when I was at school we used to sing the Hymn, the Lord of the Dance. When it got to the chorus, the line went - "Dance Lord wherever you may be i am the Lord of the dance said he" However i thought the line went "dnace Lord wherever you may be I am the Lord of the dance setee" and surprisingly enough imagined the Lord dancing on a sofa!

jen

I used to believe that when we sang the hymn Surely Goodness and Mercy Will Follow You, that we were singing about Shirley and Mercy following us.

Anon

How many other people stood on their Bibles after learning, "The B-I-B-L-E, now that's the book for me. I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!"

Mindy

When I was little, I used to believe that the song " May the Dear Lord Bless You" was about a deer that was a lord in a kingdom and he was saying bless you as if you had just sneezed.

Tabitha

As a kid, I had a Christmas song book, from which I learned the song "Rise Up Shepherd And Foller". At the time, I didn't recognize "foller" as a dialectical form of "follow". So I thought a "foller" was somebody who, like the shepherds, went to the manger to adore the Christ child. For years, I puzzled over who a "foller" was, and just how follers fit into the Christmas story.

Carla

When i was quite little (about 7 or 8) I thought that the works to the hymn 'Kum-bah-yah' were 'Cucumber, my Lord...' I always wondered why the lady sitting next to me in church was glaring at me...

Lisa

MY BROTHER LIKED THE SONG "HOW GREAT THOU ART." WHEN THEY SANG IT IN CHURCH. HE ACTUALLY THOUGHT THEY WERE SINGING "I'LL BREAK THOU ARM."

Anon

As a kid at primary school aged about 5 i used to sign "brother no one built the ark" instead of the correct "brother Noah built the ark"

in came the animal 2 by 2

Not mine, but my husband's -- and not that long ago. He cracked up the choir during a church service by singing "There is a bomb in Goliad!" Considering that a very important battle during the Texas war for independence from Mexico was fought at Goliad, he did have a point.

Texas granny

When I was a child, we just to sing this song in church called Victory in Jesus. Part of the lyrics were "He plunged me to victory, beneath the crimson flood." (to understand the next part of this story, you have to know that there was a small town named Hickory that was a few miles from where I lived). Instead of the above lyrics, I always thought it said "He punched me to Hickory, into a sea of blood." I always hated that song because I could just imagine Jesus punched me under the chin, and me flying across the air into this bloody sea.

Chad

i used to think that when we sang ' sing hosana sing hosana' in assemblies at school that we was singing about my friends mum who was called rosanna!!! and i used to be so jealous that her mum was so special to be in a song!!!

Emma Jane

When I was little, there was a song called "Lord, Teach Us To Pray". I couldn't read and always thought the words were "with our pots and pans all busy in our private little homes". Years later when I could read, I realized the words were "with our hearts and hands all heavy in our private little wars".

no name in Indiana

This one belongs to my wife. When she was growing up her church sang a song that went,"Everyday I'm camping, in the land of Canaan. I'm camping, I'm camping, in Canaan's happy land." She thought it went,"Everyday I'm cramping in the land of Canaan. I'm cramping, I'm cramping, in Canaan's happy land." Which begs the questions: Why were they cramping and how could they be happy?

Big Willie

There's a line in a school hymn that goes 'I wait with baited breath' - I thought that meant the hymn writer's breath smelled of maggots.

Scribbles

I thought the hymn "Bringing in the Sheep" was "Bringing in the Sheets" and that people would sing it when taking dry laundry (sheets in particular) off the cloths line.

Anon

There is a chorus that talks about the "Cross I bear" a kid I knew used to get excited and asked his aunt if they could sing the song about the "cross-eyed bear"

Anon

A verse of the hymn "The Church's One Foundation" describes the church as follows: "Elect from every nation yet one o'er all the earth." I had never seen "elect" used as a noun before, so I assumed that it was a verb and that the verse was encouraging us to hold an international election to choose one person to be President of the World. I had no idea why.

T2

When I heard "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing", I thought the "Harold Angels" were a troupe run by some guy neamed Harold, like the June Taylor Dancers or the King Family.

Mike Ransom

I went to church every Sunday my whole life because my dad was a preacher but still it did not occur to me until I was in 5th grade that there was no hymn called "Standing on the Last" - that was just what our music leader would say when he introduced each hymn so everyone would rise on the last verse.

summer

When I was younger, I didn't understand the words to many of the hymns we sang in church, but there was one that just couldn't be mistaken. When this particular hymn was sung, I would stand, and proudly, whole-heartedly, and in my best, loudest voice sing...."Bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep; we will come rejoicing, bringing in the sheeeeeeep."

Kasey'sMom