Where are the dwarves going?

This stuns many people, not least of which because it's an ingrained meme people often sing or quote daily, and have been doing since childhood.

The Dwarves sing "It's home from work we go" in the main song, and those are the official Disney lyrics. However, there is one part in the movie which is almost like a "false start" to the song, which is when they are leaving the house, and they sing the line "Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho it's off to work we go" then it stops. It's only said that once, whereas the "home from work" line is repeated many times in the movie. This doesn't really detract from the memory many people have of the line used exclusively in the full movie.

Full lyrics

The fact it's sung differently when leaving the house from when returning is pretty self explanatory. The curious part is why the returning one, the one emphasised by using it in the full song, and in the written lyrics, is the one which has it "wrong".

It's a Disney classic, and the full lyrics are:

We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig in our mine the whole day through

To dig dig dig dig dig dig dig is what we really like to do

It ain't no trick to get rich quick

If you dig dig dig with a shovel or a pick

In a mine! In a mine! In a mine! In a mine!

Where a million diamonds shine!

 

We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig from early morn till night

We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig up everything in sight

We dig up diamonds by the score

A thousand rubies, sometimes more

But we don't know what we dig 'em for

We dig dig dig a-dig dig

 

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho

 

[Chorus]

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

It's home from work we go

[Whistle]

 

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

 

[Chorus]

 

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

[Whistle]

 

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho hum

 

[Chorus three times]

 

Heigh-ho [until fade]