13 of the funniest misheard lyrics of all time
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It's not uncommon to mishear lyrics and it can lead to some funny realizations and memes.
Taylor Swift's song "Blank Space" has a lyric that seems to sing about Starbucks lovers, but it's actually about exes.
An episode of "Friends" may be partially responsible for the popularly misheard lyric in Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."
It's happened to the best of us — we hear a new song on the radio, fall in love, and begin to sing the lyrics we think we're hearing, though they end up being entirely incorrect. Nevertheless, these misheard lyrics can lead to hilarious realizations and even funny videos.
Here are some of the funniest misheard lyrics of all time as well as what the musicians were actually singing.
2019's hit "Old Town Road" has a commonly misheard line.
YouTube/Lil Nas X
2019's biggest hit so far is brought to you by Lil Nas X. Earlier this year, the song rose to the top of Billboard's Hot Country chart but, shortly after, the company removed the track, saying it did not have enough elements of today's country music.
After the news, country legend Billy Ray Cyrus collaborated on the track with the young artist — then, the hit went viral.
And although it's popular, many people seem to mishear the song's lyric "Take my horse to the old town road" as "Take my horse to a hotel room." That incorrect string of lyrics already has over 158 million search results on Google.
An episode of "Friends" may be partially responsible for this popularly misheard lyric.
YouTube/Elton John
For years, there's been a running joke that Elton John wrote his 1971 song "Tiny Dancer" about Tony Danza, an American actor known for his work in "Who's the Boss?" and "Taxi."
This gag is said to have started after a character sang the mispronounced lyric on an episode of "Friends" and said the song was written about Danza.
The misquoted lyric comes from the line "Hold me closer tiny dancer," which some people may hear as "Hold me close, young Tony Danza."
Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" has a misheard line that seems to mention a major coffee brand.
YouTube
In 2014, Taylor Swift's famed "Blank Space" song made headlines when hoards of radio listeners and, per a now-deleted Tweet, even Swift's mom herself misheard the lyric "Got a long list of ex-lovers" as "All the lonely Starbucks lovers."
Naturally, Starbucks was seemingly surprised and presumably disappointed to learn it was not included in her song. Per a 2017 video from The Cut, the reason these lyrics are so misheard could have to do with one's expectations and the placement of the song's beats.
Read More: 12 surprising things you probably didn't know about Taylor Swift
Selena Gomez's 2015 hit has a lyric that sounds like it's talking about a bodily function instead of diamonds.
YouTube/Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez's single "Good for You" was a 2015 hit, but some fans misheard the song's opening line "I'm 14 carats," which refers to diamonds, as "I'm farting carrots."
In an interview with BBC Radio 1's Scott Mills, the singer laughed at the incorrect, vegetable-focused lyric and said the radio hosts may be mishearing it because of their English accents. She also confirmed that the lyric was "I'm 14 carats."
Listeners have also misheard the lyrics of another hit Selena Gomez song.
YouTube/Selena Gomez VEVO
In yet another lyric mishap, people misheard part of Gomez's song "The Heart Wants What It Wants."
In the song, a distorted version of Gomez's voice sings "What the heart wants" a few times, but people have hilariously misheard the line as "What the Farquaad."
Lord Farquaad is a popular villain from the 2001 "Shrek" movie. Following the single's release, some people even made YouTube videos dedicated to the Shrek villain and Gomez's lyric that seemed to reference him.
This misheard lyric has become a meme that comes around at the end of every April. .
Jive
The now infamous meme, Justin Timberlake's titular line in the NSYNC song "It's Gonna Be Me" is not "It's gonna be May," despite what our ears seem to be telling us.
This misheard lyric has become a popular meme that comes around annually just before the first day of May. Over the years, even members of the band have gotten in on the fun by posting Instagrams of the misheard line.
Many have had fun purposely misunderstanding the lyrics of "Livin' On A Prayer."
YouTube/Bon Jovi
This popular song by Bon Jovi seems simple enough with its repeating lyrics, "Woah, we're halfway there / Woah-oh, livin' on a prayer," but it is still misheard, whether deliberately or not.
One of the most famous misheard iterations is: "Woah, we're halfway there / Woah-oh, Squidward on a chair." Squidward is a popular character from the show "SpongeBob SquarePants," which aired in 1999. Bon Jovi's song was released in 1986 — so, no, this track not a tribute to the animated, tentacled character and furniture.
In 2016, there was even a viral Twitter trend that involved making memes out of things that sound like they could be the song's "Livin' on a prayer" lyric, including "Lizard on a chair" and "Lemon and a pear."
Guns N Roses' "Paradise City" has a funnily misheard lyric about animals.
YouTube/ Guns N' Roses
Some people seem to have a bit of trouble understanding a lyric from Guns N' Roses' popular 1987 song "Paradise City."
Although the lyric contains the name of the song, some have thought the song's line "Take me down to Paradise City" is actually "Take me down to prairie-dog city."
Eminem and Rihanna's hit song "Monster" has a misheard line related to condiments.
YouTube/EminemMusic
Eminem's 2013 song "Monster" features Rihanna and one of her lines is sometimes misheard.
In the chorus, Rihanna sings, "I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed," but the song lyrics are often misheard to be "I'm friends with the mustard that's under my bed."
"Empire State of Mind" has a famously hilarious misheard line.
YouTube
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' hit 2009 song "Empire State of Mind" has a misheard line that doesn't quite make sense.
Some have mistakenly thought the lyric "Concrete jungle where dreams are made of" was actually "Concrete jungle wet-dream tomato."
In 2018, musician Ed Sheeran said even he was one of many who misheard this line of Jay-Z and Keys' song. The incorrect lyrics have since been immortalized on YouTube and have even become a meme.
"Burnin' Up" has one commonly confused lyric that some fans think even Joe Jonas doesn't know.
YouTube/Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers' 2008 summer anthem "Burnin' Up" has one widely debated lyric in its chorus. And recently, a fan reached out to Joe Jonas on Twitter to ask if the lyric is "Baby, you turn the temperature hotter" or "Baby, who turned the temperature hotter?"
Instead of answering the question, Joe responded to the tweet asking people what they thought the lyric was. Some fans then began speculating that he was only asking because perhaps he doesn't actually know what the lyric is.
Others pointed out that Joe should know this line considering in 2013, his brother Nick famously interrupted the band's Kiss 98.5 performance to set the record straight on this lyric.
"Do you know it's 'WHO turned the temperature hotter?' cause everyone always sings 'YOU turn the temperature hotter,'" he said. "I've always been curious if they know."
Even the title of "Penny Lane" has been misheard by some listeners.
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Released in 1967, The Beatles' iconic song "Penny Lane" is actually about a neighborhood Paul McCartney and John Lennon spent a lot of time in when they were younger.
But some people have been pretty confused about the track's title and lyrics — a number of listeners have mistaken the song as being about a woman called Aunt Elaine.
The song starts with the lyric: "In Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs," and so the track would be pretty bizarre if "Penny Lane" was swapped out for "Aunt Elaine."
This hit song from "Grease" has been misheard as a bizarre fashion trend.
Paramount Pictures
Though it was a musical first, "Grease" (1978) is a well-known film and the movie's hit "You're the One That I Want" is a popular duet to sing along to.
But not everyone singing along has the lyrics quite right. Some have heard the line, "I've got shoes, they're made of plywood." The lyric is actually, "I've got chills, they're multiplying."
