Revealing the True Meanings Behind These Misunderstood Songs

Misheard: “If it ain’t paradise, then put up a parking lot”
Correct: “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot”

The most well-known rendition of this song is probably the one by Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton, but Joni Mitchell wrote the original. After her first trip to Hawaii, where paradise had been practically paved over to build a parking lot, Mitchell told The Los Angeles Times that she was inspired to write the song.

Misheard: “Even Dallas games, people play”
Correct: “In the jealous games people play”

With the release of their album “Beauty and the Beat” in 1981, the Go-Gos made the transition from punk to pop music. The album’s breakthrough single, “Our Lips are Sealed,” peaked at #20 on the Billboard charts.