Vol. 07 · Misheard ·1879
"Gladly, the cross-eyed bear."
That isn't the lyric.
What you hear
"Gladly, the cross-eyed bear."
What's actually sung
"Gladly the Cross I'd Bear." Keep Thou My Way (hymn) — Fanny Crosby (1879)
Why the ear defaults
The original mondegreen that named them all. Kids hearing this hymn in Sunday school imagined a friendly bear with crossed eyes — and the word stuck.
Hear another line wrong?
Play the misheard duel — pick the real lyric, round by round.