Q 01/05

What is the term for a misheard song lyric?

A) A malaprop

B) A mondegreen

C) A spoonerism

D) An eggcorn

Answer · why

B) A mondegreen

A mondegreen: writer Sylvia Wright coined the word in 1954 after hearing a ballad's 'laid him on the green' as 'Lady Mondegreen'.

Q 02/05

Whom did Carly Simon reveal in 2015 as the subject of the second verse of 'You're So Vain'?

A) Warren Beatty

B) Mick Jagger

C) James Taylor

D) Kris Kristofferson

Answer · why

A) Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty: Simon says Beatty thinks the whole song is about him.

Q 03/05

In 'Purple Haze', Jimi Hendrix asks to be excused while he kisses what?

A) This guy

B) The sky

C) The night

D) Her eyes

Answer · why

B) The sky

The sky: Hendrix sometimes played along in concert, singing 'kiss this guy' while pointing at a bandmate.

Q 04/05

'Bad Moon Rising' is famously misheard as warning about what?

A) A bathroom on the right

B) A bad man in the night

C) A bad move in the fight

D) A bear up on the ridge

Answer · why

A) A bathroom on the right

A bathroom on the right: John Fogerty has played along, sometimes singing that version himself in concert.

Q 05/05

Which 1963 garage-rock single triggered an FBI investigation into its supposedly obscene words?

A) Wild Thing

B) Louie Louie

C) Gloria

D) Hang On Sloopy

Answer · why

B) Louie Louie

Louie Louie's lyrics were innocuous but slurred, so FBI agents never worked out what was sung, and the case ended without prosecution.