Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Brain Worms, Mondegreens and ‘The Hook’
MOTUS A.D. ^ | 12-27-20 | MOTUS

Posted on 12/27/2020 4:46:10 AM PST by NOBO2012

I will be gone all day so what do you say we spend today pondering this eminently ponderable: what is it about the human brain that causes us to mishear certain words or phrases? And why, once misheard, does the brain try to render meaning to the nonsensical and forevermore insist on mishearing the same thing over and over?

Ed Driscoll was obviously wondering more or less the same thing when he posted this little gem retweeted from a reddit thread. He did so with this droll observation: ANALYSIS: TRUE. France is Bacon.

We’ve all had this happen to us, but somehow it seems other people’s misheard brain worms are more interesting than mine. Take Gerard Van Der Leun for example: not only does he advise us what this phenomenon is called (a ‘mondegreen’) but as you’ll see in his post - Delete “Hook.” Insert “Heart” – when his brain misfires it’s actually better than the original. Here’s his take on the Blues Traveler’s song titled “The Hook” (which really should have been a clue, but the brain will do what the brain will do):

All of this is a periphrastic way of coming to what I had heard sung in the refrain to ‘The Hook.’ for many years. I never heard the word ‘hook.’ Instead I heard the word ‘heart,’ as in:

“Because the heart brings you back
I ain’t tellin’ you no lie


The heart brings you back


On that you can rely.”

I’ve listened to ‘The Hook.’, with attention or just as background, probably around a hundred times over the years. I’ve trance danced to it. I’ve even been to a Blues Traveler concert in New York City that had it on the setlist. In all those iterations I’ve never heard ‘hook,’ but always heard ‘heart.’ Now I know different …. but not better.

Seen whole the lyrics to ‘The Hook’ are all about the plight and pain of being a pop star. One of the thousands of such screeds in which our celebrities bemoan the curse of wealth and fame their rise has brought to them — the endless angst of those who fear they had to ‘sell-out’ in order to ‘buy-in.’ I try, but somehow I just can’t feel this pampered pain.

In the end, I really don’t want ‘The Hook.’ to bring me back. I want ‘The Heart’ to bring me back:

“Because the heart brings you back
I ain’t tellin’ you no lie


The heart brings you back


On that you can rely.”

It might be a mondegreen, but it makes a much better song.

It’s hard to argue with his conclusion, it really would make a much better song. But then, Gerard is a poet and writer so I suppose it shouldn’t surprise us that his mondegreens are better than ours, and indeed, better than the real thing.

Still, I find it interesting to ponder the power of the human brain to fill voids with misinformation. But for this fact the mockingbird media would not exist. They’ve literally created an entire industry out of replacing news and information with alternate words that they want you to believe are better than the real thing. They exist to make us see clearly now: Lorraine is gone.lorraine_2020-12-27 Action on Hearing Loss

Warning: misinformation is not a joke

I vote to give MSM ‘The Hook’

History of Comedians Getting the Hook — Comedy History 101

Posted from: MOTUS A.D.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Humor; Politics
KEYWORDS: electionfraud; fakenews; msm; propaganda
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

1 posted on 12/27/2020 4:46:10 AM PST by NOBO2012
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

“There’s a bathroom on the right.”

~Creedence Clearwater Revival.


2 posted on 12/27/2020 4:53:32 AM PST by dynachrome ( “The people have spoken . . . and they must be punished.” Ed Koch)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

For years, I would use the phrase “C’est la vie!” when speaking with my pre-teen daughter. Finally, one day, after I said it again, she turned to me with annoyance and said: “La vie!”


3 posted on 12/27/2020 4:54:08 AM PST by TheConservator (Beware the tyranny of the woke mob. There has never been a greater threat to liberty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

“She’s got electric boobs, her maw has too, you know I read it in a magazine.”


4 posted on 12/27/2020 5:12:20 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("Sorry, your race card has been declined. Can you present any other form of argument?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

These days, how many people can explain that hook coming after Bugs Bunny?


5 posted on 12/27/2020 5:19:40 AM PST by KrisKrinkle (Blessed be those who know the depth and breadth of ignorance. Cursed be those who don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

This one is the greatest of all time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwrgAnx6Q8

Once you have seen it, you will realize it can never be topped.


6 posted on 12/27/2020 5:40:52 AM PST by proxy_user
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TheConservator

Hahaha! Thanks for the chuckle!


7 posted on 12/27/2020 5:42:00 AM PST by grame (May you know more of the love of God Almighty this day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

“Excuse me while I kiss this guy (kiss the sky)” - Jimi Hendrix


8 posted on 12/27/2020 5:46:57 AM PST by jeffc (I'm a Patriot, and the media are our enemy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: proxy_user

That was great!


9 posted on 12/27/2020 5:49:44 AM PST by MarDav
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

I left my brains down in Africa...


10 posted on 12/27/2020 5:51:20 AM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

My daughter came home from kindergarten and asked if she could get some “angry shoes”. We asked what those were and she told us that Asley has “angry shoes” and sometimes they let her out of class to sit outside.


11 posted on 12/27/2020 6:01:32 AM PST by super7man (Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

For half a century, I thought that when they sang “I Get Around,” the Beach Boys were singing, “I get around all the time. like a loco weed, I feel really great.’ In reality, they were singing, “I get around from town to town. I have a real cool head; I’m making real good bread.”

In “She’s a Woman,” I thought the Beatles were singing, “She don’t hit RBIs” (runs batted in), apparently meaning she doesn’t “score” with others. In reality, they’re singing, “she don’t give boys the eye.”


12 posted on 12/27/2020 6:30:11 AM PST by Fiji Hill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

“And when I touch you
I feel happy inside
It’s such a feelin’ that my love
I GET HIGH
I GET HIGH
I GET HIGH”


13 posted on 12/27/2020 6:36:52 AM PST by Clemenza
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tet68

“Hear my words that I’m a hairy Jew
Take my arms and I’m a happy Jew”


14 posted on 12/27/2020 6:38:46 AM PST by Clemenza
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: NOBO2012

My mother played Bee Gees almost constantly when I was a kid. Count me among those, who heard Barry Gibb singing: “And you come to me on a submarine...”

And, of course, who can forget Manfred Mann singing about: “Blinded by the light... Wrapped up like a douche, another boner in the night.”


15 posted on 12/27/2020 6:53:15 AM PST by Kriggerel ("All great truths are hard and bitter, but lies... are sweeter than wild honey" (Ragnar Redbeard))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fiji Hill

CCR Green River:

I thought it was, “Let me remember things I don’t know.”

It’s actually “Let me remember things I love.”

Mine is MUCH better.


16 posted on 12/27/2020 6:53:22 AM PST by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: John Milner

Elvis Suspicious Minds.

I always heard, “They call it a drought, I can’t walk out.”

When I learned it is “We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out.” I was very shocked. Thinking, ‘WTH that doesn’t even rhyme?!?!”


17 posted on 12/27/2020 6:55:54 AM PST by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: John Milner

Crowded House

“Don’t dream it’s over.”

A friend thought it was “Don’t dream in slow-mo.”

The line MOST people miss-hear in that song is because of how it’s sung.

“Only shadows ahead
Barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief”

Many people hear that second line as “They’re declaring the roof.” Like on a tax form.


18 posted on 12/27/2020 6:58:59 AM PST by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: John Milner

On John Lennon’s version of Stand By Me.

I swear he’s singing, “The moon is the only flying pussy.” Instead of “The moon is the only light we’ll see.”

I’ve told several friends about this and now that’s the only way they hear it now. I’ve supposedly “ruined” the song for them, LOL.


19 posted on 12/27/2020 7:01:43 AM PST by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: proxy_user

Here’s one better;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOgALTFzFbQ


20 posted on 12/27/2020 7:03:38 AM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson