Misheard Lyrics Holiday Edition

[JoanneAZ]

What holiday song did you mishear the lyrics the first time you heard it and do you still think of it that way even though you know your lyrics are wrong.

For me it’s Up OnThe Rooftop. “Up on the roof top reindeer pause, out jumps good old Santa Claus.“ The first time i heard it as a little kid I thought “reindeer don’t have paws”. To this day my brain hears Reindeer paws.

 

[Jennasis]

When he was a kid, My dad though the lyric "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him..." was "Oh Commodore Sadorhe", and wondered who exactly this Commodore was and why he had a song.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

Walking 'round in women's underwear....... Actually it's a parody Christmas song that was really popular on DC radio in the 80s I think.

 

[karmic]

When my son was small he sang Deck the Hal’s with balls of jolly

 

[BrianL]

What holiday song did you mishear the lyrics the first time you heard it and do you still think of it that way even though you know your lyrics are wrong.

For me it’s Up OnThe Rooftop. “Up on the roof top reindeer pause, out jumps good old Santa Claus.“ The first time i heard it as a little kid I thought “reindeer don’t have paws”. To this day my brain hears Reindeer paws.

Get out! You mean, it's NOT "Reindeer Paws?"

 

[anniemae]

The song "Last Christmas by Wham." I always thought it was "This year.... to set new frontiers, I'll give it to someone special." It's really, "This year... to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special." Yeah, that makes much more sense. LOL! For years I sang it the wrong way.

 

[RedAngie]

Walking 'round in women's underwear....... Actually it's a parody Christmas song that was really popular on DC radio in the 80s I think.

Lacey things, the wife is missing
Didn't ask, for her permission
I'm wearing her clothes
Her silk panty hose
Walking around in women's underwear

In the store, there's a teddy
With little straps, like spaghetti
It holds me so tight
Like handcuffs at night
Walking around in women's underwear


In the office there's a guy named Melvin
He pretends that I am Murphy Brown
He'll say "Are you ready?"
I'll say, "Whoa man! Lets wait until the wife is out of town."

Later on, if you wanna
We can dress, like Madonna
Put on some eye shade, and join the parade
Walking around in women's underwear

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Jingle Bells. The part where the sleigh falls over goes, 'we got into a drifted bank and then we got upsot.' I thought it went, "we got into a twisted bank and we we all got shot.'

 

[WeatherLights]

Not so much misheard but never made an effort to remember the words so this is how I sing the fourth verse of Winter Wonderland:
Later on, we'll perspire
as we dream by the fire
Our friends are afraid of
the plans that we've made
Walking in a winter wonderland

 

[TwoMisfits]

Toto's Africa - I always thought "God blessed the rains down in Africa" b/c hello, if it's not a priest/minister, who else is blessing things...but apparently it is "I bless the rains down in Africa"...

And yes, apparently, my Christmas stations and even the internet say this is a Christmas song, which I also don't understand...I mean, if this is a Christmas song, Die Hard is Santa, Rudolf, and the nativity wrapped in one...

 

[FlightlessDuck]

When our daughter was little, she used to sing "We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Ear!"

 

[NotUrsula]

Toto's Africa - I always thought "God blessed the rains down in Africa" b/c hello, if it's not a priest/minister, who else is blessing things...but apparently it is "I bless the rains down in Africa"...

And yes, apparently, my Christmas stations and even the internet say this is a Christmas song, which I also don't understand...I mean, if this is a Christmas song, Die Hard is Santa, Rudolf, and the nativity wrapped in one...

Um, no, Africa is not a Christmas song. It's not about Christmas, and it wasn't issued at Christmas (it was released at the end of June.) I have heard a theory that since it mentions the rains and December is the rainy season in parts of Africa, that it must be about Christmas, but that's nonsense.

If I had to guess, this association happened because the song came out right around the time that the great African famine of the 1980's started really causing hardship, and it gets tangled up in people's memories with the songs associated with the famine relief campaigns Band Aid, Live Aid, and USA for Africa, which came out about a year or two after Africa, the biggest of which was Do They Know It's Christmas?

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Toto's Africa - I always thought "God blessed the rains down in Africa" b/c hello, if it's not a priest/minister, who else is blessing things...but apparently it is "I bless the rains down in Africa"...

And yes, apparently, my Christmas stations and even the internet say this is a Christmas song, which I also don't understand...I mean, if this is a Christmas song, Die Hard is Santa, Rudolf, and the nativity wrapped in one...

Who says this is a Christmas song? I have never heard that anywhere. I think people must be confusing Straight No Chaser's sampling of it in their "12 days of Christmas" medley

 

[NotUrsula]

There are some great ones at www.kissthisguy.com

Just put "Christmas" in the search box, and prepare to laugh.

 

[JoanneAZ]

Who says this is a Christmas song? I have never heard that anywhere. I think people must be confusing Straight No Chaser's sampling of it in their "12 days of Christmas" medley

This is the reasoning I found on the internet from Reddit (which I personally think is nonsense):
“Toto's Africa is set in East Africa, and since December is a rainy season there, Toto's Africa is technically a Christmas song.”

 

[RedAngie]

The bombing of Pearl Harbor happened in December so I suppose it’s a Christmas movie.

 

[sarahann77]

For me it’s Up OnThe Rooftop. “Up on the roof top reindeer pause, out jumps good old Santa Claus.“ The first time i heard it as a little kid I thought “reindeer don’t have paws”. To this day my brain hears Reindeer paws.

I'm with BrianL. It's not Paws?? I never thought I had a misheard lyric item but apparently that is it. Guess I've never seen it written down to know the difference.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm with BrianL. It's not Paws?? I never thought I had a misheard lyric item but apparently that is it. Guess I've never seen it written down to know the difference.

Actually it is "paws" according the all the lyric sites.

That's (from Merriam-Webster):
paw
verb
pawed; pawing; paws
Definition of paw (Entry 2 of 2)
transitive verb
1: to touch or strike at with a paw
2: to feel or touch clumsily, rudely, or sexually
3: to scrape or beat with or as if with a hoof
4: to flail at or grab for wildly
intransitive verb
1: to beat or scrape something with or as if with a hoof
2: to touch or strike with a paw
3: to feel or touch someone or something clumsily, rudely, or sexually
4: to flail or grab wildly
5: to search especially carelessly or roughly pawed through the box of discount items

 

[Julie's Haircut]

The bombing of Pearl Harbor happened in December so I suppose it’s a Christmas movie.

Tora! Tora! Tora! also.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Not misheard, but a parody of We Three Kings the kids in the neighborhood used to sing.

We Three Kings of Orient far
Tried to smoke a rubber cigar
It was loaded and exploded
Boom!! We saw a star

Oh, star of wonder, star of might
Fill your pants with dynamite
Light the fuse and off we go
Around the world to Mexico