When this topic from Long and Short Reviews came up, one particular song immediately came to mind. It wasn't so much a matter of mishearing the lyrics or being confused by the meaning, although I'm sure there were plenty of songs back then that I completely misunderstood.
No - in this instance, it was the video.
The song was "Twisting By The Pool" by Dire Straits. I didn't know what "twisting" was, so that part went completely over my head. However, when I saw the video on Top of the Pops, I was absolutely terrified. Why? Because the video consisted mainly of synchronised swimmers, upside down, gleefully kicking their legs in the air.
I had never seen synchronised swimming before, so I assumed that if they were upside down in the water and kicking their legs, they had obviously fallen in backwards and were drowning.
I had nightmares about that for a week until I told my dad about it. To be fair to him, he didn't laugh - not in front of me anyway, although he may well have enjoyed telling this to my mum afterwards.
I'm interested to see which songs everyone else will come up with!