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Original poster

I've just learned if it hadn't been for Cotton Eye Joe..

407 replies

StanleyTheCrane · 19/05/2022 19:58

He'd have been married a long time ago and not buried a long time ago. I thought that CEJ had saved his life, not stolen all of the women.

Also that he came to town like a Mid-Winter storm, not like a movie star.

Has anyone else had any lyric related revelations lately?

OP posts:
RockAndOrRoll · 20/05/2022 12:11

AMBE123 · 19/05/2022 20:21

And apparently Kenny Rogers wasn't actually left with four hundred children and a crop in the field....

I too was disapinted by this.

Four hungry children = not much sympathy

Four hundred children = definitely feeling for him

RockAndOrRoll · 20/05/2022 12:12

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The bloody tomatoes
Will walk to the meadows and dance!

Or perhaps they won't...

HopingForMyRainbowBaby · 20/05/2022 12:16

Garagewonderings · 19/05/2022 22:36

I knew her lover had his strong beliefs. But I've spent the last 25 years singing "freed from desire, modern senses purified" which I'm pretty sure isn't right.

Mind and senses purified, freed from desire

GreenWhiteViolet · 20/05/2022 12:16

My favourite from a previous thread was someone's DC thinking that Moves Like Jagger was actually 'I've got to move my dragon' Grin

Also 'hit me with your pet shark'

RockAndOrRoll · 20/05/2022 12:19

I also thought "rhythm is a dancer, it's a source of cancer..." which always seemed a bit morbid and made the name line ("you can feel it everywhere") a bit depressing.

HopingForMyRainbowBaby · 20/05/2022 12:22

That mambo number 5 is actually the liquor store round the corner and not the knicker store round the corner

DameHelena · 20/05/2022 12:26

NotExactlyHappyToHelp · 19/05/2022 20:24

I only learned recently that Cotton Eye Joe is about STDs Shock.

I used to hear The Kooks song as ‘I know she knows I’m not from Nebraska’ instead of ‘I know she knows I’m not fond of asking’ which makes a whole lot more sense.

That's one theory, but I don't buy it. It's based on the idea that the 'cotton' is a swab used in a medical test and that CEJ was being tested for STIs, but the song dates from the mid-19th century so this seems a bit unlikely.
I have read a theory I find more convincing, given the historical context: that CEJ was an alcoholic/heavy drinker of moonshine, which can blind people, and had 'cotton eyes'.

CupidStunt22 · 20/05/2022 12:29

Trivester · 19/05/2022 22:41

Isn’t a trombolese a very small trombone?

“Golden brown, texture like sun, lay me down in my man chinos” he wants to be buried in a particularly masculine pair of beige trousers. Right?

I always thought it was "Mancheerons", whatever they were. I think some kind of cocktail cherry...

As for Hold Me closer Tony Danza.....

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 20/05/2022 12:33

PaintingClocks · 20/05/2022 11:55

I always thought it was tropically island breeze

Show quote history

I always thought the first verse of La Isla Bonita was:

Last night I dreamt of some deigo
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
A young girl with eyes like potatoes…
It all seems like yesterday, not far away
Chop the gooly, island breeze…

Listen, and I defy you not to hear the same! 😂

Playplayaway · 20/05/2022 12:41

Club Tropicana chips are free

mintybobs · 20/05/2022 12:45

CTPT · 19/05/2022 20:25

This! Mind blown Grin

Show quote history

YESSSSSS! For years I presumed a "tromboleese" was some kind of niche musical instrument- so like the lyric meant, he had no money but hes still got his music!

mintybobs · 20/05/2022 12:47

I also thought that the lyric "Say that you love me" in Toni Braxton's unbreak my heart was "sage and onions", I always wondered why the hell she was singing about love then randomly put food in there

PollyannaWhittier · 20/05/2022 16:45

RockAndOrRoll · 20/05/2022 12:12

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The bloody tomatoes
Will walk to the meadows and dance!

Or perhaps they won't...

That's brilliant 😂😂

namechangeididtoo · 20/05/2022 18:07

In van halens jump
my husband thought it said “maxwell jump” not “might as well jump”

user1478112490 · 20/05/2022 18:24

I always thought Destiny's Child were singing 'I'm a bus driver' instead of I'm a survivor' !

Ellebell123 · 20/05/2022 18:27

This reply has been deleted

This message has been deleted at OPs request.

Theala · 20/05/2022 18:31

mubarak86 · 19/05/2022 20:55

In a previous thread someone thought it was Rhythm is a dancer, it's a sauce companion 🤣

That's just ridiculous. Rhythm is a source of anger, obviously... 🤗

Romney981 · 20/05/2022 18:35

I always thought the Bee Gees sang "you come to me in a submarine" not "you come to me on a summer breeze" - Well it was called How deep is your love, that's why I thought there was a submarine involved

AclowncalledAlice · 20/05/2022 18:36

DD a few years back was listening to a Jam song......my user name is what she sang instead of "A Town called Malice"...she was 26 at the time.

Thefsm · 20/05/2022 18:51

Eat your hair, eat your haaaaaaaaair, zombie, zombie....

QueenieMac · 20/05/2022 19:04

Leperquartzee.....

When it's actually 'Let the choir sing' from Madonna's like a prayer. That's from my DH, not I!😂

QueenieMac · 20/05/2022 19:11

Oh I do have a few now, my mum used to sing Night Fever Knocks Me out by the Bee Gees when it's actually Night Fever, Night Fever.

You're the one that I want, (you're the one I cried for) ooh ooh ooh
It's You're the one that I want, you are the one I want ooh ooh ooh
You're the One that I want - Grease

My personal favourite is
Tell them that its you and me Joe
Actually 'if they say why, why, tell em that it's Human Nature" by Michael Jackson

She was bloody brilliant my mum.

feellikeanalien · 20/05/2022 19:14

Another one who heard Tromboleese. I also thought deserts miss the rain by Anything but the Girl was desert's mystery. I only found out because I was singing very enthusiastically and DP was laughing at me.

Lord of the Dance - I am the lord of the dancing tea. Never could work out what that meant!!😂

feellikeanalien · 20/05/2022 19:16

Just remembered another one. That well know song Call me Out by Paul Simon. I only discovered really recently it was Call me Al.

almondfinger · 20/05/2022 19:19

notacooldad · 19/05/2022 20:56

And apparently Kenny Rogers wasn't actually left with four hundred children and a crop in the field....
Really? Are you sure? :)

I always thought the poor man had 400 hundred children and a crock in the field. I used to sing along at full tilt.