MONDEGREEN

I am quite suspicious of this genre.

But let me explain what we are talking about, first.

A 'mondegreen' usually is a misunderstood / wrongly interpreted lyric.

The term 'mondegreen' is said to derive from the following event.

Sylvia Wright (Google away, friends) is said to have heard a Scottish ballad - The Bonnie Earl of Murray - as a child.
At the time she understood one of the stanzas to run as follows:

Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
Oh where hae you been?
They hae slay the Earl of Murray
And Lady Mondegreen

As you will understand, the last line of this stanza actually runs as follows:

And laid him on the green

Hence the name.

There are quite a few collectors of mondegreens on the Internet (Google away, friends).

However, I think there are also quite a few 'inventors', people who concoct their own mondegreens.

Mondegreens may be quite funny, though.

All right, just two examples I grabbed from the Internet:

Bob Dylan
'Blowin' in the Wind'

Wrong lyric: The ants are my friend, they're blowin' in the wind
Right lyric: The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones, 'Beast of Burden'

Wrong lyric: I'll never leave your pizza burning
Right lyric: I'll never be your beast of burden
(very suspect, this one)

Have fun ...

return