The 1982 Lyric Mystery: Unmasking "I Feel Like Slapping A Night Today"

The phrase "I feel like slapping a night today" is a classic example of a 'mondegreen'—a misheard lyric that has baffled listeners for decades, specifically pointing to a major chart hit from 1982. As of December 2025, no official song contains this exact line, but its phonetic similarity strongly suggests it is a unique misinterpretation of one of the most lyrically confusing songs of the entire decade: "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners. This article dives deep into the mystery, uncovering the real lyrics and the cultural context that made this iconic 80s track so prone to being misheard. The quest to find the source of the "slapping a night today" lyric is a journey back to the golden age of pop music confusion. The year 1982 was a pivotal time for new wave and pop-soul, often featuring fast, muddled vocals and dense instrumentation that turned simple phrases into complex phonetic puzzles for listeners. The song most commonly associated with these lyrical errors is the energetic, fiddle-driven anthem that topped the charts globally.

The Phenomenon of the Mondegreen: Why We Mishear Music

The term 'mondegreen' is the official name for a misheard word or phrase, particularly in a song or poem, that results in a new, often amusing, phrase. The word itself was coined in 1954 by writer Sylvia Wright, who misheard the line "and laid him on the green" in a Scottish ballad as "and Lady Mondegreen". This phenomenon is the key to understanding the "I feel like slapping a night today" mystery.

The Perfect Storm for Misheard Lyrics in 1982

Several factors converged in the early 1980s that made mondegreens a common experience:

• Vocal Delivery: Many artists of the era, including Kevin Rowland of Dexys Midnight Runners, favored a passionate, often fast or slightly slurred vocal style that prioritized emotion over clarity.
• Production Quality: Early 80s pop production sometimes buried vocals in the mix, especially when competing with a full band arrangement, brass sections, and the prominent fiddle in "Come On Eileen."
• Audio Technology: Listening on low-fidelity cassette tapes, boomboxes, or AM radio stations further distorted the sound, making it nearly impossible to discern the true lyrics.

This combination created a fertile ground for listeners to substitute the actual words with phrases that simply sounded right to their ears, leading to bizarre and highly specific interpretations like "I feel like slapping a night today."

Unmasking the Real Lyric: The "Come On Eileen" Connection

The overwhelming evidence suggests that "I feel like slapping a night today" is a unique phonetic echo of a line from the 1982 hit, "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners. The song is notorious for its famously confusing lyrics. The most probable section of the song that could be misheard is the high-energy, fast-paced bridge or the chorus itself. Let's look at the actual lyrics and a plausible phonetic match:

The Most Likely Candidate: A Phonetic Breakdown

While the song's most famous misheard lyric is "Oh I swear we cook beans" (the real line is "Oh, I swear what he means"), the "slapping a night today" phrase likely originates from a line that contains a similar rhythm and a 'tonight' or 'today' ending. The Actual Lyric: "Come on Eileen, oh I swear (what he means) At this moment, you mean everything." The Plausible Mishearing: The quick transition and melodic emphasis on the words "At this moment, you mean everything" or the preceding lines could be what the listener's brain translated. A common mishearing involving the word 'tonight' suggests a celebratory phrase was intended. A highly plausible phonetic source is the line that follows the main chorus, which is often sung quickly and with a different cadence:

"Too-ra-loo-ra, Too-ra-loo-rye-ay"

The rhythmic, repetitive nature of the 'Too-ra' phrases, especially when sung quickly and with the thick Irish accent of lead singer Kevin Rowland, can easily be interpreted as a longer, more complex phrase like "I feel like slapping a night today" by a listener trying to make sense of the syllables.

More Famous Mondegreens from 1982 and the Early 80s

The mystery lyric is not alone. The early 1980s produced a surprising number of songs that became famous for their misheard lyrics, cementing the era's reputation for lyrical confusion and providing rich topical authority for this discussion. These examples demonstrate the widespread nature of the mondegreen phenomenon:

• "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor (1982): The famous line "It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight" was often misheard as "It's the *idea* of the tiger."
• "Africa" by Toto (1982): The line "I bless the rains down in Africa" is frequently misheard as "I guess it rains down in Africa."
• "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson (1982): The line "Don't stop, believe it" is a common mondegreen for the actual lyric: "Don't stop, *till you get enough*." (Note: *Billie Jean* was released in late '82 but hit big in '83, but the album *Thriller* is a 1982 entity).
• "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats (1982/83): The line "We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind" is often misheard as "We can dance if we want to, we can *eat* your friends alive."
• "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics (1983 - *Close to 1982*): The iconic chorus "Sweet dreams are made of this" is commonly misheard as "Sweet dreams are made of *cheese*."

These examples, along with the "I feel like slapping a night today" mystery, highlight how the passion, speed, and production of 1982 music allowed listeners to create their own unique, and often more memorable, versions of the lyrics. The true enjoyment, in the end, comes from the shared experience of getting it completely wrong. The next time you hear that famous 1982 hit, you'll be listening for the possibility of "slapping a night today" and joining a decades-long tradition of musical misinterpretation.