Songwriters put a lot of time and energy into crafting the perfect lyric: Every word is important when it comes to using a song to tell a story or evoke a feeling. And, usually, professional songwriters are able to pull it off — unless, of course, their lyrics are misheard.
How do misheard lyrics happen? Maybe it’s because of a singer’s accent or slightly garbled delivery, or maybe it’s because, sometimes, one word in the English language sounds really similar to another one. Whatever the reason, there are a handful of country songs that have most listeners swearing the singer is saying something he or she definitely isn’t.
The results? They’re sometimes surprising, and almost always hilarious. And given the twang that exists in much of country music, it’s a genre with more than its fair share of misheard lyrics.
We’re setting the record straight, though. Read on to learn the real words to a few of country music’s commonly misheard songs: