25 Hilariously Misheard Lyrics That Made You Love the Song Even More

Let’s be honest—we’ve all done it. You’re singing your heart out to a song you’ve loved for years when someone turns to you and says: “Wait… what did you just say?” And that’s when it hits you. You’ve been belting the wrong lyrics since middle school, and no one had the heart to correct you.

Don’t worry. You’re in great company. Misheard lyrics, or mondegreens (yes, there’s a word for it!), are a rite of passage for music lovers. And sometimes, the wrong words are just better. Here are 25 of the funniest, most wholesome, and wonderfully bizarre misheard lyrics I’ve come across—along with the real ones, just in case you want to, you know, get it right.

Adele – “Chasing Pavements”
Misheard: “Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing penguins?”
Actual: “Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements?”
Penguins. Always more inspiring than sidewalks.

Beyoncé – “Single Ladies”
Misheard: “All the single lettuce”
Actual: “All the single ladies”
A salad-based empowerment anthem? Yes, please.

Bon Jovi – “Living on a Prayer”
Misheard: “It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not”
Actual: “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not”
Plot twist: It actually might make a difference.

Celine Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
Misheard: “My hot dog goes on and on”
Actual: “My heart will go on and on”
Titanic, but snackier.

Elton John – “Tiny Dancer”
Misheard: “Hold me closer, Tony Danza”
Actual: “Hold me closer, tiny dancer”
Who’s the boss? You already know.

Eurythmics – “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”
Misheard: “Sweet dreams are made of cheese”
Actual: “Sweet dreams are made of this”
Honestly? Still checks out.

Jimi Hendrix – “Purple Haze”
Misheard: “’Scuse me while I kiss this guy”
Actual: “’Scuse me while I kiss the sky”
Romantic or psychedelic? You decide.

Journey – “Don’t Stop Believin’”
Misheard: “Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit”
Actual: This one’s real—but Detroiters still debate whether “South Detroit” even exists.

Madonna – “Like a Virgin”
Misheard: “Touched for the thirty-first time”
Actual: “Touched for the very first time”
More accurate, maybe. Less iconic? Definitely.

Maroon 5 – “This Love”
Misheard: “This llama has taken its toll on me”
Actual: “This love has taken its toll on me”
Emotional support llamas are real.

Michael Jackson – “Beat It”
Misheard: “Just beat it, beat it, no one wants to feed a fetus”
Actual: “Just beat it, beat it, no one wants to be defeated”
Suddenly, it’s a very weird PSA.

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Misheard: “Here we are now, in containers”
Actual: “Here we are now, entertain us”
Grunge. But make it storage-friendly.

OutKast – “Hey Ya!”
Misheard: “Shake it like a Polaroid pitcher”
Actual: “Shake it like a Polaroid picture”
Both are incorrect. But now it’s a baseball reference.

Paul Young – “Everytime You Go Away”
Misheard: “Every time you go away, you take a piece of meat with you”
Actual: “You take a piece of me with you”
Now we’re hungry and heartbroken.

Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Misheard: “Spare him his life from this monstrosity”
Actual: Correct as-is!
I included this one because no one sings it the same way twice anyway.

R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion”
Misheard: “Let’s pee in the corner, let’s pee in the spotlight”
Actual: “That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight”
Bathroom confusion meets existential crisis.

Rihanna – “We Found Love”
Misheard: “We fell in love in a homeless place”
Actual: “We found love in a hopeless place”
Touching either way, tbh.

Shakira – “Whenever, Wherever”
Misheard: “Lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don’t confuse them with mountains”
Actual: This one is real, and still unmatched in metaphor and modesty.

Starship – “We Built This City”
Misheard: “We built this city on sausage rolls”
Actual: “We built this city on rock and roll”
UK Twitter once made this version a Christmas #1. True story.

Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
Misheard: “Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll all tell you I’m a goat”
Actual: “…they’ll tell you I’m insane”
Honestly, same difference.

The Beatles – “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
Misheard: “The girl with colitis goes by”
Actual: “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes”
I hope she’s feeling better.

The Police – “Message in a Bottle”
Misheard: “A year has passed since I broke my nose”
Actual: “A year has passed since I wrote my note”
Sting, but slapstick.

Toto – “Africa”
Misheard: “There’s nothing that a hundred men on Mars could ever do”
Actual: “There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do”
Space conquest? Sure. But the rains are still winning.

Van Halen – “Panama”
Misheard: “Animal! Animal!”
Actual: “Panama! Panama!”
Shouted incorrectly in thousands of cars and gyms since 1984.

So next time you catch someone singing “hold me closer, Tony Danza,” just smile and join in. Because sometimes, the wrong lyric is just so right.