misheard lyrics
 

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"

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"

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.

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

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).]

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!" :)

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.

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.

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

Very well indeed.

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

I WAS off!
________
VOLCANO VAPORIZER

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"!

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>

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

Oma! I'm shocked!

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

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.

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?

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

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"

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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?"

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!"



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

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!!!

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!!!

"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?

Re: misheard lyrics
 

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

Re: misheard lyrics
 

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

Re: misheard lyrics
 

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:

Re: misheard lyrics
 

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.

Re: misheard lyrics
 

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

Spanish Moths?
 

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"!

Re: Spanish Moths?
 

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

Re: Spanish Moths?
 

...memoreeth of thavannah thummertime:)

Re: Spanish Moths?
 

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

Re: Spanish Moths?