Song Lyrics

Have you ever gotten the lyrics of a popular song all wrong? Usually this is corrected only when you get drunk one night and start to sing it wildly. You insert your kooky mistaken lyric by habit and your friend's have a hysterical laugh at your expense for the rest of the night. Yet something about your brain just doesn't register properly and for the rest of all time, every time you hear that song, you still sing it differently. This has happened to me on numerous occasions. I have different lyric combinations for all sorts of different songs and I can't shake them no matter how many times I remind myself that the lyrics are wrong. For example, for the longest time, I had always thought that "More human than human." was actually, "For you've been the best that you've been." Now whenever I hear that song, even though I now know what the singer is saying, I still hear my version. We all know that "Excuse me while I kiss the sky" can easily be mistaken for "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" and many people still sing it that way. Sometimes lyrics are just added randomly from out of nowhere. For example, where, in the entire lyric list for "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol, is that inappropriate line that I know you all have heard but I won't repeat here. It must have just been added along the line somewhere. Was probably just some drunk frat boy at a party, I'm sure.

A friend of mine went to a wedding and the father of the groom was quite intoxicated. He went up to the DJ and demanded that he play "Slow Motion Walter". The DJ was thoroughly confused and said that he had never heard of the song. The groom's father insisted that it was a popular song and that the DJ must have it. Again the DJ assured him that he had never heard of the song but maybe if the man were to sing a little bit of it then he might recognize it. The shiny nosed, fairly robust man cleared his throat and belted out to the tune of Smoke on the Water: "Slow motion Walter! The fire engine guy!" That makes a DJ's day, I am sure of it.

Now that I have a child, I find that I am also mistaking the lyrics to some of her favourite TV shows and sometimes I have to listen more carefully because some of these songs, harmless as they are for children, cause us adults, with our brains rolling around in the filthy gutter, to do a stern double take. And who can forget Dora and Diego. I can't even get the English lyrics right and now cartoons are expecting me to sing along in Spanish as well. I don't have a hope.

Did you know that the tune of twinkle, twinkle little star is also used for the alphabet song? After having worked with many children I have noticed that they don't realize this. They truly believe that they are singing a completely different tune because there are different lyrics. Even if you sing both songs back to back. Also, I can sing all sorts of different tunes to my baby and she will just keep playing and not really notice but as soon as I sing anything to the tune of 'Come Josephine, In My Flying Machine', she immediately takes interest and stares at me in wonder. She absolutely loves that song and it is the only way to get her attention sometimes.

Come Josephine, In My Flying Machine

Oh, say! Let us fly, dear
Where, kid?
To the sky dear
Oh, you flying machine!
Jump in Miss Josephine
Ship Ahoy!
Oh, joy! What a feeling
Feels cold, thru the ceiling. Ho, high!
Hoopla, we fly! To the sky so high

Chorus:
Come Josephine, in my flying machine
Going up, she goes! Up she goes!
Balance yourself like a bird on a beam
In the air she goes; there she goes!
Up, up, a little bit higher.
Oh, my! The moon is on fire.
Come, Josephine in my flying machine
Going up, all on, "Goodbye"

(Repeat Chorus)

One, two, now we're off, dear.
Oh, you, pretty soft, dear.
Whoa! Say! Don't hit the moon.
Oh, no, not yet but soon. You for me,
Oh, gee! You're a fly kid.
Not me, I'm a sky kid.
Gee! I'm up in the air about you for fair

(Repeat Chorus)

If you want to hear the tune then go to this link