Your favorite lyrical screw-ups in songs?

Grafwritah

Active member
Feb 8, 2004
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Every now and then I'll listen to a song and in the lyrics a word will clearly be misread or misstated, changing the whole meaning of the line. I've always wondered why they were so lazy to not re-do the line, or maybe no one noticed?

One that always sticks out for me is in Ice Ice Baby, when Vanilla says, "Gunshots ranged out like a bell." Clearly should have been rang, but now the line means the gunshots were in the configuration of a bell.

Another one I noticed recently is in Bone Thugs's Handle the Vibe, where the line says, "Bone Thugs is my Calvary." Clearly should have been cavalry, but again it changes the meaning. Now instead of Bone Thugs being soldiers on horseback, they are the hill where Jesus was crucified.

What other lyrical screw-ups can you think of?
 
LL Cool J mispronouncing album instead he said alblum on 1-900-LLCOOLJ. He made that mistake throughout his albums.
 
Smiley Culture's "Police Officer".





The Copper has already asked Smiley what his name is, and received the correct answer, before then recognising him later in the song when Smiley is asked to write his name. BIG HOLE IN MY LIFE RIGHT THERE.








Cameo "She's Strange".





"Her mini-skirt, it fit so nicely, you can't look once, you have to look twicely."





I ain't Shakesbeer (sic), but as a native English-person, that ain't making it over the net.
 
Hey,





Here are some:





1. "Dizzy Gillespie plays a sax." Nice & Smooth's "Funky for You."





Um, Dizzy Gillespie played trumpet.





2. "A lot of MCs like to use the word dramatical." Boogie Down Production's "My Philosophy."





Dramatic is the correct term.





3. "On the Jungle Brothers 'alblum', oh yes.". Q-tip on " The Promo" by The Jungle Brothers.





There is only one L in album.





4. "Your lyrics are stiff like 'David Koeppel'"-KRS-ONE on " 1-2 Pass it" on The D&D Project album.





The correct name is Ted Koeppel.





5. "I say Muhammad Ali, you say 'Classius' Clay.". Greg Nice on " Dwyck" by Gangstarr.





Cassius does not have an 'L' in it.





Peace,





Big Stacks from Kakalak
 
"There's three of us but we're not the Beatles" :NO:





And when Rakim says "You thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me", I have always wondered exactly what being glazed involved and what was so bad about it. When I think of being glazed by a female I only picture good things.
 
"A sawed off mic, so words scatter like a rifle" Rakim





Uh, that would be a shotgun.





A lot of these are just people trying to rhyme lyrics so they are taking creative liberties.
 
asstro said:"There's three of us but we're not the Beatles" :NO:





And when Rakim says "You thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me", I have always wondered exactly what being glazed involved and what was so bad about it. When I think of being glazed by a female I only picture good things.




Well, Lennon was dead when this was written, so technically correct.
 
"In this world in which we live in"





That Beatle guy - live and let die
 
I'm not sure who the artist is but there's a version of Express Yourself where he get it mixed up like "it's not what you do when you're doin what you're doin". Mixes up the meaning but it was so funky they kept the take anyway.
 
deezlee said:I'm not sure who the artist is but there's a version of Express Yourself where he get it mixed up like "it's not what you do when you're doin what you're doin". Mixes up the meaning but it was so funky they kept the take anyway.




I feel that instances of being overcome by da funk should be excluded from the discussion
 
We got the grammar police all up in this place.


Not to mention the enunciation police.


I want my singers to sound like BBC news readers!





"In 1959, Yellen attended the fiftieth anniversary reunion of his high school graduating class. As the writer of such standards as "Happy Days Are Here Again," "My Yiddishe Momma," and "Ain't She Sweet?," he was the class celebrity. The only unimpressed person was his former English teacher, who upbraided him with, "So you're the one who wrote that 'Ain't She Sweet?'. And I thought I tought you that 'ain't' is bad grammar!""
 
Furry Lewis once said:


The hopper grass makes the hops,


The honey bee makes the honey,


The good lord made all the pretty girls,


and Sears and Roebuck makes the money,


Well excuse me!





Nobody pointed out that hops are actually made from grasshoppers.
 
"Would you join me please in welcomining..."


That extra syllable always struck me as odd since I was I was a yout





From welcome to the terror some of


Course





"Lyrical douches in their bushes" notorious big


Douche doesn't go in the bush. Also.... Lyrical douches?
 
LaserWolf said:Furry Lewis once said:


The hopper grass makes the hops,


The honey bee makes the honey,


The good lord made all the pretty girls,


and Sears and Roebuck makes the money,


Well excuse me!





Nobody pointed out that hops are actually made from grasshoppers.

Hmmmm
 
Big_Stacks said:





2. "A lot of MCs like to use the word dramatical." Boogie Down Production's "My Philosophy."





Dramatic is the correct term.










This is the first thing I thought of. Also, he uses the word 'unrational' right before that.





And I'm pretty sure KRS is the only MC who likes to use the word dramatical.





The next one I thought of is Microphone Fiend. "Assassinator" may actually be a word, but 'assassin' is a better one.
 
'So I booby trap intruders like my name was Ferris Bueller.' - "We're Here" Ugly Duckling





Kevin McCallister. That wouldn't work as well, though.
 
"I'm your worst nightmare squared,


that's double, for those who aint mathematically aware"





Common and Canibus
 
Unherd said:"I'm your worst nightmare squared,


that's double, for those who aint mathematically aware"





Common and Canibus

Ouch