This immortal couplet (from Phil Coulter’s Town I loved So Well, as sung by Luke Kelly of the Dubliners) is my current favorite Mondegreen:
There was music there in the derriere
like a language that we all understood
There was music there in the derriere
like a language that we all understood
Are you sure it’s a misinterpretation?
Isnt there a tune called ‘the derriere’
actually in the north west, i think its knowen as ‘The london derriere’
dum dum, tish
I heard an interview with Tom Waits (I think on Fresh Air) a couple of years back in which he said (paraphrase): “I listen to two radios tuned to two different stations. I like to mishear lyrics.”