Music is great, isn’t it? The art of motion, the vibrations that make us human, that’s what music is and I for one can’t get enough of it. Nevertheless, like all music lovers, there comes a time in every person’s life where they realize that a song they have been singing their entire life doesn’t have the lyrics that they think it does. We call this a “Ya Dingus” moment, because that’s ultimately what people will say when you mess up the words at office karaoke. So, today, rather than subject you to such horrid future embarrassment, we have collected 10 of the most famous song lyrics that are always misheard. You’re welcome in advance.

 

1. “Take Me to Church” by Hozier. This first one is kind of a gimme, what with his Irish accent and all, but he actually says “She’s the wiggle at a funeral” rather than “She’s the giggle at a funeral.” He’s basically saying that while yes a giggle at a funeral would be unfortunate, a wiggle at a funeral would make you downright mad. Something he is, apparently, into.

 

2. “Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy. Of all of the lyrics to mishear in this song, the most often mis-sung one is “Drop a heart, break a name.” In reality, he says “Drop a fart, break some wind” because FOB is quite immature.

 

3. “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette. People think that the Canadian rock queen was saying “Of the cross I’d bear” but she is actually talking about her best friend Marco, a talking cross-eyed bear. Thankfully, unless you really over-enunciate no one can tell the difference, but it’s a fun anecdote we wanted to share anyway.

 

4. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails. In the chorus, Trent Reznor actually says “I want to flip you like a pancake.” This is a direct reference to Reznor’s notorious love of flapjacks. Or, I might have accidentally downloaded the KidzBop version. Alright, this one is my bad.

 

5. “Purple Rain” by Prince. This one is my personal favorite and what prompted me to write this in the first place. For years and years I thought he was saying “Purple Rain” in the chorus, but now I know he was saying “Slurpee Pain.” This was groundbreaking for Prince as an artist, as this was the first recorded song about the delicious 7/11 beverage.

 

6. “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver. Just the whole song. You’re not singing it right, stop it. 

 

7. “Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy (Part 2). Again, no one knows what he is saying in this song so it’s very easy to mess this up. When it sounds like he is saying “A loaded God Complex, cock it and pull it,” he is actually saying “Welcome to the Gun Show, meet Derek and Emit.” Of course, only true FOB fans know that this is what Pete Wentz calls his biceps and that the music drops out for him to kiss them when they perform this live.

 

8. “God is a Woman” by Ariana Grande. The actual lyrics are “God is a imperceivable web of white pulsing membranes stretched over itself a million times.” It’s a subtle thing and most people don’t get it right the first few times they listen to it, so don’t fret. Just make sure not to mess this up in the future or boy will you look like a fool.

 

9. “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics. Some have said that they hear “Sweet dreams are made of this,” but the correct opening line is “Sweet memes are made of this.” I’ll admit it’s a pretty meta time-travelling joke, even for Eurythmics, but it works somehow.

 

10. “Halo” by Beyoncé. This one is so widespread that even song lyrics websites have it written down improperly. They claim that the Queen Herself says the line “I feel like I’ve been awakened,” when in reality the line is “I feel like I’ve just respawned.” This is a clear nod to the subject of the song, Halo CE, along with confirming that Beyoncé is in fact a gamer.

 

Well that’s all folks! Let us know what song lyrics you keep mishearing and maybe we’ll do another one.

 

 

 

 

This was written by Nathan Ellwood, who always thought he said “I want to slurp you like a Danimal.” Boy was he wrong. Follow him @NPEllwood.