a trip with another woman, and we were listening to this song. I pompously asked why they chose the term "strawman" for the song. You see, I had heard the term "strawman argument" and to me, it was an interesting use of it in the song. Both women burst out laughing and ridiculed me for the rest of the trip. In fact, the humiliation continues to this day. - Submitted by: Tim Brown

"The Day I Tried to Live" Soundgarden 's, The Misheard Lyrics: Said seize the day, pull the trigger

Drop the plate watch the rolling heads The Real Lyrics: Said seize the day, pull the trigger

Drop the blade and watch the rolling heads The Story: I thought it was drop the plate because Beavis and Butthead said that! - Submitted by: Jeff Fowler

There are more Soundgarden misheard lyrics available.

New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Brian Kelly. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.