Poor Kenny; ole Lucille picked a fine time to leave him, didn’t she? Except for the fact that the song lyrics were actually, “four hungry children and a crop in the field.”
I remember riding my 5 speed along a dirt country road, my face in the wind, braids in my hair, and belting out all the popular hits of the time. I loved to sing, and I still do, except that, most of the time I had the words … all wrong.
Remember?
“There’s a Bathroom on the right” oops .. it’s really “There’s a Bad moon on the rise…” (Bad Moon Rising, by Credence Clearwater Revival AKA CCR)
Who could forget “The girl with Colitis goes by..” Um that’s the “Girl with kaleidoscope eyes,” from the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (later sang by Elton John.)
Speaking of … I remember crooning “Hold me closer, Tony Danza!” except that the words were actually,”Hold me closer Tiny Dancer” from Elton’s “Tiny Dancer.” Oops. Hey … who wouldn’t want Tony Danza to hold ’em closer? I’m
just saying …
In hindsight, I committed many a “Mondegreen” (for more, click the link).
It doesn’t happen as often now .. but still I still feel a pinch of embarrassment when I realize that a song I love and have been singing along to ….I’ve been singing with the wrong words all this time. Somehow though, I am sure I’m not alone.
Here’s some vintage Kenny with the lyrics to back me up; an interesting side note, my parents took us to see Kenny Rogers and the First Edition in concert. I think I was around 8 or 9. I remember reading every detail in the programme, how much I enjoyed the concert (“Something’s burning…and I think it’s LOVE..!”) and how handsome I thought he was .. for an “old” man. Ha!
How about you? Ever realized … 10, 20, 30 years AFTER the fact that the song you’ve been singing along to doesn’t exist as you sing it? 🙂