In 2014, it was all the rage when Taylor Swift came out with her new single, “Blank Space.” After consistent plays on the radio, it seemed as if everyone knew the lyrics to this pop song. But, did they really? In the chorus of the song, Swift says "I got a long list of ex-lovers”, however; it seemed to catch on alarmingly fast that the lyrics were “all the lonely Starbucks lovers.”

Why do we assume such crazy ideas when there is a “blank space” in our perception?

Well there are four ways that we fill in these spaces.

Stereotyping

As cognitive beings, we go through life making generalizations about subjects and objects that have little relevancy. Which means, most of our snap assumptions align with socially common stereotypes. This is the cause as to why people hear “Starbucks lovers.” It is a standing stereotype that all white girls are obsessed with Starbucks. Taylor Swift, being a blonde hair, blue-eyed white girl who has not had the best track record for relationships, it is easy to assume that she is a lonely Starbucks lover.

But this is why stereotypes are trash... Because Taylor Swift is awesome.

Surrounding Implication

Another method in which we fill in the gaps of misunderstood songs, is through our immediate surroundings. This is perhaps how we get the craziest versions and the largest variance is made in misheard lyrics: from “Living on a prayer”, some people heard “Lemon and a snail” and “Lizard in a chair.”

While those make no sense, they were all comprised from people in different situations. It is possible that someone smelled lemons.

It is possible someone was playing with their pet lizard imagining it was chillin’ in a chair.

You don’t know their life… Don’t judge.

Contextual Clues

Remember that song from 1999 by Eiffel 65 called Blue?

It is the most ridiculous song I’ve heard having it repeat this lyric over and over for majority of the song: “I'm Blue da ba dee da ba daa”

However, it was quickly started that these were not the lyrics, yet “I’m blue if I were green I would die.” This was originated based on the context clues in the other known parts of the song. The rest of the song talks about him being blue and along with other blue things.

While this is all metaphorical, people took “blue” as the literal color and inferred that if he were green, he would die.

Experience

In the song “Tear in My Heart” by 21 pilots, Tyler shouts something before the song starts. What he says is “annyeonghaseyo” which is a Korean term for "Hello, how are you?"

However, if you ask a dancer, it sounds as if they are saying “One Two passé up!” (in which passé is a balletic term). Whereas a musician would think they say, “One two three and four!” (more like a musical count off).

Both are not true, but as you can see, they assumed the lyric based on what they know.

To be honest no one would know what was actually said without Google...

Just Plain Listening

Some songs, like Oh Fortuna, are not even in English. Therefore, there is no way one could know the actual lyrics unless they knew the language. In this situation, people say exactly what they hear, meaning most of the time, there is no coherence to the words of the song.

"Salsa cookies!

Windmill cookies!

They gave you gonorrhea!"

QUIZ TIME!

Here are a few more examples just for fun. See if you can guess what is actually said!

1) Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

“Spare him his life from this warm sausage tea!”

2) Elastic Heart – Sia

“I won’t give up!”

3) Hold My Hand – Beatles

“I get high! I get high!”

4) I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash

“I can see clearly now Lorraine is gone.”

5) Venus As A Boy – Bjork

“His penis has a boil.”

Answer Key:

1) "Spare him his life from this monstrosity!"
2) "Elastic Heart!"
3) "I can't hide! I can't hide!"
4) "I can see clearly now the rain is gone."
5) "He's Venus as a boy."