Have you ever sung along to a song, only to discover later that you’ve been singing the wrong lyrics? It takes years until you realize this, and when you do, you smack yourself for such a silly mistake.

People do this all the time. And it’s not just in songs, but basically in anything that is sung or recited. This phenomenon is called a mondegreen.

What Is a Mondegreen?

A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase, resulting in a new, similar-sounding phrase that gives a new meaning. It often happens with song lyrics but isn’t limited to them.

Take the nursery rhyme “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” as an example. A child might hear the line, “life is but a dream” and interpret it as “life’s a butter dream.”

The term was coined in 1954 by American writer Sylvia Wright and later popularized by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll. It comes from the Scottish ballad “The Bonny Earl o’ Moray”, where the line “And laid him on the green” was misinterpreted as “Lady Mondegreen.”

Why Mondegreens Happen

Mondegreens happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s because of the way a phrase is said—enunciation, speed, rhythm, and pitch can alter a listener’s understanding.

Cognitive dissonance happens when you can’t understand a phrase but need to make sense of it, so your brain makes assumptions to fill in the gaps. Or, you might hear what you want to hear, rather than what is actually being said.

But oftentimes, mondegreens occur because of how loaded the English language is with homophones. It’s easy to replace one word with a similar-sounding one, or blend words together to create a new phrase that sounds similar to the original.

Normally, your brain inserts breaks between words to better understand a phrase or sentence. But sometimes the combination of similar sounds and the way the phrase is said can interfere with these breaks. In the case of songs, even the rhythm and beat of the music can add to the difficulty.

Essentially, all of these elements blend together and hit you at the same time. Your mind tries to make sense of them but fumbles and creates a message that’s just close enough. An example is when you translate “jukebox money” to “juice box money.”

Examples of Mondegreens

Below are some examples of mondegreens that have become almost as famous as the original phrases. All of these are taken from songs, as they’re the most frequent victims of mondegreens.

Song and Artist	Misheard lyrics	Actual lyrics
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival	There's a bathroom on the right.	There's a bad moon on the rise.
"Jeremy" by Pearl Jam	Jeremy smokin’ grass today.	Jeremy spoke in class today.
"Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix	Scuse me while I kiss this guy.	Scuse me while I kiss the sky.
"Every Time You Go Away" by Paul Young	Every time you go away, you take a piece of meat with you.	Every time you go away take a piece of me with you.
"We Built This City" by Starship	We built this city on sausage rolls.	We built this city on rock ‘n’ roll.
"Dancing Queen" by ABBA	Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tangerine.	Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine.
"Sweet Dreams (are made of this)" by The Eurythmics	Sweet dreams are made of cheese.	Sweet dreams are made of these.
"Livin’ On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi	It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not.	It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not.
"I’m a Believer" by The Monkees	Then I saw her face, now I’m gonna leave her.	Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer.
"Tiny Dancer" by Elton John	Hold me closer, Tony Danza.	Hold me closer, tiny dancer.
"I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" by Cutting Crew	I just died in your barn tonight, mustard no mayonnaise instead.	I just died in your arms tonight, It must have been something you said.
"Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon	Oh, dyslexics on fire.	You. Your sex is on fire.
"Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.	Let’s pee in the corner. Let’s pee in the spotlight.	That’s me in the corner. That’s me in the spotlight.
"You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate	I remove umbilicals.	I believe in miracles.
"Blank Space" by Taylor Swift	All the lonely Starbucks lovers.	Got a long list of ex-lovers.
"Good For You" by Selena Gomez	I'm farting carrots.	I'm 14 carats.
"Empire State of Mind" by Jay Z and Alicia Keys	Concrete jungle wet-dream tomato.	Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
"Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith	Kick a chicken with it.	Gettin' jiggy wit it.

Related Terms

There are many concepts that are similar, though not exactly the same, as mondegreens. Below are three of the most common ones.

Oronym

An oronym is a sequence of words that sound the same as another sequence of words. This happens because of an incorrect parsing of words and sounds due to lack of context. It’s possible for a mondegreen to be an oronym at the same time.

Some examples are:

• “Ice cream” and “I scream”
• “Meaty urologist” and “Meteorologist”
• “Euthanasia” and “Youth in Asia”

Malapropism

A malapropism is the use of an incorrect word in place of a similar-sounding word. This often leads to nonsensical, humorous phrases and sentences.

Some examples are:

• “Dance the flamingo” as opposed to “dance the flamenco”
• “Pineapple of politeness” as opposed to “pinnacle of politeness”
• “Having one wife is monotony” as opposed to “having one wife is monogamy”

Eggcorn

An eggcorn is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a word or phrase that creates a new meaning. It differs from a mondegreen in that this new meaning still makes sense when used in the same context as the original.

Some examples are:

• “Butt naked” instead of “buck naked”
• “Doggy-dog” instead of “dog eat dog”
• “Old timer’s disease” instead of “Alzheimer’s disease”

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• Malapropisms: Definition and Examples
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