Misheard lyrics have always been a fascination of mine. In tenth grade, I was positive that in the song "Betterman" by Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder was singing, "She dreams in color, she dreams in real" - and I thought that was really cool. Turns out he was saying "She dreams in color, she dreams in red." Not bad, but not as good either. Here's a famously bewildering song (with attendant visual interpretation) from those incorrigible grunge stylists:
Who gets credit for misheard lyrics or misremembered poetry, especially in cases where the line in question is superior to the original? Is there some invisible sleight-of-hand, some pranking muse, some holy ghost-writer out there, inspiring us to accidental greatness?
Or is all greatness accidental? I know I like to think so. At least, that is, when I reflect on Christina Aguilera's billboard success.
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2 comments:
Potato wave.
I laughed at an inappropriately high decibel level considering my job.
Incidentally, the drummer in my high school garage band was absolutely sure that Soundgarden's "Fell on Black Days" included the refrain "shit on my new chains" ("sure don't mind the change").
And that the chorus for Bush's "Everything Zen" was "So she wants my water."
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