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Misheard Song Lyrics -> Stories -> John Lennon
Misheard lyrics (also called mondegreens) occur when people misunderstand the lyrics in a song. These are NOT intentional rephrasing of lyrics, which is called parody. For more information about the misheard lyrics available on this site, please read our FAQ.
This page contains a list of the songs that have stories about their misheard lyrics submitted.
Song names are sorted by first letter, excluding A and The. This is sorted by song title only, not by song title and performer. So if two different performers preformed the same song, you'll see misheard lyrics for both on the same page (provided the song title was spelt the same both times, and misheard lyrics have been submitted for both!).
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John Lennon's, "#9 Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
As it started to ring
The Real Lyrics:
As it started to rain
The Story: It was really having to do with how he heard the phone! - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Lennon's, "#9 Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I bought a cow and horsey horsey.
The Real Lyrics:
Ah! Bowakawa, pousse, pousse
The Story: Lyrics heard by a 10 year old that I found charming. - Submitted by: Kelly
John Lennon's, "Give Peace A Chance"
The Misheard Lyrics:
All we are saying is give peas a chance.
The Real Lyrics:
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
The Story: When John Lennon introduced his 6 year old son Julian to his new stepmom Yoko Ono, Julian took an immediate dislike to Yoko (smart kid!) and he especially hated her horrible cooking (there was a reason John got so skinny in the late 70s). John & Yoko tried everything they could to get Julian to eat her food, without much success, and being a musician he soon put the event into a song. - Submitted by: Jeffrey Kasten
John Lennon's, "Give Peace a Chance"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Everybody's talkin' 'bout Banisters & Lannisters
The Real Lyrics:
Everybody's talkin' 'bout Banisters & Canisters
The Story: A lot of people think John was less time-bound than most people, and could see visions of the future. So it wouldn't really be too surprising if a bit of Game of Thrones showed up in a song! - Submitted by: Jeffrey Kasten
John Lennon's, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
A very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any tears
Let's hope it's a good one, without any tears
The Real Lyrics:
A very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear
The Story: When I found out it was "fear" and not "tears", I busted out in tears. - Submitted by: Brit Beegles
John Lennon's, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
A very Merry Xmas and a happy New Year,
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any cheer
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any cheer
The Real Lyrics:
A very Merry Xmas and a happy New Year,
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear
The Story: I always thought this was rather depressing and dark - Submitted by: Hannah
John Lennon's, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Let’s go play some football without any cheer
The Real Lyrics:
Let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear
The Story: I’ve never known the lyrics until today. 45 years of life. My 12 year old knew it. - Submitted by: Sonny Graves
John Lennon's, "Imagine"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And the world will be a swan
The Real Lyrics:
And the world will be as one
The Story: It kind of baffled me hearing this, because it sounded like they were hearing about a swan. "Be as one" seemed to not make sense - the second time that line is said at the very end, he says "live as one" which sounds more sensical. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Lennon's, "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)"
The Misheard Lyrics:
And we all shot off
The Real Lyrics:
And we all shine on
The Story: I have believed this since February 1970 when I first heard this song until today (3/2024) when I looked up the lyrics. - Submitted by: Nick Cee
John Lennon's, "It Ain't Easy"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Eating chocolate cake in the bag.
The Real Lyrics:
Eating chocolate cake in the bath
The Story: It was in the news years ago that John and Yoko sat in the bath forever eating chocolate cake - Submitted by: celia
John Lennon's, "Jealous Guy"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I'm just a yellow sky
The Real Lyrics:
I'm just a jealous guy
The Story: When I was in Thailand on a jungle trek, One of the Thai trek guides kept asking for a woman with a guitar to play 'Yellow Sky' We hadn't heard of it even though he insisted that John Lennon wrote it. We understood when we asked him to sing some of it and he said' I'm just a Yellow Sky' I'm not sure if just his pronunciation was bad or if that's what he was really saying. That's how we heard it anyway. - Submitted by: kim rogers
John Lennon's, "Nobody Told Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Eight days a week.
The Real Lyrics:
Strange days, indeed.
The Story: The line 'Strange days, indeed' in the song Nobody Told Me reminds me of The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" - Submitted by: Justin A.
John Lennon's, "Nobody Told Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Little Yellow Island to the North of Kathmandu
The Real Lyrics:
There`s a little yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu.
The Story: I lived in Kathmandu for two years. In the middle of the completely wooded mountain to the north of Kathmandu sits a yellow Buddhist monastery, the only structure. We hiked there and observed some two dozen monks chanting for hours. - Submitted by: Tom Marecki
John Lennon's, "Nobody Told Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Nobody told me it would taste like beans
The Real Lyrics:
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
The Story: This was on the radio one day and my friend's nephew, age 2, said, 'What would taste like beans?' - Submitted by: Cathy L. Longhurst
John Lennon's, "Nobody Told Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Nobody told me that hippies liked me.
The Real Lyrics:
Nobody told me there'd be days like these.
The Story: My friends were in hysterics when I sang this to them. - Submitted by: Tony Burrito
John Lennon's, "Nobody Told Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Nobody told me there’d be knees like these
The Real Lyrics:
Nobody told me there’d be days like these
The Story: In 8th grade I totally (and innocently) convinced Penni Reinhold that my “knees” lyric was correct. - Submitted by: Brook
John Lennon's, "Nobody Told Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Nobody told me they'd seen Lassie.
The Real Lyrics:
Nobody told me there'd be days like these.
The Story: These misheard lyrics were uncorrected for about 15 years.... almost sad I found out what the real lyrics were. - Submitted by: Daniel Mellmann
John Lennon's, "Number 9 Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Ahhhh, Sobakawa, for sale! For sale!
The Real Lyrics:
Au Bawakawa Pousse' Pousse'
The Story: I used to listen to this song on one of my old 8-track tapes in high school. When I would sing the chorus along with Lennon, it was literally: Ahhhhh, Sobakawa. Forsay! Forsay! When those goofy Sobakawa pillows came out a few years later, I just figured they got the name for the pillows from Lennon's song. Without even consciously thinking about it, Forsay just kinda morphed into ForSale! Tonight, in a curious mood, I found this site as I was checking to see if Sobakawa pillows was spelled the same as what I thought was Sobakawa in Lennon's song... Surprise, surprise - Submitted by: rj cram
John Lennon's, "Number 9 Dream"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I bought a cow at the stable sale
The Real Lyrics:
Au Bawakwa Pousse' Pousse'
The Story: Now that I see the real lyrics I don't even know how I heard "stable" other than subconsciously trying to make sense of the nonsensical. - Submitted by: Ox
John Lennon's, "Stand By Me"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Steal my meat.
The Real Lyrics:
Stand by me.
The Story: My daughter wanted to know why John would want someone to steal his meat and why he would write a song about it. - Submitted by: Trish
John Lennon's, "Watching The Wheels"
The Misheard Lyrics:
I really love them twice to roll.
The Real Lyrics:
I really love to watch them roll.
The Story: When I thought John was saying 'I really love them twice to roll,' I thought he meant that he loved to watch the wheels make two complete revolutions. - Submitted by: Dorly
John Lennon's, "Woman"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Far than the other half of the sky
The Real Lyrics:
For the other half of the sky
The Story: The spoken line in the beginning of the song. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Lennon's, "Woman"
The Misheard Lyrics:
Farewell
The Real Lyrics:
Well, well
The Story: Makes sense, considering it's when John Lennon was shot, so that's what I thought I heard. - Submitted by: Cody Finke
John Lennon's, "Woman"
The Misheard Lyrics:
My next emotions
The Real Lyrics:
My mixed emotions
The Story: Used to think it was "next emotions". - Submitted by: Cody Finke
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