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Subscribe to RSSHurricane Irene already has people fleeing their homes, stocking up on supplies -- and from the looks of it, falling victim to mondegreens, those goofy misheard song lyrics that have plagued mankind since before rock met roll.
New York Magazine's Daily Intel blog seems to have started it off with their flip "Come on, Irene!" at the end of a August 23 news story about how Hurricane Irene had the potential to become a category 4 storm. What they meant was "Come on, Eileen," a lyric (and title) taken from the 1982 platinum hit by Dexys Midnight Runners.
While the blog has since come clean about their error, others are sticking with the misheard version. So much so that we wouldn't be surprised if, any minute now, "Come on, Irene" was a trending topic on Twitter.
The Eileen/Irene confusion is understandable -- they're similar-sounding, old-fashioned names, and for some, the play on words might be intentional. But what drives us to mishear song lyrics, even to the point where we embarrass ourselves -- not just at karaoke, but in print?
According to Dr. Wei Ji Ma, assistant professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Tex., it's extremely hard to understand what someone is saying (or singing) unless we're looking directly at the person's face.
"Understanding speech can be difficult, especially when it's noisy," Ma told The Body Odd in a 2009 interview regarding his research on the topic. "If you only have sound information, you will sometimes make mistakes."
Some of those mistakes can be found on websites like KissThisGuy, which gathers mangled song lyrics such as those found in Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love, or as someone once sang it: "Might as well face it, you're a dick with a glove."
Visual information helps us fill in the gaps, according to Ma. So much so that in a 2009 study he conducted, test subjects got the words right only 10 percent of the time when they relied on sound cues alone. But when they both watched and listened to videos of people saying various words, their understanding of those words went up to 60 percent.
As Ma explains it, the brain is like a police detective interviewing witnesses after a crime. Visual information is one witness; auditory information is another. But as with any criminal investigation, witnesses get mixed up. Ma says the brain basically weighs all the information it gathers, then comes up with its best guess.
Unfortunately, sometimes that guess results in laughably bad mondegreens like "wrapped up like a douche" (from Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the Light") or "Scallaboosh, Scallaboosh, will you do the banned tango?" (from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody).
While there's still a bit of a question as to whether the Irene/Eileen swap-out is due to a mix-up or an intentional mash-up, there's no doubt that those living on the east coast will be happily bidding adieu to the storm in days to come.
Luckily, we've got the perfect song for them: Good Night, Irene.
Related:
- Song stuck in your head? You've got an earworm
- Blinded by the lyric? Study reveals why we get the words wrong
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Leave a Comment:
Hahaha, I've always wondered why the radio played "Blinded by the Light" with it's "naughty lyrics." I laughed when I looked it up and realized the lyric was, "revved up like a deuce."
I'm not talking 'bout the linen.....
I'm not moving in either... :)
I can't believe there is an article about this. I wish I could get back the 3 minutes.
That's exactly right. A 45 single had to be three minutes or less or it wouldn't get any air play.
No one forced you to read it, did they?
The elite for Ellicott City has spoken. Give me a break. Lost 3 min of your time. Perhaps getting your morning StarBucks etc. has caused you to loose your sense of humor. Pay attention.This could will be a Jeopardy question on day.
the ants are my friends, their blowin' in the wind. . .
Louie, Louie--me gotta go.
O Canada, we stand on cars and freeze.
Hey lighten up ellicottcity!This article brought back some memories. Two stories come to mind for me, one involved not recognizing that "Sharif" was a guy's name in that song by the Clash - "Rock the Casba" (sp?). This was before I knew my husband - friends told me he drove everyone crazy that he spoke to (including strangers in conversation!) by asking them "What's a shareef?" No one knew or at least would tell him. Even better years later he worked with a guy named Sharif, I wish I could have been the fly on the wall for that meeting! The other was my son when he was very young was convinced that Mick Jagger was singing "escarvio" instead of "Start me up" and there was no telling him different (the apple doesn't fall far...). Only a couple of years ago did he own up to his error. Funny stuff!
At least they weren't singing "Rock the Cat Box".
I can't laugh too hard - I tweeted the misheard "Come on, Irene" yesterday too :(
Now I feel dumb!
sha·rif
noun \shə-ˈrēf\
Definition of SHARIF
: a descendant of the prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima; broadly : one of noble ancestry or political preeminence in predominantly Islamic countries
I think they were singing about someone whose position was sharif, not named Sharif.
The same music ain't got the same soul, I like that old time rocky road.
As Creedence Clearwater Revival once sang, "There's a bathroom on the right".
Hey lighten up ellicottcity! This article made me chuckle and brought up a couple of funny memories. One involved not realizing that a word in a song was name. Friends told me that my husband (this was before I met him) didn't know that "Sharif" in the song "Rock the Casba" (sp?) was a guy's name and would ask everyone (including people he met casually) "What's a shereff? Either no one knew or wouldn't tell him. Even better, years later he actually worked with a guy named Sharif. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting. The other memory did involve a lyric misunderstanding. My son, when he was very young insisted that Mick Jagger was singing "escarvio (?)" instead of "Start me up" and couldn't be told any different. (The apple doesn't fall.....).
"Good Night Irene" was popularized by Al Capp in Lil' Abner decades ago. Supposedly Mammy Yokum could knock you into next week with her "Good Night Irene" punch.
Sorry I didn't see your Good Night, Irene input before mine. You get it!
Jose, can you see...
"In A Godda Da Vida" by Iron Butterfly. Title is making fun of this exact topic.
No, it's not. The title "In A Gadda Da Vida" happened because the lead singer for Iron Butterfly was drunk or high and couldn't say "In The Garden of Eden".
My mom still thinks it's hilarious that I thought "Running with the Night" was "Running with a Knife."
Dead devil in the freeza!! (10th avenue freeze out)
I think Chris Thompson of Manfred Mann's Earth Band really did sing "wrapped up like a douche." Why, God knows?
Springsteen wrote the song and his original lyric was "cut loose like a deuce," which makes some sense if you play card games.
This is the reason "misheard lyrics" videos on Youtube are so popular.
The Cranberries are great for this - a friend and I spent an afternoon trying to find the lyrics to "Cut Me With Your Eyes"... it wasn't until we tried googling the slightly more comprehensible verses that we found out it was "God Be With You Ireland". Not to mention the many years before I realized that the chorus to "Zombie" even HAD lyrics.
As long as we're making corrections, a blog is an "it" not a "their."
"In The Garden of Eden" by I. Ron Butterfly
I can honestly say for myself, that when this hurricane was first announced....th first thing that came to mind was "Come On Irene". I was convinced that this was the actual title of the song.
Good Night, Irene
Good Night, Irene.
Go on YouTube, look up "MoneyGrabber" by Fitz and the Tantrums (but click the video from Dangerbird Records, not the Vevo), and read the comments. If you keep going back far enough you'll find some pretty funny mondegreens.
Are you saying Joe Cocker doesn't get pie from a little elf with muffins?
"Blinded by the Light" it's obvious why almost everyone thinks it's "douche" because that's how he pronounces "deuce"-- does he have a speech impediment?