An amusing example of a mis-heard lyric (or mondegreen) from my own family. About 1962, my little sister and I were listening to the cast album of Tenderloin on the radio. I would have been about 13, and Lisa could not have been more than 10. Anyway, Ron Hussmann was singing "The Picture of Happiness," a song that describes a seduction, and came to the lyric,
"Her head began to swim,
Which was no surprise to him,
And then . . .
And then . . .
He gratified his whim!"
And my sweet little sister turned to me and said, "He grabbed her by the what???" |