SEXIEST PERSONS ALIVE

Friday, October 22, 2010

motor ann, what's your price for flight?





I heard the song Sister Christian yesterday. By Night Ranger. It's a great song with a catchy tune, but the lyrics. WTF? If your memory sucks like mine, you might need to hit the play button on the video before you remember what song I'm even talking about.

For years and years I've been singing along to this song only to stop at the refrain and think ... what the flip is he saying? Motor head? Motor end? Put your motor in? Or a woman's name? Motor-Ann? Modo-enne?

Thanks to the powerful internets, I was able to google and finally find the answer. Isn't that one of the best forms of mental relief? The just out of reach memory itch that finally gets scratched?

Another one is Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. My husband laughs at me every time the song comes on because with this song I was confident I knew the lyrics. Not a doubt in my mind. It wasn't until Sam set me straight that I realized I'd been wrong all these years. And I'm embarrassed to say it was only a couple years ago.

Here are the true lyrics:

Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am
I have become comfortably numb

And here is what I was sure they were singing:

After come, comfortably numb

Yes, as a teenager this is what I assumed. And didn't bat an eye, either. Depraved adolescence much?

Here's the tune if you want to listen for yourself.


But the burning question is this: Was I the only one who thought Pink Floyd was come-fortably numb?

How about you, reader? What song lyrics do you remember bungling?

14 comments:

Life As I Know It said...

Probably too many to mention. I am terrible with lyrics.
Your post brought back memories of watching that Sister Christian video in my basement as a teenager...ah, MTV, what happened to you?

Unknown said...

Manfred Mann, Blinded by the Light:

real lyrics: Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,another runner in the night

I heard: wrapped up like a douche...

DLK said...

OMG..too funny. Becca are you telling me I am wrong? LOL. I was just singing this with my kids in the car and I was all "wrapped up like a douche". I'm cracking up right now. No one's ever corrected me. I've even listened really closely and was sure! HAHA

This was a great blog! Thanks for the laughs!!!!

Deb Rox said...

Hilarious! Because I have endured tons of hilarity directed towards me for the same Pink Floyd lyric, but for a different misunderstanding. I always thought it was "I have become comfortably known." Which I thought was code for having sex. Knowing someone in the biblical sense, you know. So. Funny.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Amazingly I knew both of those--but I'm sure there are many others where I'm totally off base.

Jenn @ Youknow...that Blog? said...

I knew the first one really well (and was right with the lyrics - yay me!), but I was never into P.F. and didn't know that one at all...

Yeah to Becca - that Blinded by the Light one! Even though we always sang it that way, I KNEW it couldn't be wrapped up like a douche because... well, you don't wrap those, nor would it make any sense? I looked up the lyrics about 2 years ago, and was so relieved ;) Yet my husband still sings it like a douche (take that how you will...)

Jason, as himself said...

I find this topic strangely fascinating! I actually posted about it, too, a while back.

Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf: "I smell like a sound, I'm lost in the ground."

or Madonna's I'll Dress You up in my Love: "I'll dress you up in nylons."

Here are the rest:

http://jason-thejasonshow.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-thought-lyrics-said.html

Lee said...

One of the ways my huzz successfully courted me was to insert his own lyrics into popular songs. I'm a sucka for this. :)

shrink on the couch said...

Wrapped up like a douche - haha! Me too!

Sinda said...

Mine was "Elvira" sung by the Oak Ridge Boys - remember them? I was convinced the song was called "Hell Fire Up." WTF indeed.

Angeliki said...

"The just out of reach memory itch that finally gets scratched": Very nice!

When I was a teenager I only listened to English/American songs- all the cool kids did so- and as my English were far from fluent I always ended up replacing English words that I didn't know with the ones I knew. The examples are too many and too embarrassing to mention.

Fantastic Forrest said...

LOVE these tales. They remind me that all of us have those mondegreen moments. For more good ones, check out http://www.kissthisguy.com/

As always, I really enjoyed my visit to your place.

Mental P Mama said...

For me, it was "revved up like a douche." sigh

Pamela said...

"Pay the rent Colette"

instead of Little Red Corvette...