A few years ago, I attended Catholic mass with my brother and father. My brother and I hadn't been brought up Catholic, so the rituals and hymns were all very new to us. When the congregation began to sing "Hosana in the highest", my brother whispered to me, "Are they saying 'Throw Osama in the fire'?"

Chelsea

Until I was 8 or 9 I thought that the lyrics to We Wish You A Merry Christmas were: 'Glad tidings we bring, to you and your sins' instead of 'Glad tidings we bring, to you and your kin'!!!

Jesi

I was telling my boyfriend about the hymn "Victory in Jesus" and when I got to the part that went "He sought me/and bought me" my boyfriend thought I said "He socked me/and bopped me."

Camille Noire

My Father had an interesting take on the carol 'we three kings'
'we three kings of trafalgar square
selling knickers at tuppence a pair
they're fantastic, no elastic
falling down everywhere...'

Anon

I come from Yorkshire and when we would sing Jingle Bells at Christmas I thought 'a one hose open sleigh' was 'a one horse serpent sleigh' because of the strong accents. I spent most of my childhood thinking that Father Christmas road a dragon.

Megan

when I was at primary school, they put the hymns on a projector for us to sing. I was to young to read along and keep up with the singing, so I sang what I heard. I had a picture of Jesus dancing on a sofa in a party because of the hymn 'Lord Of Th Dance'- 'Dance then, whereever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance Settee'

Jenny

When I was young, every Easter we sang a hymn in church which went "Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my saviour". I always thought the grown ups were singing "Low in the gravy lay Jesus...". To this day I can't sing it with a straight face!

Marina

My Mom could never figure out who Round John was. As in Round John, Virgin Mother and Child. Or rather as it should be Round yond Virgin, Mother and Child from Silent Night

Anon

MUM: What shall we sing now?
ME, AGED 4: Sing the one about the sofa
MUM: ???
ME: You know..."I am the Lord of the Dance Settee"
MUM: (smothered giggles) OH! You mean "I am the Lord of the Dance, said he"...(outright laughter)

Loody

When I was little I used to go to Sunday School. We sang hymns and when we sang 'I am the Lord of the Dance, said he' I thought for years we were singing about Michael Flatly.
Even I thought it was strange singing about Michael Flatly at church but everything at church was strange so i believed that for ages!

Not a Lord of the Dance fan.

This was actually my Mum's! For years,she would go around the house singing the harvest Hymn "Bringing In The Sheathes" ...but she sang "Bringing In The Sheep" !
Another hymn one ( my boyfriends) When he heard the lyrics "We Are Weak But He Is Strong" he thought it was "we are weak,but tea is strong" !

Alison

...that when people sang The Battle Hymn Of The Republic they were singing about a lady named Glory who "had a looyah". I didn't know what a looyah was, but I figured it must be important that Glory had one.

Tom Raywood

I used to believe that in the carol we three kings, that they were from places called Orry and tar.

"we three kings from orry and tar"

vandal

when I was little we went to church religiously (pun intended) when I was three I had a favorite hymn seemingly written just for me... "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm three..." I also enjoyed "I've got that pizza passing understanding down in my heart..."

shelby

When my sister was about 6 at Christmas time, she came home from school and sang us a carol she had just learned.
She started alright with 'Ding Dong merrily on high'
but unfortunately finished with 'Hosannah in his trousers'

Jim Clarke

When my sister was little she thought the song 'Who Built the Ark? Noah...Noah' actually went 'Who built the Ark? Noone noone'. She may have a point...

Kate

Around Easter, I would always become suspicious of gravy boats and what was in th bottom of them. We would sing "Low in the grave he lay. Jesus our savior".

I thought it was "Low in the gravy lay.....".

linda

do you know the swahili song that goes Siahumba kukan yenhe kwen kos (sorry i don't speak any swahili and this spelling is probably completely wrong!), or the english translation, We Are Marching In the Light of God. When I was young and when everyone sang that song in church, I always used to think on the kwen kos bit they were singing about cous cous!

cous cous lover

In our religion, our music is played from a CD, but when I was little I never knew this. I thought there was an old lady in the roof with a piano.

Anon

Well this isn't my misheard lyrics, but my sister's. When she was around 4, she was singing "Away In A Manger" at a Christmas party.
"Away in m-m-mary, no crib for a bear"
It's become a family favourite!

Jess + Danni