What is the difference between a parody and a mondegreen? According to dictionary.com, a parody is “a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing”, while a mondegreen is “a word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard”.  In other words, a parody is intentional while a mondegreen generally is not. Mondegreens are often referred to as misheard lyrics. A parody can also be called a pun or satire.

Both parodies and mondegreens are common in music. Very often people mishear the lyrics to popular songs, such as “excuse me while I kiss this guy” instead of “kiss the sky”, or “secret Asian man” instead of “secret agent man”. Sometimes a mondegreen can be made up, or forced; if this is the case, then the mondegreen verges on a parody.