Fayme Reinhart first heard her husband utter the woman's name when they were newlyweds, back in 1982.

Kate Moeser competes on Fox's "Don't Forget the Lyrics," one of two shows in which contestants try to turn their knowledge of lyrics into prize money. Click photo for larger image. Related article Now playing: more misheard lyrics Listen In Hear excerpts from songs that PG readers misheard: "Rhythm of the Rain," The Cascades "Bad Moon Rising," Creedence Clearwater Revival "Beast of Burden," The Rolling Stones "Beth," Kiss "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," Diana Ross "Eyes Without a Face," Billy Idol "Groovin'," The Young Rascals "More Than a Woman," The Bee Gees "Smooth Operator," Sade "The Stroke," Billy Squier

"The only girl I ever loved is Donna Wayne/ Looking for a brand-new start," he sang.

"What did you say?" she asked.

He repeated the line.

"I can't believe you said 'Donna Wayne,' " said Ms. Reinhart, 48, of Richland.

She wasn't on the verge of a jealous rage, but instead broke into uproarious laughter and kindly told him: "The lyric is '... the only girl I've ever loved has gone away/ Looking for a brand-new start.' "

Then and only then did Tom Reinhart, 54, realize he had been singing "Rhythm of the Rain" wrong all of his life, but even today he jokes with his wife, "I'll always love Donna!"

"I've never let him live it down," she says.

The aurally challenged not only walk and sing among us, they ARE us. Cotton swabs and earwax removal systems won't help. Misheard lyrics afflict us all, as the examples below will show, whether we're strong men eating oatmeal, mountain hyenas or Leslie.

As a 13-year-old at summer camp, Justin Luzar remembers hearing a friend sing "Strong man's oatmeal" instead of "Stroke me/ Stroke me," to Billy Squier's "The Stroke."

"We all looked at each other like, 'Did he just say what I think he said?' and then simultaneously busted out laughing," says Mr. Luzar, 38, of Scott. "We then mocked him mercilessly for the rest of the summer."

Poor enunciation, unfamiliar or foreign words, and utter inanity are reasons some song lyrics perplex so many, says Gavin Edwards, a Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor who has compiled four books of misheard lyrics, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy and Other Misheard Lyrics," "He's Got the Whole World in His Pants and More Misheard Lyrics," "When a Man Loves a Walnut and Even More Misheard Lyrics" and "Deck the Halls With Buddy Holly and Other Misheard Christmas Lyrics."

"I don't think today's lyrics are more confusing [than those of previous eras], but I think enunciation has gotten much worse among rock singers," he says. "I think many -- but not all -- rappers have crisper diction, so maybe the trend is heading the other way."

With last week's stellar debut of two new prime-time TV game shows -- NBC's "The Singing Bee" (airing Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m.) and Fox's "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m.) -- song lovers now can turn their song lyric knowledge into prize money. Last week, "The Singing Bee" pulled in 13 million viewers and "Don't Forget the Lyrics" drew 8.2 million viewers, making them, respectively, the first- and second-highest rated summer premieres.

"I think it shows that song lyrics are our lingua franca, even when we don't know what the singer's saying," says Mr. Edwards, whose most recent book is "Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?: Music's Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed."

Sylvia Wright coined the term for misheard lyrics -- mondegreens -- in a 1954 Atlantic magazine article. As a girl, Ms. Wright thought the lyrics to a folk song were "They had slain the Earl of Moray/ And Lady Mondegreen." The correct lyrics are "They had slain the Earl of Moray/ And laid him on the green," Edwards explained in one of his books.

One day as a kid in the early '70s, Richard Borden found his basketball practice was going to prevent him from hearing the weekly radio music countdown list. So, he asked his mother to listen to the radio and write down the song that reached No. 1 on the singles chart.

When he got home, he found a notepad upon which his mother had written, "Ain't No Mountain Hyena," instead of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."

"Still makes me smile when I hear that song and sing, 'Ain't No Mountain Hyena,' to it," says Mr. Borden, 45, of Cranberry.

In another inaudible tale from the 1970s, Patty Iriana recalled playing a Pictionary-type game on the blackboard in algebra class.

A classmate drew a picture of a ghost talking on a telephone.

"When nobody could guess what the answer might be, and thinking he stumped us, he revealed the answer to be 'Death I Hear You Calling' by Kiss," says Ms. Iriana, 44, of Forest Hills. "We just laughed."

It's "Beth I Hear You Calling."

Like many who crooned to the Young Rascals' "Groovin'," Debbie Meyers, 49, of Fox Chapel, thought the lyrics spoke of some fantastical trio in which, "Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie" instead of the correct "Life would be ecstasy, you and me endlessly."

Mocking laughter and chortling at one's friends and loved ones is a recurring theme with misheard lyric stories.

Is Sade singing about a "smooth operator" or a something else? Click photo for larger image.

At the tender age of 4, Jessica Tacka loved to sing along with the radio, especially to Sade's "Smooth Operator." However, she thought the words were "Oola gorilla/ oola gorilla" instead of "smooth operator/ smooth operator."

"We got a laugh out of it so we never bothered to correct her," says her mother, Denise Tacka, 53, of Bethel Park. "Instead, it's one of those embarrassing family stories we love to re-tell, to which a now [24-year-old] Jessica exclaims in exasperation, 'I was only FOUR!'"

Certain, special songwriters consistently manage to confuse almost everyone who has ever heard their songs. Multiple Post-Gazette readers submitted these misheard lyrics. Exactly why the song titles didn't provide lyrical clues remains a mystery.

"There's a bathroom on the right," instead of "There's a bad moon on the rise" from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising."

"How's about a date?" instead of "Eyes Without a Face" from Billy Idol's song of the same name.

"Bald-headed woman," instead of "More Than a Woman" from The Bee Gees song of the same name.

"I'll never leave your pizza burnin' " instead of "I'll never be your beast of burden" from the Rolling Stones' "Beast of Burden."

"Dirty Deeds, Thunderchief" and "Dirty Deeds in the Thunder Jeep" instead of the correct "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" from the AC/DC song of the same name.

No discussion of misheard lyrics could be complete without mention of Elton John.

He and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin could have a platinum-plated shrine in the Misheard Lyrics Hall of Fame for all the weird and wonderful lyrics they've confounded the world with lo these many years.

There are too many lines in too many songs to name them all, but some of their songs with some of the most misheard lyrics on the planet include "Bennie and The Jets," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Philadelphia Freedom" and "Rocket Man."

With all the Internet lyric Web sites, people can learn the right lyrics to almost any song, but many don't. And many continue to sing the wrong lyrics even after they've learned the right words.

"People got lyrics wrong even when they owned albums that had lyrics sheets -- which is as it should be," Mr. Edwards says. "If you like your own mishearing better, I think you should stick with it: It makes the song your own."

To find song lyrics, go to lyricsdepot.com or lyricsdownload.com. To hear song snippets: allmusic.com.

"The Singing Bee": nbc.com/The_Singing_Bee.

"Don't Forget the Lyrics": fox.com/dontforget.