Christmas Music Misheard

Music is a big part of any celebration, and there is a plethora of Christmas songs, both sacred and secular. Unfortunately, song Lyrics are not always easy to understand and are often misheard as the listener tries to make sense of what he/she is hearing. I am sure all of us know someone who understood the beginning of the United States national anthem as "Jose, can you see..." or the line in the Lord's prayer as "How, Lord, be thy name?" or "Howard be thy name." Christmas songs have often been misheard, too, of course.

As I was surfing blogs this week (frittering away my vast supply of free time in the week before Christmas), I found an interesting post at Scribbit about misheard lyrics to Christmas songs. Most of these were actual examples taken from children of her acquaintance. I enjoyed reading them; so I have stolen and amplified part of that post and embellished it with other examples.

The First Noel: "Oh, Well, Oh well, Oh well, Oh we---ell"

Angels We Have Heard on High: "GloooooooOOOOOOOO--ria!In-ex-pen-sive Day-OGloooooOOOOOOOO--ria!" or "In-egg shells she's Day-AY-O!"

Jingle Bells: "Oh what fun it is to ride in a slippin' slippin' sleigh-AY!"

or "Oh what fun it is to ride in a one Norse sopen sleigh." or "In a one horse soap and sleigh."

Let It Snow, Let It Snow: "and since there's no place to go, yellow snow, yellow snow, yellow snow." Alternately, this has been misheard as "lettuce snow, lettuce snow, lettuce snow."

O Little Town of Bethlehem: "Yet in thy dark streets, China." (I thought Bethlehem was in the Middle East!"

Frosty the Snowman: "Frosty the Snowman was a jolly, happy ho--With a cock-eyed pike and a runny nose and two eyes made out of coal . . ."

Feliz Navidad: "Fleas on my Dog"

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing: "Hark the hairy angel sings"

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer: "Olive, the other reindeer" (Hey, I thought this song was about Rudolph!)

Enjoy the music of the season and sing with heart -- however the lyrics hit your ear.

(If you enjoy this kind of exercise, there are lots of sites on the internet to find misheard lyrics. One good site: The Archive of Misheard Lyrics)