Image: Fox
Is there anything more awkward than singing your favourite pop song at the top of your lungs, only to have everyone in the car go silent because you’ve gotten the lyrics so, so wrong?
Like that time when I was singing along to Phil Collins’ Like China (it was the ’80s, okay?) as a kid in the family car, only to belt out, “AND I’LL HOLD YOUR VAGINA” instead of, “and I’ll hold you like China”. Hello, Mum and Dad: I promise I turned out okay. I think.
Here’s a few more times we got song lyrics hilariously wrong. All we can say is that the Mamamia team sure have active imaginations.
1. Taylor Swift: Style.
Wrong lyric: “Likes it rough, he’s taking off his clothes.”
Correct lyric: “Lights are off, he’s taking off his coat.”
The first time I heard this song I commented to my husband, “Wow, who would have thought that Taylor Swift would be into rough sex?!” He looked at my quizzically. Actually, now that I think of it, that’s how he looks at me all the time.
2. The Eagles: Heartache Tonight.
Wrong lyric: "There's gonna be a party tonight, a party tonight, I know."
Correct lyric: "There's gonna be a heartache tonight, a heartache tonight, I know."
Well, if you haven't had your heart broken at a party, you haven't lived.
Is singing allowed at Jungle Body classes? (Post continues after video.)
3. Sade: Smooth Operator.
Wrong lyric: "Schools of Loreto, schools of Loreto."
Correct lyric: "Smooth operator, smooth operator."
The Loreto Sisters have set up several Catholic schools around the world. But no, sorry, they didn't get their own custom-made pop song.
4. The Police: Message in a Bottle.
Wrong lyric, Exhibit A: "A year has passed since I broke my nose."
Correct lyric, Exhibit A: "A year has passed since I wrote my note."
Just quietly, the nose-breaking version of this song is far more interesting.
Wrong lyric, Exhibit B: "Message in my bottom, message in my bottom."
Correct lyric, Exhibit B: "Message in a bottle, message in a bottle."
Look, just putting it out there: Sting is a massive mumbler. Also, singing "message in my bottom" is the funniest thing in the world when you're a kid in the '80s (yes, this was me again. Don't judge).
5. Mousse T: Horny.
Wrong lyric: "I'm honey, honey-honey-honey."
Correct lyric: "I'm horny, horny-horny-horny."
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that getting any of these Horny lyrics would be a good idea. Maybe Mousse T. didn't own a thesaurus?
6. Pitbull: Hotel Room Service.
Wrong lyric: "Hoedown, throwdown, throw me in."
Correct lyric: "Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn."
Yee-haw! (Post continues after gallery.)
Epic dance scenes from some of our favourite characters
7. Pitbull feat. Ke$ha: Timber.
Wrong lyric: "I'm goin' down, I'm getting Tinder.
Correct lyric: "It's going down, I'm yelling 'Timber!'"
Are there any woodchoppers on Tinder? Asking for a friend.
8. Pink, Funhouse.
Wrong lyric: "This is the final countdown."
Correct lyric: "This used to be a funhouse."
When I was a teacher, my year 8 art class fell about laughing when I misquoted Pink. Then they probably Snapchatted it or something, and I wondered why I studied teaching.
9. Nicki Minaj, Starships.
Wrong lyric: "Starfish were meant to fly."
Correct lyric: "Starships were meant to fly."
Both options sound cool, really.
10. Smash Mouth, All Star.
Wrong lyric: "She was looking kind of dumb with her finger in her bum..."
Correct lyric: "She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb..."
It seems we were really obsessed with bums when we were kids.
11. Cyndi Lauper, True Colours.
Wrong lyric: "I see your true Carlas, and that's why I love you."
Correct lyric: "I see your true colours, and that's why I love you."
Who would be so self-obsessed to come up with THAT incorrect lyric? Wait a sec...
Which song lyrics do you always get wrong?