It wasn't actually me who misheard the lyrics, but a girl on the school bus when I was a kid. We were both in middle school, and the song had just came out. She was writing the lyrics down from memory as we rode to school one morning and I asked if I could see them. I think I was actually stunned into silence. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what a "long-eared siree" was. I think I told her what the correct lyrics were, but I seem to recall (this was 25+ years ago) that she didn't believe me.