Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

February 3, 2011

Takin' Care of Finster

One of my fave memories of my cousin Diane is from when we were 9.  It was 1974.  She and I had discovered Top 40 radio thanks to the tiny transistor radios that her grandfather/my uncle gave us.  She was still living on Long Island then, so while she listened to WABC in NYC, I listened to WRKO out of Boston.  Being on Cape Cod, on clear nights I, too, could pull in WABC on my radio, and she was way out on Long Island and could get WRKO too.  The stations played essentially the same songs, with maybe some regional bands getting more airplay in one or the other market.

When Diane and Sharon came up for the summer, all 3 of our radios were always tuned to WRKO, as was the stereo out in the Chicken Coop at my parents' house, where we had sleepovers and did crafts on rainy days.  We spent as much time as we could together when they were in town for the summer, and we always listened to the radio when we weren't watching Bonanza or The Partridge Family or in the pool.  One day, "Takin Care of Business" by BTO came on. It was a new song that year and getting a good bit of airplay.  We were warbling singing along and as we get to the chorus, Diane belts out, "TAKIN CARE OF FINSTER, EVERY DAY! TAKIN CARE OF FINSTER, EVERY WAY!"  I stopped dead and looked at her.  I said, "What are you singing that for?"  She innocently and seriously says to me, "Those are the words! Takin care of Finster!  Right?  Like in the cartoon?"  By this time I was doubled over, laughing so hard I could barely speak. I knew exactly what cartoon she was talking about. She thought it was written because of the Bugs Bunny cartoon, when he takes care of the bank robber Baby Faced Finster.

I still love to tease her about that from time to time. I heard the song on the radio the other day and it brought a big smile to my face.  I sang, "Takin Care of Finster", for old times' sake.

What are some of your fave misheard lyrics? 

10 comments:

  1. Oh, it has to be Purple Haze (and I know I'm not alone in this one) "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy".
    It was actually "kiss the sky". Oops!

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  2. That's one of my faves too! Michelle thought the line in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was, "the girl with colitis goes by." hahaha

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  3. Ahhhh ... beaten to it by Val. Except there is a twist. Hendrix used to like word plays and adopted 'scuse me while I kiss this guy' in some performances of Purple Haze so it's strictly not a mis-hearing. Elmore James had a song called 'the sky is crying' which was tweaked in the last passage to 'this guy is crying'. Hendrix knew his stuff and this is probably the origin of the wordplay.

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  4. Anonymous11:35 AM

    What a riot! I can't think of any misheard lyrics at the moment, but I'm sure I am guilty of the same. I just love hearing your stories about growing up.

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  5. Ok, there are so many... I cannot choose! Here goes.

    Band on the rug--"Stand on the rug" or the ever popular "Mac on the bun"

    Whiter Shade of Pale- Wyatt Erp Shade of Pale

    My Eyes Adored you-- "Miles of torture"

    There's a bad moon on the rise-- "There's a bathroom on the right"

    I can go on, but those are the biggies off the top of my head.

    How fun! Have a great weekend sugar.
    xo

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  6. Woops! That is Band on the RUN.... R-U-N! Premature typing! Oh my!

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  7. I had one in the hard rock craze of the 80's that stands out....Van Halens' PANAMA....became "hang it up" for some reason!!! LMAO!!!

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  8. Anonymous7:21 AM

    I'm sure there must be lots, but darned if I can think of a single one!

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  9. Hey those are some great ones! Love 'Bathroom on the Right". I sing that one too.

    Axe, yours really cracked me up. I NEVER heard that one before!! hahaha

    I remember someone I knew thought the Doobie Bros were singing "time to go" instead of "China Grove".

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  10. Another fave is Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" being sung as "Hold me closer Tony Danza, count the headlice on the highway..." lol

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