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Beatles forums => Songs => Topic started by: KelMar on December 18, 2013, 08:24:42 AM

Title: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: KelMar on December 18, 2013, 08:24:42 AM
I have to say it's been a pleasure joining this forum.

I'm glad you're jumping right in!

Interesting to hear from others about examples of what they thought a song's lyrics meant when they were younger to when they became older and wiser.

This is kind of a dumb one and goes back to when I was very young but I thought "You Won't See Me" meant that Paul was going to keep out of sight. You know, kind of skulk around. I didn't grasp "see" as allowing someone to visit. So in my interpretation he was the one doing the rejecting. I'm sure I had a bunch like this because I started really listening to my sister's Beatles records when I was in second grade and I misunderstood a lot in general back then! I'll wait until I can come up with something more meaningful before I share again though.  ;)
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 18, 2013, 09:28:21 AM

This is kind of a dumb one and goes back to when I was very young but I thought "You Won't See Me" meant that Paul was going to keep out of sight. You know, kind of skulk around. I didn't grasp "see" as allowing someone to visit. So in my interpretation he was the one doing the rejecting. I'm sure I had a bunch like this because I started really listening to my sister's Beatles records when I was in second grade and I misunderstood a lot in general back then! I'll wait until I can come up with something more meaningful before I share again though.  ;)

That's a good one. I use to mishear Can't Buy Me Love and thought they were singing "the money just came by" rather than " that money just can't buy", as if the poor person had just missed the daily money delivery.

Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 18, 2013, 09:33:32 AM
And when I heard I am the Walrus and John sang "I am the egg man" I thought he was saying he was a man who was an egg.....

 Uh. Hold on....
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: KelMar on December 18, 2013, 05:03:26 PM
And when I heard I am the Walrus and John sang "I am the egg man" I thought he was saying he was a man who was an egg.....

 Uh. Hold on....

I'm glad I'm not the only one!
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 19, 2013, 07:14:14 AM
And I'm still not sure just how I interpreted "love her till the cows come home" from When I Get Home. I assume I imagined the Beatles were farmers in their spare time.

Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: KelMar on December 19, 2013, 05:33:48 PM
And I'm still not sure just how I interpreted "love her till the cows come home" from When I Get Home. I assume I imagined the Beatles were farmers in their spare time.

 ha2ha I've often thought that line was put in there on a dare.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 19, 2013, 11:44:45 PM
And I'm still not sure just how I interpreted "love her till the cows come home" from When I Get Home. I assume I imagined the Beatles were farmers in their spare time.




ha2ha I've often thought that line was put in there on a dare.



Groucho explains it well...


Marx Brothers - Duck Soup - Rufus T Fireflys introduction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsw9jYU_rJI#)
3:05
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: KelMar on December 20, 2013, 03:05:46 AM
Groucho explains it well...

Funny! And not just the explanation, the whole thing. Groucho was a riot.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 30, 2013, 12:30:34 AM
One that I was reminded of on the weekend was when as a young'un I used to listen to Ticket to Ride. I was sure they were singing "Shot a do right by me". What exactly a "do" was an why she'd be firing it in the Fab's direction my young mind didn't explore further.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: KelMar on December 30, 2013, 02:10:16 AM
One that I was reminded of on the weekend was when as a young'un I used to listen to Ticket to Ride. I was sure they were singing "Shot a do right by me". What exactly a "do" was an why she'd be firing it in the Fab's direction my young mind didn't explore further.

Maybe it was a hairdo; one of those fake ponytails like my sister's friend ordered out of the back of a magazine. Or a beehive.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 30, 2013, 02:45:31 AM
One that I was reminded of on the weekend was when as a young'un I used to listen to Ticket to Ride. I was sure they were singing "Shot a do right by me". What exactly a "do" was an why she'd be firing it in the Fab's direction my young mind didn't explore further.


Maybe it was a hairdo; one of those fake ponytails like my sister's friend ordered out of the back of a magazine. Or a beehive.


Or maybe you were thinking of...


(http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/avv/fotos/dudleydibujito.jpg)


(http://media-files.gathermedia.info/images/d333/d702/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg)



 ;)
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 30, 2013, 03:07:33 AM
Or maybe you were thinking of...


([url]http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/avv/fotos/dudleydibujito.jpg[/url])


([url]http://media-files.gathermedia.info/images/d333/d702/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg[/url])



Hey I remember him. Childhood memories. Flooding back.

Man. Shooting Dudley right next to the Beatles?  That's cold. Johns was better off without her.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 30, 2013, 03:29:12 AM
Maybe it was a hairdo; one of those fake ponytails like my sister's friend ordered out of the back of a magazine. Or a beehive.

Did they provide ponytail loading rifles as well?? ???

I could see (forgetting all the literal shooting for a minute) how that interpretation might even work in a slightly symbolic way.

Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Normandie on December 31, 2013, 03:50:56 AM
ha2ha I've often thought that line was put in there on a dare.

I always thought that, too, Kelley!  :laugh:

This isn't Beatles related, but I remember in my sixth-grade music class the teacher playing us the Stones' "Get Off My Cloud" and telling us that in England a "cloud" referred to a woman, and that the song was saying, in essence, "Stay away from my woman." I labored under that misperception for a few years. I wonder why she just didn't pick another song if she didn't want to tell us it was drug related, rather than making up some goofy lie.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 31, 2013, 04:10:48 AM
I always thought that, too, Kelley!  :laugh:

This isn't Beatles related, but I remember in my sixth-grade music class the teacher playing us the Stones' "Get Off My Cloud" and telling us that in England a "cloud" referred to a woman, and that the song was saying, in essence, "Stay away from my woman." I labored under that misperception for a few years. I wonder why she just didn't pick another song if she didn't want to tell us it was drug related, rather than making up some goofy lie.

Well. It would lend interesting interpretations to a host of songs:

Cloud 9
Above the Clouds
Cloud on my Tongue
Cloudbusting



Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Normandie on December 31, 2013, 03:30:31 PM
Well. It would lend interesting interpretations to a host of songs:


 ha2ha Good point! That made me laugh out loud. I'll have to try to think of some others...
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: KelMar on December 31, 2013, 10:23:18 PM
Did they provide ponytail loading rifles as well?? ???

I could see (forgetting all the literal shooting for a minute) how that interpretation might even work in a slightly symbolic way.


I was thinking of shot in a different way, as in something moving by quickly; not necessarily from a gun. With all that jumping and screaming and chasing the girls tended to do in the Beatles' presence I could picture someone losing their fake 'do.  I think Ringo's on the lookout for one here:

(http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee372/KelMar1963/the_beatles_running-LOMO_style_photography_Works_Desktop_1152x864_zps9f0cbe5f.jpg) (http://s1224.photobucket.com/user/KelMar1963/media/the_beatles_running-LOMO_style_photography_Works_Desktop_1152x864_zps9f0cbe5f.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Urban Space Cowboy on January 02, 2014, 03:55:43 AM
Hello everyone who's about to fall over themselves to welcome me to the forums! When I was a lad...I thought the repeated first line from "Eleanor Rigby" was "What about all the lonely people?", expressing sympathy. Rather disappointing finding it was really "Ah, look at all the lonely people", which seems comparatively more crass.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Fab4Fan on January 02, 2014, 04:21:20 AM
WELCOME, Urban Space Cowboy, I hope you enjoy it here!!   partypeople
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 02, 2014, 04:43:43 AM
<picking myself up>  Yes, welcome to the Forum, Urban Space Cowboy.  Enjoy your stay here.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 02, 2014, 05:04:10 AM
<picking myself up>
Cuuuuuuute!

Welcome USC!
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Normandie on January 02, 2014, 07:48:12 PM

Welcome to the forum, Urban Space Cowboy  :)

In regard to misinterpreted lyrics, I can't recall if this was mentioned on this forum or a different one, but for the longest time, even as an adult, I thought in Maxwell's Silver Hammer Paul was singing "Writing 50 times 'I'm a snot'..." I think I just realized a couple of years ago that he's actually singing "I must not...."
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: real01 on April 17, 2014, 07:59:25 PM
Hello everyone who's about to fall over themselves to welcome me to the forums! When I was a lad...I thought the repeated first line from "Eleanor Rigby" was "What about all the lonely people?", expressing sympathy. Rather disappointing finding it was really "Ah, look at all the lonely people", which seems comparatively more crass.

I see this in a different way.
The song starts with an exclamation (Aaah!) - and when you use that kind of word, you want to draw people's attention. (Aaah! Look at that!)
The next is: Look at the lonely people! - it is pointed out to us, to take a look or to notice all that lonely people. So, I think it is very subtle.

Just for comparison - John used the same thing for effect in Gimme Some Truth:
Ah, I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

http://www.metrolyrics.com/just-gimme-some-truth-lyrics-john-lennon.html (http://www.metrolyrics.com/just-gimme-some-truth-lyrics-john-lennon.html)

So, the lyrics are more convincing: I'm really sick and tired of those hypocrites...
And it is not just short 'ah' - John sings it like this: painful and prolounged 'AAAaaaaah!'.

As for misheard lyrics in ER - I thought the line goes - I look at all the lonely people.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Mr Mustard on December 27, 2021, 08:06:00 PM
After a lifetime listening to Beatles songs and singing along with them, I was staggered to learn today that I have been getting a line from "Wait" wrong for all these years...

Instead of:
"But if your heart breaks,
Don't wait,
Turn Me Away
And if your heart's strong,
Hold On,
I won't delay"

I have ALWAYS sung:

"But if your heart breaks,
Don't wait,
Turn me away
And if your heart's strong,
Hold on,
I won't be late"

It was bad enough a few years ago when I discovered that on "Love You To" George was singing:

"Love me while you can,
Before I'm a dead old man"

rather than:

"Love me while you can,
Love our fellow man"

Oh dear... I wonder what else I've been misconstruing?

Reminds me of the time I had to explain to a friend that "She's Not You" by Elvis was NOT Presley telling a friend that their new girlfriend wasn't right for and didn't suit them (She's just not "you" somehow; the match doesn't work). My friend had simply never realised that Elvis was telling his own girl that the woman of his dreams wasn't her, but someone else.

Funny how we can sometimes lock-in a completely wrong perspective on a song and stick with it for years without realising.

Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Normandie on December 27, 2021, 08:32:36 PM
I have ALWAYS sung:

"But if your heart breaks,
Don't wait,
Turn me away
And if your heart's strong,
Hold on,
I won't be late"

So have I! I was surprised to learn I've been getting that wrong for about 30 years now.

Funny how we can sometimes lock-in a completely wrong perspective on a song and stick with it for years without realising.

Indeed. I fell prey to the "I can't hide" line in "I Want to Hold Your Hand." When I read of the Beatles' first encounter with Bob Dylan I was really surprised to learn that's the line they were singing, not "I get high." I heard "I get high" for years.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on December 27, 2021, 09:37:35 PM

"Love me while you can,
Before I'm a dead old man"

rather than:

"Love me while you can,
Love our fellow man"

Oh dear... I wonder what else I've been misconstruing?


I barely knew what he was singing there. I heard the last line as something like

“Or I’ll get a plan”

Even after finding out the real line i still struggle to hear it that way.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: Moogmodule on August 23, 2023, 09:12:28 AM
Norwegian Wood came on the radio and it reminded me that I used to hear “biding my time” as “biting my tie”.

No idea what I thought it was supposed to mean.
Title: Re: Misinterpreted Lyrics
Post by: blmeanie on August 23, 2023, 10:33:58 AM
In John's solo song God, I knew the opening as
"God is a constant by which measures our pain"

"God is a concept by which measures our pain"

A great friend and fellow Beatle fan heard me sing it once, many years ago and corrected me. 
I'm a math person, I think constant works equally well and still hear it that way.