most or much of this is caused by collective false memories. It's like how you mess up song lyrics to old songs, but it's on a grand scale comprised of shared recollections.
That's because they're writ badly, dammit! The lyrics we remember are what they
should have been. Like for instance, what sense can be made of buying a stairway to heaven? It's obviously
climbing a stairway to heaven, no matter what it sounds like.
People to this day listen to "Center Field" & still disagree on what they hear. Some hear, "Put me in, Coach." I always hear it as, "Put me in cold." Not only does it sound more like that, but it makes more sense in context.