By Ellen Levitt
Have you ever misheard lyrics to songs? Lines of dialogue in a TV show or film? The tagline of a commercial or jingle? If you have, you might be embarrassed; you might laugh it off; and you might even turn it into fodder for your writing.
For all my musical knowledge, I’ve made some truly embarrassing gaffes over the years, primarily mishearing lyrics of songs. I misheard multiple lines in big hits songs from the 1970s such as “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet, “My Eyes Adored You” by Frankie Valli and “Listen to the Music” by the Doobie Brothers. My mangling of these songs was epic (among my family and friends). But in 1995 I came across a book called “Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy,” by Gavin Edwards and I realized that I was not the only fool out there. This book (and a few others written by Edwards) showcase a variety of pop and rock song lyrics that have been misheard by many people. What a great way to turn multiple faux pas into fun writing– and book sales! (The title of that book is a mishearing of a line in Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.”)
Aside from getting lots of belly laughs, by reading this book I realized that mishearing things can lead to some worthwhile writing opportunities. Your mangled words can translate into inspiration for memoirs, fictional pieces, poems, and other writing. You can use your “absurd misheard” for lines of dialogue, for reflective pieces, humorous poems and a lot more. Let’s look at some ways to do so:
Fiction: in a short story or in a novel, you can designate one (or more) or your characters as the Person Who Messes Up Lyrics. This can be done for comic relief, as an endearing trait, or as the sign of someone who does not listen carefully to songs nor to anyone else. Perhaps the character who misheard lyrics is a young child who lacks context for the meaning of songs; or it could be an elderly character who has poor hearing or is losing touch with reality. Or the character is a newcomer to the country or culture, and with their foreign background, they mishear and misinterpret lyrics. If you are concerned that the character might come across as hackneyed, flesh out other aspects of their personality so that they are not one-dimensional. Or give this characteristic to a minor character.
Prompts for Creative Nonfiction: If you are writing for an instructional work or exercise (for educators, for those who run writing groups), you can fashion a prompt such as this: “Can you recall a song or movie in which you misheard the words? What words did you think they were, and what were they in reality? How did you feel when you realized you goofed?” Or “Think of a time you misheard something in a song or TV show, and describe how you were confused.” Many people will find these intriguing for writing exercises and workshops. These can also work as memoir prompts and self-reflective pieces.
Poems: For short poems such as contemporary haiku, or even a limerick, it might be fun and a surprise to use a misheard advertisement or famous lyric, maybe even a misheard line in a prayer. For longer poems, you could explore your feelings or a specific incident in which you misheard the lyrics or the line in a famous movie.
Scholarly writing: There are many scholarly works on pop culture, ranging from serious works on individual artists, genres, and important events in history based around music festivals and conventions and such. Thus you could explore the misheard lyrics of hip hop or Top Forty songs; the misheard dialogue of sitcoms; or similar topics. And give the subject more than just a cursory examination. Delve into what this says about cultural mashups, or (mis)interpretations. Do field research and survey people about what they have misheard and how they reacted.
I wrote about a few of these songs in an essay, many years ago, and focused on how I was embarrassed but thought it was rather funny in the long run. I also set this in a pop-culture context, looking at Top Forty song hits that I liked but didn’t grasp correctly. You could run with this as well, to write a memory piece or an essay about songs, TV shows, and other aspects of our popular culture.
Think back to those cringey moments of mishearing lyrics (and even belting them out loud), roll your eyes to yourself, and get to work. Writing about these misheard words can be an enjoyable or reflective jumping point for writing. Spin some old records or CDs, binge-watch some TV shows, and get to work!
Bio: Ellen Levitt is a writer and teacher, and a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn, The Lost Synagogues of the Bronx and Queens, and The Lost Synagogues of Manhattan (www.avotaynu.com) and Walking Manhattan (www.wildernesspress.com). She has also written many freelance articles and essays for online and in-print publications.
