TAKING A RISK WITH SECRETS

AMERICAN writer Sylvia Wright created the term Mondegreen in 1954 for a misheard lyric.

As a girl, she had listened to a Scottish ballad and misinterpreted the line: “... and laid him on the green” as “... and Lady Mondegreen”. People have been getting lyrics wrong ever since, particularly in the age of popular music, radio and records. How about these examples: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, for some poor souls, became: “Lucy in disguise with dachshunds” while another artist who put a clue in the title was Adele in Chasing Pavements. “Or should I just keep chasing pavements?” became “Or should I just keep chasing penguins?”

Coldplay didn’t fare much better with Paradise when some insisted on singing “Parrot, parrot, parrot eyes” instead of “Para- paraparadise”. Fans of Abba got fruity when they sang: “Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tangerine” instead of “feel the beat from the tambourine” and Aquarius by The 5th Dimension had a vegetarian make-over when “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius” became “This is the dawning of the age of asparagus”.

Johnny Nash could see clearly now the rain had gone, although some sang Lorraine had gone, and even Don McLean’s classic changed when “Bye, bye Miss American Pie” became “Buy, buy this Samaritan pie”.

Are there lyrics you always get wrong, either by mistake or on purpose? NE in four partners have a secret, according to a poll by Lottoland. They include hiding their location, shopping habits, debts and affairs – past or present. And one in 20 said they had a huge secret. Oo-er, mum.

Hiding your location is difficult these days when your partner can put a tracking app in your mobile. “I was late leaving the office.”

“Your office is the Dog and Duck now, is it?”

And how many huge secrets are out there? Soviet spy? Bigamist? Undercover tax inspector?

Women appear to have more secrets than men, with 12% of ladies having something to hide, compared with 8% of blokes.

A spokesperson said: “Honesty is always the best policy when it comes to relationships. You can’t take a chance on love.”