songs

When I heard the song "Oh Susanna" as a very little kid I was very confused about the verse about coming from Alabama with "a banjo on my knee".I literally thought it meant the guy had limped a long distance with a banjo tied or strapped to his knee, which must have made his knee really sore and raw! My belief in this idiotic idea was further confirmed by my grandmother who for some reason didn't think it was very Ladylike to play a banjo.When she heard me singing the song ( we learned it it school) she commented sharply that she hoped she would never see me with a banjo on my knee.I quickly agreed with her.Who wanted to do anything as stupid and painful as to strap a banjo on my knee and go hiking to another state until my skin rubbed off? It was several years before I figured out the actual meaning of the song and the snobby attitude behind Grandmother's comment.

Anonnymouse

When i was little i used to think that if i listened to " old people" music i would transform into an " old person"

Curious Gearge

I used to think that the air guitar was a real instrument, like an air rifle is a real gun. I learnt the truth about a month ago, i am 14

Az

In the song "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" they pretend that the snowman is Parson Brown. I didn't know what a Parson was, so I assumed parson described a shade of brown. I couldn't figure why anyone would pretend a snowman was brown. I was even more confused as to why a brown snowman would care if a person was married. I thought it was the most senseless Christmas song in the universe.

Anon

I used to think that the lyrics to the song were 'Hark, the HAROLD angels sing', not 'herald angels'. I wondered why the heck all of those angels were called 'Harold'.

E.

when i was little i used to believe that everytime you listened to the radio it was actually playing live. In a place at a specific time. and i thought that all the artists were best friends due to the fact that the next song came quickly. I was completely crushed because i found out that it wasnt true when i was listening to ''Try Again'' by Aaliyah. . .and before that it said that it was a dedication to Aaliyah

Dedication to Aaliyah

I remember when I was about 4 there would be this song on Barney. It was on a bunch of other shows, but I remember seeing this one first.

"Down by the bay where the watermelons grow, back to my home i dare not go. for if i do my mother will say. "Would you ever see a bear combing his hair down by the bay"

i remember being scared to DEATH of watermelons because of that. i saw the barney music video and they just flashed watermelons like ONCE, but i was SCARED. i have no idea why i was afraid of the watermelons, but i remember it alright!

Staycie

I got a sound recorder thing and one time, when I was little, used it and sang into it. Afterwards, I was very embarrassed if anyone heard me sing, so I unravelled the cassette and threw it out. Then, I feared that the government would find the cassette in the junkyard, put it back together, listen to it and find out who made it. I was scared to death and embarrassed.

Rebecca Sears

When I was little I couldn't understand how my friends would know which 45 records to buy at the store. I asked them did the store let you listen to them before you bought them? It didn't occur to me that they bought songs they had heard on the radio, because we weren't allowed to listen to the radio.

I was such a sheltered kid.

M

I couldn't understand how a record got to number one in the charts and believed that the Queen chose it, my husband still makes fun of me and does impressions of the queen announcing that Show Waddy Waddy were going to be number one today!

Rochelle Peachey

When I was about 6, I thought that when a song fades out, the effect is created by the band performing on the back of a truck, which then drives away from the microphone.

I was also highly confused by songs which had the same person's vocals played over the top of each other, wondering how the hell it was possible to sing two things at the same time. When my mum told me that it was done by a mixer, I imagined a mixer to resemble a big washing machine.

Jim, UK

When I was five, I thought the band 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' were actual peppers that sang. So everytime I saw a pepper, I would sing one of their songs and pretend that they were too shy to sing at that moment.

Karma

I used to think that people could only sing about stuff that really happened to them. Not about things they made up, or stories from the past. I thought this for a disturbingly long time...

the_only_nighthawk

I used to think that all music was made by this one big guy, (who in my mind looked something like Danny Devito) who wore a blue and orange vertical-striped polo shirt. He sang every song, and did the instruments for every song. I have no idea where that thought originally came from.

Kez

My dad has always been a clever and imaginative guy. When my brother and I were around 7 or 8 years old, we were riding in the back seat of the car. My dad in the driver's seat started singing, "Wellllll, who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop, who put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong...." My brother and I just thought that Daddy was the weirdest human being ever for inventing such a silly song as that. And no matter what he or my mother in the front seat of the car said, they could not convince us any differently. It wasn't until at least a couple of years later (maybe more?) that I finally heard the song on the radio and it dawned on me. I stood there for a full two minutes, dumbfounded that it's actually a REAL song!

Anna

I used to believe that 'heavy metal' meant the musical instruments were literally heavier than usual because they were made of steel or something.

Bloopy

I always thought that "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees was sung by Aretha Franklin.

Anon

My older sisters loved Gloria Estefan when I was little. One of their favorite songs to play was "Rhythm is Gonna Get You." I was terrified, because I didn't know what rhythm was, and I didn't want it to get me when I turn out all the lights!

Anon

When I first saw an accordion, I thought it was an engine from a car or truck. I thought they would take it out of the vehicle and stretch it back and forth so they can get dirt and dust out of it. I also wondered why it made a lot of noise and why someone would keep it in their house. I later learned it was only a musical instrument when my grandparents showed one to me. I felt so embarrassed and dumbfounded when they told me what it really was...

Lucy

I thought God drove a car like ours - a Honda. The song DID say "fill the heavens with sweet Accords..."

Dummy