"But it sounds like that"

If you can hear, then it is safe to say you have experienced a mondegreen. A mondegreen is the name given to the what happens when you think you have correctly heard what some one said, but in actuality you have misheard it as something that sounds similar to what they said, but with a completely different meaning. The term comes from when an author misheard the line of a song, "And laid him on the green" as, "And Lady Mondegreen". While experiencing a mondegreen usually effects only listener, there is one famous case where multiple people experiencing mondegreens while listening to a single song brought the full force of the FBI down upon it.

     Back in the 1960's, rock and roll was starting to hit it's stride, however the ride was not without it's bumps. Elvis had stirred up massive controversy with his shaking hips on TV, radio DJ's were bringing more and more African American music to the attention of white children and more and more people were starting to worry about rock and roll driving kids to sex and drugs. All of this worry and fear came to something of a head in 1963 when the band the Kingsmen covered the song "Louie, Louie", the lyrics of which are below.

Louie, Louie, 

me gotta go. 

Louie, Louie, 

me gotta go. 

A fine little girl, she wait for me; 

me catch a ship across the sea. 

I sailed the ship all alone; 

I never think I'll make it home 

Three nights and days we sailed the sea;

me think of girl constantly. 

On the ship, I dream she there; 

I smell the rose in her hair. 

Me see Jamaica moon above; 

It won't be long me see me love. 

Me take her in my arms and then 

I tell her I never leave again.

     "Louie, Louie" had been around since the 50's, but it never gained national exposure until the Kingsmen's version became a hit in 1963. However there were several problems with their version of the song. First the quality of the actual recording of the song wasn't the best. The main recording that was released was only supposed to be practice version of the song. Next, the boom microphone used to record the song was so high up, the singer had to stand on his tip toes just so that he could be heard. Also, the night before, the band had done an epic 90 minute "Louie Louie" performance the night before the recording. That certainly didn't help bring any clarity to the lead singer's performance. All in all, the band didn't want to release the version they had, but they were charged for the "practice" session, and they decided to keep it. It was this version that made it big.

     Since parts of the song were hard to understand due to the low quality, it is no wonder that rumors began to spread as to the the actual content of the song. While the actual lyrics of the song are very tame, the rumored versions were anything but. Below is one version of what some people thought was actually being sung:

Louie, Louie, 

grab her way down low. 

Louie, Louie, 

grab her way down low. 

A fine little bitch, she waits for me; 

she gets her kicks on top of me. 

Each night I take her out all alone; 

she ain't the kind I lay at home 

Each night at ten, I lay her again; 

I fuck my girl all kinds of ways. 

And on that chair, I lay her there; 

I felt my boner in her hair. 

If she's got a rag on, I'll move above; 

It won't be long, she'll slip it off. 

I'll take her in my arms again; 

tell her I'd rather lay her again.

The lyrics above were not the only dirty version that circulated, with the above and several others being passed around by teenagers thinking that those were the actual lyrics. Eventually, a parent managed to come into possession of a version of the lyrics like the one above and the poo, as we say, hit the fan. 

     As the song was gaining more and more traction over the nation's airwaves, it is no wonder that some parents eventually brought "Louie Louie" and its supposed lyrics to to the government and complained. What followed was a nearly three year long investigation by the FBI. Anyone and everyone who had anything at all to do with "Louie Louie" was brought in and questioned. Acting on one rumor that to hear the profane version of the song, you had to play the record at a different speed than it was recorded the FBI tried playing the record at any and every speed they could, but they still could not hear any clear profanity. Eventually they gave up, saying that they were, "unable to interpret any of the wording in the record."

     "Louie Louie" went on to be covered many more times, eventually becoming one of the most covered songs in history. If the false controversy around it accomplished anything, it may have cemented in the minds of some parents and concerned citizens the darker side of rock and roll. Unfortunately rock and roll would sometimes go on to live up to those expectations.










Sources:
1. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvXukKL3CwOwp8-d3_t1YXZiQrZiM8nyjJ-lFPOIdKxvhP9NPYdV9SJ5ITfaAta5PqzBzqsczJZVkuf0wlyBx27A3VVVSDVgdTKHThV8dP-D2kbRTmKi7kFVllobCJXvqNpID9z6wKG-9/s1600/hard+of+hearing.jpg
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen
3. http://www.fun-with-words.com/mala_mondegreens.html
4. http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/humor/mondegreens.asp
5. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mondegreen
6. http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/louie.asp
7. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/funny/lascivious-louie-louie
8. http://oldies.about.com/library/weekly/aa091602a.htm
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louie_Louie

"What did she say...?"

     It has been said that having a child lets you see the world through their eyes. While that is true, what they forget to tell you is that, given the extra time and experience you've had on the planet, you know there are times and places you can't say certain things. Young children no nothing of this concept. To them if they can say a word, they will say it and enjoy saying it, no matter the external situation. The first example my wife and I had of this was when our one year old decided that she wanted to sing the word "poop" over and over in the middle of the church service. While most agreed that it was cute and funny, which looking back on it it was, it was extremely mortifying to my wife and I setting there at the time.

     We didn't realize at the time, but that was a prelude to what was coming next. Since that time in church, our daughter has grown both physically and mentally, picking up new skills and words faster than we can keep track of. Last week, our now 15 month old startled us by saying, with some force, the word "f*ck" over and over again. The first time we heard, it my wife and I looked at each across the living room with shocked expressions and I said, "What did she say?".
 
     We were initially at a loss about what she was actually saying and what she wanted. Our first thought was to try and keep her from saying it again. We realized though that, if we made a big deal out of it, she would want to say it all the time. Fortunately, as I write this, she has only said it among family, and not in public. I dread the judgmental looks when she eventually does though. As best as we can tell, when she says that, what she is really asking for is a fork. Although at first we thought she was talking about a truck.

     With the above in mind, when I saw the following bad product idea at howtobeadad.com I laughed, and in a completely selfish moment, almost wished it was real.

     It also made me realize that we were just beginning to enter our daughter's language related parental embarrassment phase. While how it would work is planned out, I think it would, more often than not, back fire. What they have listed under side effects would probably, inadvertently, be the main output of such a toy.

     They have plenty of even funnier things @ howtobeadad.com, so check them out.





1. http://www.howtobeadad.com/2012/11966/bad-product-idea-10-peter-pottymouth-proper-pronunciation-wheel