Bathroom on the Right, Part 1

With the State Fair currently in full swing and my schedule at work demanding I be there pretty much every day, my mind is a bit fried in the area of coming up with stuff to blog about. In an effort to rev up my “inner blogger,” I’m going to utilize the powers of WordPress for another series.

In my line of work, we have a lot of people who listen to our station that don’t always hear things correctly. Frequently, this results in angry, poorly-thought-out emails ranting against something one of our on-air hosts said–that they actually didn’t say. To be fair, many emails are thoughtful and polite, merely attempting to call attention to what the emailer perceives to be some sort of gaffe on our part (and sometimes they’re right).

For our purposes in this series, though, I want to focus on a different type of topic that people frequently email about: mis-heard lyrics. Everyone falls prey to them. I’m sure many of us still sing along to our CDs and mumble our way through stretches of songs that we’re not quite sure about. The funny part comes when people hear things that really aren’t there but which still make some sort of sense.

One of the most famous examples–and the one from which I’m grabbing the title of this series–comes from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising.” How many people heard the lyric Don’t go around tonight/ Well, it’s bound to take your life/ There’s a bad moon on the rise and heard that last line as there’s a bathroom on the right? Try it…

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There are certainly other famous examples, and most all of them are funny. Most all of them are also, however, from famous secular songs. Obviously, though, people mis-hear lyrics in every genre, and Christian music is not immune; it’s just much less well known.

So, with that setup, and without further ado, I present today’s entry. This is one that came out just after I started working at the station, and it brought a small flurry of emails. Even today we occasionally get an email about this song. It’s Casting Crowns and their big debut single “If We Are the Body.”

Here’s the portion of the song in question:

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We got a LOT of emails from people who thought that this upstart new band Casting Crowns had slipped a minor profanity into their music and that we were letting them get away with it on the air! Some people even threatened to stop listening and pull their support from the station because of the words “damn, there is a way.”

I’ll admit, it does sound very close. However, here are the actual lyrics to the chorus:

But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

Ah, fun times, and a good way to start the series. More to come as the week progresses, and feel free to submit suggestions if it looks like I’m not covering one of your favorites. Also, to explore this phenomenon, check out The Archive of Misheard Lyrics–a good way to pass the time if you’re bored.

See you tomorrow!