misheard lyrics

[Doug Mullins]

does this feature still get updated? i've submitted a few but they haven't appeared on the page at all

here are some:

from Triangle:
"like lovers like lovers like danger, like babies like mangers, but that's where the story begins"

from Let It Ride:
"bust his engines came in flight"

from The Auctioneer:
"sold that horse for a $50 bill"

[joveski]

does this feature still get updated? i've submitted a few but they haven't appeared on the page at all

here are some:

from Triangle:
"like lovers like lovers like danger, like babies like mangers, but that's where the story begins"

from Let It Ride:
"bust his engines came in flight"

from The Auctioneer:
"sold that horse for a $50 bill"

[brink]

I also was looking for that thread, I thought DMD3 was the one who started it, but here is my contribution.

From the Watchman's Gone I thought the line "If I gave you a rose buddy, would you bury it in the field", said:

If I gave you a ghost body, would you bury it in the field"

I love the song and have been singing the ghost body line forever.

[joveski]

it's not actually a "thread" but there is a link on the main page to it near the lyrics section.

brink, i also thought it was "buddy" in the watchmans gone. i didn't even think it was a "misheard" lyric http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

[DMD3]

Shadows: From the mountains in the spring time on a gloomy windy day

From the mountains in the spring time on a blue and windy day

High And Dry: If it wasn't for Long John Silver all of us pirates would've been murdered/martar
If it wasn't for Long John Silver all of us pirates would've been marytres(I didn't even know this word existed until I looked at the lyrics on the 'songs' page on this site. I never would've guessed.)

[This message has been edited by DMD3 (edited September 02, 2003).]

[Borderstone]

I've misheard some obvious ones. I thought Carefree Highway,was Every Highway. I heard and sang,"she's been lookin' kinda mean,in a snail slow dream and she doughnuts all the way and it's really keen!" (Hey,I was 6 okay?!) http://www.corfid.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif Those are the only GL ones I misheard. Thank goodness! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif Been me! Later! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif

------------------
Borderstone - "Little 'Ol Message Maker Me!" :)

[Big Blue]

How about naked limbs and wheat thins instead of naked limbs and wheat bins from Pussywillows. Or climb in your window and waltz instead of climbing your windows and walls from Your Love's Return. Also, not so funny, but that good ship and true was abound to be chewed instead of a bone to be chewed. Needless to say, I felt rather embarrassed at each revelation.

[DMD3]

quote:Originally posted by Big Blue:
. Also, not so funny, but that good ship and true was abound to be chewed instead of a bone to be chewed. Needless to say, I felt rather embarrassed at each revelation.[/B]

I also had made that same mistake, I just thought he was saying "a bound" in an English accent or something. Either one fits just fine to me though.

[DMD3]

In 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' I always thought the lyrics were "drivin' em' in and tie'in em' down" but just the other day I was listening and could've sworn I heard him say "layin' em' in and tie'in em' down"! My brain is getting all messed up! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/confused.gif

[Tarheel]

Very well indeed.

[Whocares]

In Cold Hands from NY the line "I was optimistic"
Thought it was "I was off to Mystic oh..."

I WAS off!
________
VOLCANO VAPORIZER (http://vaporizers.net/volcano-vaporizer)

[Steve DeRosa]

From "Songs The Minstrel Sang" the line: "She almost made it to the friar's gate" I wrongly thought was "She almost made it to the fire escape"!

[Auburn Annie]

quote:Originally posted by Oma:
From "Songs The Minstrel Sang" the line: "She almost made it to the friar's gate" I wrongly thought was "She almost made it to the fire escape"!



"...But the old wooden bridge wouldn't elevate...." <grin>

[Steve DeRosa]

Annie...are you implying that there may be a double meaning to that old wooden bridge line???? http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Gaby]

Oma! I'm shocked!

Are you trying to imply that My Pony Won't Go over that old wooden bridge?

[Auburn Annie]

quote:Originally posted by Oma:
Annie...are you implying that there may be a double meaning to that old wooden bridge line???? http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif

Well let's just say that Gord's lyrics are often open to, um, interpretation - one of the joys of his music.

[powersofanordinary]

Everybody knows that if there is double meaning to be found in a song from that era, it is about drugs, not sex... maybe sex that was the result of drugs.
As for misheard lyrics, I believed for some time (until I looked up the written lyrics online) that the line in "Bitter Green" "Kneeling in the churchyard in the autumn mist" was actually "Long inside the churchyard, he lies there in the mist". I think I was trying to make it sound more like the earlier line "Lost upon the ocean he died there in the mist". Also, I'm not entirely this song is a love song in the traditional sense. Yes, I know it mentions the words "kiss" and "hand", but the loyally waiting for her master bit, and the idea that the hero of the song may or may not be a sailor? That's Odysseus and Argos, right? This song is about dog, isn't it?

[Gaby]

Oh, heavens! I think you're right, powers/o/a/o.

I'd always thought it was about a prostitute.

Just shows the way my mind works. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/redface.gif

[endlesswire78]

i thought songs the minstrel sang was "his name was dean and his shop was clean" and "the old wooden bitch wouldn't eleavate" also i used to sing "every hiney" as a kid for carefree highway, one other one to add is on seven isle suite; "you seem to think because she got chicken mcdough your in luck"

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by endlesswire78:
i thought songs the minstrel sang was "his name was dean and his shop was clean" and "the old wooden bitch wouldn't eleavate" also i used to sing "every hiney" as a kid for carefree highway, one other one to add is on seven isle suite; "you seem to think because she got chicken mcdough your in luck"


Chicken McDough? Don't let McDonald's see that! They'll create another new chicken sandwich.

Cathy

[AZroute74]

I think this is a misheard lyric. Or am I hearing it right?

From Seven Island Suite: "Brothers will desert you when you're down and $h!t-out-of-luck."

If that is the actual lyric, I like it, honestly, because it's the darn truth.

[joveski]

that's it i think. not misheard at all!

[miketouhy]

i thought old Dan's records was old dams records.

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by DMD3:
In 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' I always thought the lyrics were "drivin' em' in and tie'in em' down" but just the other day I was listening and could've sworn I heard him say "layin' em' in and tie'in em' down"! My brain is getting all messed up! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/confused.gif


It depends on the version you're listening to. If I remember right, he sings it the first way in one version and the second way in another. Maybe I'm thinking of the UA version, vs. the Gord's Gold version.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[Cathy]

The worst, most embarrassing example of a misheard lyric I've ever heard originated from my two sons when they were quite young. They heard Long Thin Dawn as Long Thin Dong. They stared at me in amazement as I sang along with the CD, thinking their straight-laced mother would never sing a song like that!

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[Brian 57]

My four year-old son was snuggled up to me at nap time this afternoon. I put Harmony in the CD player, and during "River of Light" just after the line "Good to be on a river somewhere" he looks up at me and says "did that man just say go pee in the river?"

[Borderstone]

In "Cabaret", I first thought the line that ends with (On-Tar-I-O!) was "..and still I'd like to tell her,that I miss her so,oh,on the air I go!"



------------------
"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." ;) - Borderstone

[irish47]

I still like the one that Wes mentioned about 100 years ago, from a Cleveland (?) concert (think it was Wes...)

"All the Lovely Ladies in refineries tonight..."

Another that I heard in 1980 or 81, very first Concert after Dream St. was released:

"I don't remember where she said she would be, back in the City or up in a tree..."

...alternating with "on the TV"....

Don't think he ever actually sang the words "On the High Seas" that night.

It was also the first time he played "Keepin' On Yearin'"....song was stuck in my head for 20 years, never heard it again until....Songbook! It's still stuck in my head!!!

[Shipwrecked_00s]

I still like the one that Wes mentioned about 100 years ago, from a Cleveland (?) concert (think it was Wes...)

"All the Lovely Ladies in refineries tonight..."

Another that I heard in 1980 or 81, very first Concert after Dream St. was released:

"I don't remember where she said she would be, back in the City or up in a tree..."

...alternating with "on the TV"....

Don't think he ever actually sang the words "On the High Seas" that night.

It was also the first time he played "Keepin' On Yearin'"....song was stuck in my head for 20 years, never heard it again until....Songbook! It's still stuck in my head!!!

[joveski]

"On The TV" was actaully the original title for the song. on the soundstage 79 special he introduced it as a "new song" called "on the tv".. maybe he still sang those lyrics into the 80s?

[joveski]

bumpiy bump - i'm sure we have some new ones!

[Jenney]

In a line from "Pussywillows, Cat-tails".. I thought Gordon was singing "wheat thins"...but it's "wheat-bins". As I am fond of Wheat Thins, I was deeply disappointed to learn otherwise. And was embarrassed that I heard 'thins' instead of 'bins'...until someone else told me that they thought it was 'thins' too.

I'm the someone else! I thought it was just a bunch of naked people lying around eating crackers! Put a whole different spin on it.
Jenney

[geodeticman.5]

Now that you guys mention the naked limbs in "Pussywillows, Cat-tails.." w/o consulting lyrics tables myself, I wonder if he took an opposite turn here. That is to say, Gordon. and the phrase naked limbs..and wheat bins (thins..lol), to the end of being ...shall we say ...less provocative than we think ?

As opposed to double-entendre being of course more provocative than first-listen as the norm on the dual-meaning end of lyrics mis-heard, where if we are infact hearing "naked limbs" correctly, AND despite it seeming a summer-time or spring song. If, however, in the context of shivering, and wood-fires a blazin'... I wonder if all of what I've said thus far leads to this::clap: "naked limbs" could in fact be a reference to a common term people who work with trees in anyway frequently use the term "denuded trees/vegetation" - even in -groan-:eek: mapping - "denudedtrees" is the phrase used for the assumption of the aerial photos being flown at the right time of year - when there are no leaves, and you can see more of the ground, which is the goal.

So..... could he have meant all along, taking shivering, and wood fires a-blazin' into account....that he means a cold(er) time of year with leaves off of the trees, hence...my wondering, however unlikely, to use a techie term reserved commonly to forestry, landscaping, and mapping, that he's possibly MEANING when indeed singing "naked limbs", that its cold enough out (shivering) that there are no leaves on the trees e.g. anytime other than late spring thru mid-autumn, and in fact the trees are "denuded" which of course every student tee-hees as least to themselves when they first hear it, but find it means nothing even remotely ..er..provocative.

He does mention the warm breath of spring as I recall, implying to me its cool out and they're shivering, but there's a hint of spring in the air ? 'cept pussywillows don't grow before trees get leaves do they ? Aw-heck...over analyses.. somebody slap me back to my senses ! lol

I know, in one sentence instead of the above lol... :

Could it be cold enough out that the trees have no leaves [are de-nuded] and thats the simple meaning of naked [tree?] limbs in context of ...shivering.. & ...wood-fires a-blazin' ?

OK time for somebody to hit the gong, or put the big hook out on stage lol....hey it possible.......:biggrin::rolleyes:

I have no doubt Lightfoot is an expert forester, Landscape Architect, and aerial mapper.

Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it, to paraphrase RM
!
Is it not equally likely a double-entendre could work both directions ? NO. ok....:rolleyes:

[geodeticman.5]

Podunk: lol....lol.....-cough- lol lol.... Your range of knowledge in varying sciences and arts never ceases to amaze me Podunk - I did my mental mind's eye hypothesis of this half in jest; half then taken seriously, without looking at the lyrics on purpose. Sounds like...lol... I would have picked-up on the 4-seasons thing there.... I love the comments you made on the -ahem- semi-autobiographical notes there..... I love it.... lol.. brings back some farmer's land adjoiners memories from Ohio for me...

Know what I really like most about that song ?.... stupid thing... but I wish I knew the instrument played, I think its a French Horn, or oboe/bass clarinet d/k even woodwind or brass... but there is a (pardon my ignorance of music theory) riff in the instrumental spots at the beginning and various times through. This one instrument picks up in a solo of sorts after every set of lyrics where he stops singing for several seconds, and it goes intrumental.

That ...one...instrument... brings back another memory for me from Ohio autumns down in Brunswick, a small town out in the country I drove back to after graduating in '76 from Estes in Colorado, and saving $2k working at a lumberyard locally, for my planned Steinbeck/Moon-Blue Highways/Kerouac w/o the weirdness-esque road trip into the New England Autumn, winding up one late afternoon down in Brunswick, Ohio; the perfect autumn day; crisp air after an Indian Summer midday. I was, of course, playing Lightfoot on the car stereo. I distinctly remember playing Seven Islands, Is There Anyone Home, Changes, Crossroads, and my other favourite autumn and on the road songs.

At about 4pm or so , I stopped for a steak ( I'd earned it, labour $), where there was a young woman waiting tables that absolutely entranced me. She could have asked me for my clothes, my boots, and my motorcycle ala T2/the Gubbernator lol j/k - she could have asked me for my car, my credit carD (1), all my money, and everything I brought of value and necessity of mine in the car - camping/climbing gear, very good stereo, books/music/memorabilia/prized collections/special posessions/box of paper and tin etc/ - so to speak of course... I'd been on the road for about 6 weeks by this point - did not know where I was going to plant roots, or at all, what.... open ended agenda.

Scared the hell out of my parents, had not yet decided to go to college, did not know where I wanted to live/work/fill in the blank... and this woman and I connected...not the way my future wife and I did much, much more and permanent- it stuck, with her, but that waitress for ONE DAY was the whole world to me... that day..., but that autumn, that day, that woman, well....driving around in the car later that evening; thinking of her, the SONG played - Pussywillows,Cattails, Soft winds and roses..... and that instrumental riff (?) withthat oboe or french horn playing as I looked at her one more time as I drove away... the two sensory images are forever fused in memory relationally; no pun intended. Isn't it amazing what beautiful music and other poigmant moments that serendipitously come together like that etch indelibly in our memory ? Whenever I hear that song... I see her face..and leave it at that.

About 5 months later, after heading south for the winter to Florida, I finally made my way home on my last dollars of gas. TWO weeks later I met my wife-to-be... and that, THAT, took... Permanent. And her and my 'song', that I will always see/hear/etc Merry by is "Beautiful". And she was, in all ways.

Anyway....

So, I hear ya, except I think yours was humorous and certainly in good taste... I have to think about the logistic points you presented and found logically to be the case in the lyrics versus the metaphors.... very interesting read.... gotta think about that..chew it over some more... Thanks - always interesting and thought-provoking are your reads, Podunk.. Gotta read it again, then ACTUALLY look at the lyrics.

Thanks for sharing that.

[geodeticman.5]

Podunk - naaa... you're right.. its the act of human reproduction, pure and- not so simple. lol my bare tree limbs postulation was only a "I wonder if ?" remote possibility. Its about sex. We can tastefully say it - and leave it at that. AND THATS, OK. I'm good enough, smart enough, and GOSH DARN it, people LIKE me ! lol - have you seen that SNL skit with the comedian SML skit-writer-turned author-now political hopeful (Al.. ) -Frankensteen ? - his name is something like that.... well he played that spoof of self-affirmation character in the blue sweater, who'd look at himself. and repeat that "GOOD ENOUGH" mantra - very funny. Al Franken - thats it..... a smart cooky, but not sure if he's ready for a balanced approach in ..the subject we'll wisely avoid...lol..


Thanks for the comments, Podunk. very ..generous....lol

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

I've noticed several threads referring to misheard/misunderstood Lightfoot lyrics and I'd like to add one. The first Lightfoot album I heard was the vinyl copy of "Summertime Dream" my older sister had bought months earlier. I told her one of my favourite songs on it was "Spanish Moss". She obviously hadn't read the album cover very well, because she sounded surprised and said she had always thought it was "Spanish Moths"!

[Jenney]

Love it!
Spanish Moths, keep on following my thoughts around.....

[jj]

"Spanish Moths"!

...memoreeth of thavannah thummertime:)

[bjm7777]

...wish you knew what I wath thayin".....

[charlene]

http://www.kissthisguy.com/135songsof-Gordon-Lightfoot.htm

[timetraveler]

I've noticed several threads referring to misheard/misunderstood Lightfoot lyrics and I'd like to add one. The first Lightfoot album I heard was the vinyl copy of "Summertime Dream" my older sister had bought months earlier. I told her one of my favourite songs on it was "Spanish Moss". She obviously hadn't read the album cover very well, because she sounded surprised and said she had always thought it was "Spanish Moths"!My mum is often surprised like that herself. We'll be setting in the kitchen listening to the radio & she'll have to ask me just what a particular artist is saying.

[Borderstone]

I was a kid when "Wreck" came out and when I finally heard it,
this is one example of what I thought I heard:

" The dog came late and his breakfast had to wait,when the whales of November came laughin' "!

:biggrin: LOL!

[Borderstone]

Here's an old "misheard lyrics" thread!

[Auburn Annie]

Mondegreens, they're called mondegreens .. Google and enjoy. The Hendrix one has been around since Purple Haze, lol.

Good explanation here:
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Resources/essays/mondegreens.html

[geodeticman.5]

Here is the whole point of this thread in a nutshell: I'm hoping others have also heard certain words or phrases in Gord's songs incorrectly, and for even years didn't know it. Do you have any like that too?.

Here is my first entry, a near 40-year error of mine in listening to one of my favorite songs of THE MAN'S:

I was listening to "All The Lovely Ladies" yesterday, and it occurred to me that there were a few words or phrases here or there that I've always thought were curious, and come to find out, after reading the lyrics, were entirely different.

This is not a new thread idea, but one on my mind lately. So I thought I'd own-up to words which I've always heard wrong, and see if I'm the only one. I doubt it :biggrin:

I'll start with this one, because there are many:

from "All The Lovely Ladies", in the following lines:

"To all the lovely ladies in their finery tonight
I wish that I could kiss you while you knit"

FOR A LAUGH RIGHT HERE ON THE ABOVE: I have knelt so hammered into my head I even wrote it at first in the above, where I meant to have the correct word knit. I corrected it. Duhh. Caught it today on Sunday, LOL

For almost 40 years I thought "knit" was knelt. And I pictured some lovely lady genuflecting at the site of Gord, LOL. While I thought it odd, I never questioned it, because it sounded like that word. I was very surprised to see "knit". What a word, that so many people, at least in the states, would consider an antiquated notion. Knitting. However innaccurate, it elicits images of ladies magically knitting scarfs and such, and doesn't seem to fit the image I had of the song's setting of what I thought was, well, a bordello (however fancy. Or, perhaps a more tasteful and refined, but not quite puritanical setting, of a sort of "high-end singles mixer", where finely-dressed ladies and gentlemen strolled in, all with prurient interests, picked out their date, and strolled out with arched eyebrows in sartorial splendor. After all, they are finely-dressed. ;)

The other phrase from the same song that I've been wrong on for almost 40 years as well is in these lines:

To all the ones who learn to live with being second-guessed
Whose job it is to give more then they get

I've thought for all this time, in the same song, "second-guessed" was second-guest. While I know the song by heart, and the phrase second-guessed quite well, it didn't sound that way. The other was plausible, because it was, err.. Gord. And if he says so, its cool, you know what I mean? :cool:

I thought second-guest must have been a Canadian idiom, or colloquial term at least, for "a person who is farther back on the hand-out line", or used to being the second guest to, or at a function. I felt sympathy. It fit. I had no cause to question it. The other above, I should have questioned.

YOU WOULD THINK, in all this time, expecially when I did lyrics-quizzers for so long (that wasn't an ad for it :rolleyes: ) I would have come across that. I probably did, but you know what they say about the mind's eye: we see what we want, or expect to see.

Anyone else want to own-up to being human on lyrics discernment?

I hope I'm not alone in this, LOL. :headbang::biggrin:

[charlene]

I believe I read that he wrote it for the audiences that come to his shows... SONGBOOK liner notes: A Valentine to the audience, where we recognize "all the lovely ladies in their finery tonight," and then the "handsome gentlemen."

[geodeticman.5]

I believe I read that he wrote it for the audiences that come to his shows... SONGBOOK liner notes: A Valentine to the audience, where we recognize "all the lovely ladies in their finery tonight," and then the "handsome gentlemen."

Thanks Char, aren't I the embarrassed one. That makes perfect sense on people (couples)coming in to the concert, having dressed-up for the it, and leaving in the same pairs (for the most part, LOL) as came in. If I'd read the little booklet, I'd be OK, right? LOL. But hope remains on my thread's intent: hearing specific words wrong for in some cases, a long time, but not necessarily. It's the confessional aspect of the often humorous "heard THAT one wrong" on the word, as opposed to "I wonder what he means in that song, or that verse".

I do appreciate the correction of my misinterpretation of the whole image of the, well, "fancy bordello" image I had in mind for so long. It seemed oddly out of context with the prayer-like wishes for people who are down-trodden, falsely-occused, those who cannot write, those heavy-rounders with a headache for their pains.

I am hoping people will join me in this thought of specific words and phrases they've heard wrong, and never happened-upon the written lyrics,or in my case, despite having read virtually all of them to check back in lyrics quizzers to be sure, reading right over what I've heard wrong all along, and still didn't catch.

Thank Char for the insight!

Anyone hear any words wrong in songs besides me ?:headbang::rolleyes::)

[2silent2breal]

After 40 years, i still hear people singing "every highway." Probably the most misheard Lightfoot lyric.

I still catch myself singing "and the cats are in the sand." I guess I'm thinking they're using their litter box, I don't know.

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

Here's one that bugs me: In Alberta Bound, there is the lyric "no one I've met could e'er forget". On the interwebs however, you'll find THIS gem of an improvement: "No ONE-EYED MAN could e'er forget the Rocky Mountain sunset."

I'm sure Gord wonders why he didn't think of doing it that way.

I must add though, that as a St. Louis Cardinal fan who used to hate the NY team when they were in our division, I always heard that line as "no one-eyed Met". Just kidding, I knew better.

[banjobench12]

Back in the the late 70s Gord would joke that the band thought it was " All the lovely ladies in refineries tonight, I wish that I could relieve you of your change"

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

Back in the the late 70s Gord would joke that the band thought it was " All the lovely ladies in refineries tonight, I wish that I could relieve you of your change"


Oh, I like that!

[geodeticman.5]

Back in the the late 70s Gord would joke that the band thought it was " All the lovely ladies in refineries tonight, I wish that I could relieve you of your change"



Relieve you of your change bu-hahahahahaha...that is......Laughing out loud great. Thank you banjo............... and refineries.....that is hilarious muhahahahaha..:clap::biggrin:

[geodeticman.5]

....... "every highway." ..........still catch myself singing "and the cats are in the sand."

hahahaha....yes.... I tried singing those out loud, and while every highway seems the most likely, cats are in the sand - I can picture that as what the mind would expect from us all having changed those danged clay-dust boxes, LOL, even if it doesn't rhyme with "Bats in the roof, cats in the hall, dust on the stairway, gnats on the wall. I like it. Thanks for responding too you guys.:eek::headbang:

[geodeticman.5]

imported Ordinary Man you got base-a-de-ball on the brain, uh? LOL. Those are pretty funny.

[jj]

Old dance records

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

Old dance records

I could be wrong (often am) but I think Gord wrote the song Old Dan's Records from hearing someone actually say "old dance records" and thought it was a neat play on words.

[geodeticman.5]

jj, Man I am really not awake yet today. jj and imported: its taken me three edits to get this correct. I echoe'd imported Ordinary Man's post regarding your post jj, on "Old Dan's/ Dance Records, not seeing it at first that you (imported..)were pointing out exactly what I did on imported jj's comment. So I deleted it, and then had to correct it two times further to get this far, and hope fully correct, LOL. I'm not yet on my Second can Coke Zero yet. I finally posted this official government redaction. Sorry about that chiefs - the both of you.

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

As I posted a long time ago, my older sister believed "Spanish Moss" was actually "Spanish Moths".

[geodeticman.5]

As I posted a long time ago, my older sister believed "Spanish Moss" was actually "Spanish Moths".

That's what I'm talking about, YES! Very funny Dave :biggrin:

[Affair on Touhy Ave.]

jj, Man I am really not awake yet today. jj and imported: its taken me three edits to get this correct. I echoe'd imported Ordinary Man's post regarding your post jj, on "Old Dan's/ Dance Records, not seeing it at first that you (imported..)were pointing out exactly what I did on imported jj's comment. So I deleted it, and then had to correct it two times further to get this far, and hope fully correct, LOL. I'm not yet on my Second can Coke Zero yet. I finally posted this official government redaction. Sorry about that chiefs - the both of you.

As a kid listening to my parents GL LP's I thought he said Damn instead of Dan.

[jj]

Go easy on the coke zero. Poor Steve. Hey thanks ordinary man. I'll look it up


I've posted this before also. Perhaps on Wayne's newsgroup, eons ago

Only Love Would Know:

"She lives on another plane away from the driving range"

.... its actually "drivin' rain"

[2silent2breal]

This site (http://www.amiright.com/misheard/artist/lightfootgordon.shtml) compiles "misheard lyrics." As does this one (http://www.kissthisguy.com/). I really did LOL at "Does anyone know where the rubber part goes?"

[geodeticman.5]

2silent2breal, I checked out the site you linked, and they are hilarious. The first one I saw that is what I always have thought that I did hear was this:

"Early Morning Rain"

Misheard Lyrics:

But I'm stuck here on the grass
Where the pavement never grows.
[that's what I've always thought it was too, I'm embarrassed to admit. :whistle: ]

Original Lyrics:

But I'm stuck here on the grass
With a pain that ever grows.

[jj]

I could be wrong (often am) but I think Gord wrote the song Old Dan's Records from hearing someone actually say "old dance records" and thought it was a neat play on words.


Here is liner note quote:

"Kind of a play on the words old dance records. It reminds me of my uncle Jack's 78-RPM dance-record collection. It reminds me of hanging out with the grandparents at Christmastime or some other holiday, having a party and getting out the old vinyl"

....maybe it should have been called Old Jack's Records

[jj]

"Does anyone know where the rubber part goes?"

Cialis turns the minutes to hours....

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

This site (http://www.amiright.com/misheard/artist/lightfootgordon.shtml) compiles "misheard lyrics." As does this one (http://www.kissthisguy.com/). I really did LOL at "Does anyone know where the rubber part goes?"

The first site listed has "good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed" as correct instead of "good ship and true" in The Wreck. I sent them a correction of their correction.

Some of those listed are downright hilarious. Especially the ones that make no sense whatsoever. You'd think they'd realize that what they think they hear just couldn't be right.

The girls of November came early?

I reckon it's Ella Fitzgerald?

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

This site (http://www.amiright.com/misheard/artist/lightfootgordon.shtml) compiles "misheard lyrics." As does this one (http://www.kissthisguy.com/). I really did LOL at "Does anyone know where the rubber part goes?"

Cialis turns the minutes to hours....


Oh, very good. VERY good.

[Dan]

Hey geodeticman.5,

I actually like "I wish I could kiss you while you knelt" better than "knit" but I am totally misguided. My most notable misheard GL lyric has always been, which I also posted many years ago in the Misheard Lyrics section of this website, from Brave Mountaineers, "In the hayloft we would play, we would drink the booze and sing". The lyrics are actually "In the hayloft we would play, we were princesses and kings". I think my lyrics are a big improvement.
Danno

[charlene]

Hey geodeticman.5,

I actually like "I wish I could kiss you while you knelt" better than "knit" but I am totally misguided. My most notable misheard GL lyric has always been, which I also posted many years ago in the Misheard Lyrics section of this website, from Brave Mountaineers, "In the hayloft we would play, we would drink the booze and sing". The lyrics are actually "In the hayloft we would play, we were princesses and kings". I think my lyrics are a big improvement.
Danno

Were they drinking 'girly' drinks Danno?? lol

previous thread with postings from some folks who have 'disappeared'.. http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=13736&highlight=misheard+lyrics

[geodeticman.5]

Hey geodeticman.5,

I actually like "I wish I could kiss you while you knelt" better than "knit" but I am totally misguided. My most notable misheard GL lyric has always been, which I also posted many years ago in the Misheard Lyrics section of this website, from Brave Mountaineers, "In the hayloft we would play, we would drink the booze and sing". The lyrics are actually "In the hayloft we would play, we were princesses and kings". I think my lyrics are a big improvement.
Danno

yea Dan I AM embarrassed I had that song wrong in two areas for near 40 years now.What with having READ the correct lyrics undoubtedly many times over.... haha

"Booze and sing" is pretty funny. First time I heard that song, I was listening with a friend when I was about 16, and he commented on the "princesses" reference like an idiot with "so, what man, like....did he pretend HE was a princess or WHAT". Duhhh--oyy. I reprimanded him a bit harshly for not listening to the MAN more carefully, and said something like "No you butt-head, he was playing princesses AND KINGS. OBVIOUSLY he was playing with boys and GIRLS, you know, the way kids DO?" LOL. He allowed as how I was a bit defensive on Gordon, and he thought folk was "boring", and "not good cruizing music" in our "built" '67- '71 muscle cars with Aerosmith on the 8-track for THAT kind of thing.

But later on, in my early twenties, I was ALWAYS very careful to have just the right Lightfoot tune ready to play when I'd pick a date up. I'd SWEAR that's part of how Merry started taking to me - I had "Beautiful" ready on the cassette-deck in the car (by that year) before picking her up on her folks' ranch for our first date. She admitted she had only heard IYCRMM, and Sundown,etc., but "she liked Beautiful". And, as many of you "senior members" might recall, she and I later married to that song and two others. :biggrin:

[geodeticman.5]

Were they drinking 'girly' drinks Danno?? lol

previous thread with postings from some folks who have 'disappeared'.. http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=13736&highlight=misheard+lyrics

Char I attached to your link on the older thread with so many good ones. They're hilarious. Knowing this thread was not a new idea AT ALL when I started it, you'd think I would have resurrected the old one(s), and simply add to them. I guess I was too lazy that day, yea that's it... LOL. :rolleyes:

[jj]

Oh, very good. VERY good.

:)

you really live in Biscuit City?

note: as far as misheard lyrics Live go, in the early 80s at Massey, Gord was seemingly intoxicated and appeared to be on careless 'high' way ...I couldnt interpret a word he had sung/slurred the entire evening... he was a parody of himself.... today he may have thinned out in most ever sense, but sure sings his words quite clearly...and cares:)

[geodeticman.5]

from "Bend in the Water" :

where her sings "Too fine a time to stand in line
I'm gonna take my love to go"

I've always thought it was: "To find a time to stand in line
I'm gonna take my love to go"

to find, versus " too fine". No a big one. Not so embarrassing. Just another one for my books I now know. duhhhhh-ooooyy :rolleyes:

[geodeticman.5]

:)

you really live in Biscuit City?

note: as far as misheard lyrics Live go, in the early 80s at Massey, Gord was seemingly intoxicated and appeared to be on careless 'high' way ...I couldnt interpret a word he had sung/slurred the entire evening... he was a parody of himself.... today he may have thinned out in most ever sense, but sure sings his words quite clearly...and cares:)

You know jj, I'm embarrassed, but also somewhat relieved to say, that I never saw Gordon in concert during that time period, though a die-hard fan during it all. I was too broke and working too hard to ever have time back then. I don't think I would want to have gone even if I could have, during the time period that all of us as fans have read about, and others such as yourself witnessed first-hand, such as the above concert you spoke of.

I was very busy during that time period first in college, then travelling, then meeting and marrying, then working furiously to feed my family and try to move up at work, then returning to school again to learn to do what I really wanted to do, and damn near killing myself with full-time everything. Then along came baby.

In short, I didn't see Gord in concert between '76 and '84. I guess, from most accounts, I missed, fortunately, any evidence of the intoxication on stage that some friends told me was quite evident during some concerts in the '75 -'80 time period. I was caught-up in life through and including the time period that I understand he was able to stop drinking during, after '80 in any event.

No matter the year, but what a great accomplishment for him. However, as a perfectionist, I can only imagine how painful it must have been for him to listen, in sober years later, to recordings of live performaces during the much-written of time period that included him being carried off-stage, and when on, slurring words and forgetting others as you mentioned jj. That would be very difficult as a professional with such high standards, and would make any such performer cringe at hearing himself, I would think.

I've heard complaints from acquaintances of going to concerts between '75 and '80 in particular, and being at times (not all), "sorely dissapointed" as one guy told me the other day. He was not a fan per se , but liked his music in general, and he said he and his wife went to one concert in '75, and spoke of attendees leaving in large numbers throughout both sets, and having a "lousy time". How tales of that and similar accounts, and any memories of these events, must be very painful for him, but even more I'd imagine might have been his connection with the audience he is so noted for, if intact during his "feeling no pain" times at all, would have to have been very hard, but thankfully, I can only guess he does not remember the worst of them, which is probably fortuitous.

Its great, to say the least, that he saved his life and stopped drinking, and is enjoying touring more than ever. He is one tough hombre to have survived so many medical events, and such endured life-endangering hardship from what seems to go so commonly with fame and fortune. Fortunate for us, and him, that he is such a trooper, and that he has so many loyal fans that love his music, and so many him as well. :headbang::biggrin:

[jj]

oh steve, i hope i didnt imply that he was a fall drown drunk on stage or anything like that...he handled liquor pretty well, maybe that was part of the problem...and nerves, etc...or it was an ugly part of his personality surfacing

i would have liked to have seen GL live, regardless, back in about 1975, primo

hey, speaking of misheard lyrics...how about mis-sung lyrics...poor gal, but still one up on rosanne barr...no disrespect intended

2013 Memorial Cup - American National Anthem Butchered - Alexis Normand - YouTube

[Melissa]

As far as EMR goes, I have heard him sing it many ways - "with a pain that ever grows," "where the cold winds blow" and even the noted "where the pavement never grows."
Go listen to the "All Live" version that came out on the CD last year and you'll hear that rare line.......

Melissa :)

[geodeticman.5]

oh steve, i hope i didnt imply that he was a fall drown drunk on stage or anything like that...he handled liquor pretty well, maybe that was part of the problem...and nerves, etc...or it was an ugly part of his personality surfacing

i would have liked to have seen GL live, regardless, back in about 1975, primo

hey, speaking of misheard lyrics...how about mis-sung lyrics...poor gal, but still one up on rosanne barr...no disrespect intended

2013 Memorial Cup - American National Anthem Butchered - Alexis Normand - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKQ0fY3lrEo&feature=player_embedded)

Hey jj, naw, you didn't lend that impression at all. I just overstated my case, with what doesn't matter anyway to most of us,right? I'm familiar with the basics of what he's said in interviews regarding his alcoholism, and his amazing canoeing summer to beat it (awesome, no panty-waist "spa" HollyWood rehab clinic for him).

While I don't know the depth and breadth of knowledge of his life details as much as some uber-fans do, I've never personally found that the personal struggle he had with the booze to interfere with any concerts I've been to, and I really just meant to indicate that. In overstating the case of peope I know; some well and some not, and the corresponding weight I assigned to their comments about what they claimed to be the case by their observations of Gord when performing, and how this influenced to varying degrees their opinions on him as a performer.

Ultimately, one person I did not know well at all commented on a 1975 concert that "they decided they would never go to another concert of his".
Phooey on them. I did attend a concert in '75 and it was magnificent, and whether he was holding liquor well or not, I could not detect and didn't care, because it was outstanding, as has been every single concert I've ever gone too of his. Admitttedly, I didn't go to any concerts between 1976 through 1988 (Gord help me, LOL), so I can't speak to how he presented in them. I do vaguely recall reading of an alcohol problem in Swizerland at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, if I remember correctly. And one show in the states, in the Great Lakes area as I recall, where the "carrying him off stage" took place. Minnesota, or Wisconsin, maybe.

There was a local story here in the Denver area (which sadly I missed) where they booked him in MacNichols Arena "The Mack", when TWOTEF was at #2. Supposedly, the story went, that it was (in an arena-sized venue) but at just half-volume, and "1/2 of them left mid-show", and "those who stayed boo'ed and yelled at him mid-songs". Local legend, ostensibly as Irecall from a (now defunct) Rocky Mountain News article. I have no idea how exaggerated the story is, and again, the fact that he had what is widely regarded now as a brain-allergy in alcoholism (or an addiction, I don't know) doesn't diminish in my mind the staure and caliber
of his remarkable talent and showmansip.
I'mm sure you guys know, and I have forgotten. I;d imagine we coud agree was a [Folk] "Rock Star", in an era where drugs and alcohol were so prevalent among the touring arena-rock (and other genres of that stature; presumably Lightfoot too) that it must have been tough to avoid - what with rigors of time on the road, away from wife and family, and subjected to temptations of the women swooning over him, and roadies, etc. (who knows)

So, bottom line, setting aside what what I've read of one case of Gord having to be carried of the stage. It sounds like The Man had a bad day. I've heard a few people say he seemed to not care about his hits, and even perhaps slur though them in a few late 70's concerts. Never heard one like that. Even if I had, in thinking this over more, had I had seen him slur through some concerts like you described jj, I still would take Lightfoot's music on a bad day for him over a good day for any other performer on their best day. :headbang:

SO...since the '75 concert I went to was fantastic, I'd say: No jj, I didn't take you to mean he was a falll-down drunk. I only meant I was glad that I didn't see him impaired substantially-enough to not be able to perform to his stringent standards. I've been fortunate enough to have enjoyed seemingly-flawless performaces, and that's more than I could ever ask for.

[geodeticman.5]

jj, I forgot to comment on the Alexis Normand butchering of the National Anthem. Ouchhhhh. I admit, I did cringe at first, then when she when she totally hosed it, I felt bad for her. I noticed the crowd, inconsistent at the first major screw-up, changed to helping her by starting to sing it with her(normally derigor from the start, at least in baseball down here...).

Yea, LOL, total blitz of it, but hey, who hasn't frozen like that? The comments in youtube were far more harsh. Let them try to sing it, before a crowd. Some people's kids, LOL. I guess she might have been expecting to sing "Oh Canada"? at a Canadian event?

[charlene]

She was told just hours prior to singing that she would be doing the U.S. anthem and did not have enough rehearsal time to learn the words...

[niffer]

She was told just hours prior to singing that she would be doing the U.S. anthem and did not have enough rehearsal time to learn the words...

What an unfair and terrifying position to be in...especially considering how many Americans have botched the anthem over the years.

[geodeticman.5]

What an unfair and terrifying position to be in...especially considering how many Americans have botched the anthem over the years.

niffer, I agree, and Char - no kidding! The US National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner", has probably been the most botched anthem song in history, LOL. According to a sports site I read, its been mangled over 30 times notoriously enough to make the news in sports history! :eek: I believe the 2 hours notice of the switcheroo bit was unfair - as niffer said - what a terrible and terrifying position to be in. I saw a few players role their eyes up a little, but they may not have known her predicament - OR they DID know it and THAT's what they were disturbed by - the set-up of the poor gal. Which is not to imply anyone meant to set her up, sounds just like poor planning. Not that THAT has EVER happened in the US, LOL

Back to the mis-heard lyrics thing for a moment, I've got a good one. One I've had wrong (again) for almost 40 years now. It does sound like what's being sung. To me.

So, in trying to think of songs with say, esoteric lyrics, which are not unusual for Gord, as he has pointed-out on a few, where actually he has said they are one of his more "ethereal" songs in concert, or in his Songbook descriptions, this one came strongly to mind. One of my favorites, but I have to be in the right mood to fully appreciate it when I listen to it.

THIS one's pretty funny, at the 3 minutes 10 seconds mark into "Seven Island Suite". It's sounds to me like this, and has ever since I owned it in '74, and have no doubt read the correct lyrics to at Wayne Francis' site dozens of times, but I never caught my mental blunder (what other kind is there?) in this line, as I hear it.

The way I hear it is:

Think of the rags around ya gone sailin 'til your brown in your face (like from a tan.... all that time in the sun, right? It could happen... :biggrin::rolleyes::whistle:


Versus the correct lyrics, which are:

"Think of the right and wrong and consider the frown on your face"

Am I hearing it that badly? LOL. Evidently, and a rhetorical question at that, I know. I was hoping some kind soul out there could ameliorate me of my guilt over committing a Lighthead "misdemeanor", LOL

[paskatefan]

When I first heard "Circle of Steel," I just couldn't figure out the lyric - "the sun hits the handle of her "heirloom cup." Most of the lyrics of the song were very clear to me, but somehow I couldn't get "heirloom cup" without looking @ the lyrics in the Sundown piano/guitar book.

[Martyn Miles]

Many years ago, listening to ‘Can’t Depend on Love’ I heard the line ‘I was only trying to get by with some of life’s amenities’ as ‘I was only trying to get by with some of life’s many tears.’
Also, ‘I can’t depend on love to defend me’ as ‘I can’t depend on love to be fair to me.’
Oddly enough, it seems to give the whole verse a completely different meaning and one I could identify with because of something that happened to me in a relationship.

[paskatefan]

I can figure out most of Gordon's lyrics pretty easily upon first hearing them. However, for the first few times I listened to "Carefree Highway," I thought he was singing "Every Highway." For "Circle of Steel" (my #1 Gordon song), I couldn't figure out "her heirloom cup" without the help of the lyric sheet from the piano/guitar that I have of his "Sundown" album. It was actually easier for me to figure out all of the French lyrics to "Nous Vivons Ensemble" just by replaying the song. Go figure!

Gail

[Martyn Miles]

Thanks, Gail.
It’s been much easier since you can easily look up the lyrics on the Internet.
I’m with you on ‘Circle of Steel’, as it’s also one of my favourite GL songs.
What I do like doing is following the lyrics whilst listening, as it gives the songs an extra ‘something.’

Martyn.

[paskatefan]

^ Yay for the internet!



Gail

[Affair on Touhy Ave.]

I can figure out most of Gordon's lyrics pretty easily upon first hearing them. However, for the first few times I listened to "Carefree Highway," I thought he was singing"Every Highway

Gail

Thought he same myself.


Also for Old Dan's Records I though Gord was saying Dam.

[Andy T.]

I still find it hilarious when I hear stories where someone thinks "Ghosts of Cape Horn" is about... err.. uhh… errrrr… uhh… "Gay Porn"

[paskatefan]

Also for Old Dan's Records I though Gord was saying Dam.

I still find it hilarious when I hear stories where someone thinks "Ghosts of Cape Horn" is about... err.. uhh… errrrr… uhh… "Gay Porn"


LOL! :biggrin:


Gail

[Martyn Miles]

As for ‘Old Dan’s Records’, I originally heard it as ‘Old Dance Records’ which sort of makes sense...

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

As for ‘Old Dan’s Records’, I originally heard it as ‘Old Dance Records’ which sort of makes sense...

I had to look this up but it rang a bell. Gordie's comments on that song for the box set collection:

"Kind of a play on the words old dance records. It reminds me of my uncle Jack's 78-RPM dance-record collection. It reminds me of hanging out with the grandparents at Christmastime or some other holiday, having a party and getting out the old vinyl."

[Martyn Miles]

It probably wasn’t vinyl in those days...

[johnfowles]

Nobody has mentioned the ditty about a 'Long Thin Dong" so I will

[Andy T.]

Yeah John... it's "comin' up again"!!

[Andy T.]

edit: John, you deleted your response!

Still I'll retain my downstreram reply:

That's what she said... :kiss:

[BendRick]

In "The Mountain and Maryann," there is a line that goes:
All is well
As I swing up to the border bent for hell
And the service station man agreed I didn't look too well

Since the 1970's whenever I sang that song, I thought he was saying
All is well
As I swing up to the border fence for help

[paskatefan]

^ Well, I'll have to listen to that one more carefully, I guess. I love that song!

Gail