# A Poll: The Most Famous \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430 "2007-03-18T13:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/121 "2007-03-23T23:04:48Z")
That said, what do you believe is the Most Famous 1. Painting - Mona Lisa 2. Piece of Sculpture - Winged Victory 3. Instance of Classical Architecture - Parthenon 4. Instance of Medieval Architecture - St. Peter’s Cathedral 5. Instance of Modern Architecture - Empire State Building 6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) - Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony 7. Piece of Jazz Music - ? 8. Piece of “Pop” Music - Moon River 9. Piece of Rock Music - ? 10. Piece of Blues Music - ? 11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) - Alice’s Restaurant 12. Piece of Latin Music - Livin’ La Vida Loca 13. Novel - Don Quixote 14. Poem - ? 15. Movie - Casablanca 16. Stage Play – Drama - Romeo and Juliet 17. Stage Play – Musical - The Sound of Music 18. TV Drama Series - Law & Order 19. TV Comedy Series - Seinfeld 20. TV News Program - CBS Evening News After you’ve answered all 20 and Submitted your answers, go ahead and see how closely your picks are to those of the other Dopers who have replied. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/122 "2007-03-23T23:13:06Z")
Just time for one: Jazz: “These Foolish Things” with John Coltrane Can’t be beat. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/123 "2007-03-24T04:17:50Z")
Some of these I really think are “The Most Famous” examples of the subject. Others are “The First Thing That Came To Mind”. 1. Painting The Mona Lisa 2. Piece of Sculpture David 3. Instance of Classical Architecture The Coliseum of Rome 4. Instance of Medieval Architecture St. Peter’s Basilica 5. Instance of Modern Architecture The Eiffel Tower 6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony 7. Piece of Jazz Music “Take Five”, by Dave Brubeck 8. Piece of “Pop” Music “Beat It”, by Michael Jackson 9. Piece of Rock Music “Johnny B. Goode”, by Chuck Berry 10. Piece of Blues Music “I’m a Man”, by Bo Diddley 11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) “If I Had a Hammer”, by Pete Seeger 12. Piece of Latin Music “The Macarena”, by Los Del Rio 13. Novel “A Tale of Two Cities”, by Charles Dickens 14. Poem “Hiawatha”, by Longfellow 15. Movie Gone With The Wind 16. Stage Play – Drama The Mousetrap 17. Stage Play – Musical Phantom of the Opera 18. TV Drama Series Law & Order 19. TV Comedy Series Seinfeld 20. TV News Program 60 Minutes ---
**Author:** ![Severiane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@Severiane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severiane)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/124 "2007-03-24T11:24:12Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Please reply to the OP before looking at other responses. This is less about your own preferences and more about your perception of “What is the Most Famous such-and-such?” How you choose to establish “most famous” is your own affair. That said, what do you believe is the Most Famous 1. Painting : \*\*La Joconde / Leonard de Vinci \*\* 2. Piece of Sculpture : **Venus of Milo** 3. Instance of Classical Architecture : no clue 4. Instance of Medieval Architecture : **Notre Dame de Paris** 5. Instance of Modern Architecture : **Sydney Opera** 6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) : **The four seasons / Vivaldi** 7. Piece of Jazz Music : don’t remember the title.. will look after it.. ah !\*\* “So what”\*\* 8. Piece of “Pop” Music : **Yesterday / The Beatles** 9. Piece of Rock Music : \*\*Satisfaction / Rolling Stones \*\* 10. Piece of Blues Music : **Boom boom / John Lee Hooker** 11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) : no clue 12. Piece of Latin Music : **The girl from Ipanema** (then I’ve seen it chosen for “piece of jazz music”, and I’m not very good at music, so maybe I would change for “La Bamba” ?? - just seen in someone else’s list) 13. Novel : hard for questions 13, 14 and 15, because of cultural and linguistic education… In French it would be **“A la recherche du temps perdu” / Marcel Proust** , and for English I would think maybe **“Oliver Twist”** 14. Poem : \*\*“Le Bateau ivre” / Rimbaud \*\* english : **“Leaves of grass”** 15. Movie : **Citizen Kane** 16. Stage Play – Drama : **Romeo and Juliet** 17. Stage Play – Musical : **Cats** 18. TV Drama Series : no clue.. 19. TV Comedy Series : **Friends** 20. TV News Program : no clue.. After you’ve answered all 20 and Submitted your answers, go ahead and see how closely your picks are to those of the other Dopers who have replied. [/QUOTE] … ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/125 "2007-03-24T20:44:04Z")
1. Painting ------------------The Scream by Munch 2. Piece of Sculpture — Venus de Milo 3. Instance of Classical Architecture —Parthenon 4. Instance of Medieval Architecture 5. Instance of Modern Architecture --Sydney Opera House 6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) Rossini- William Tell Overture 7. Piece of Jazz Music 8. Piece of “Pop” Music Beatles- Yesterday 9. Piece of Rock Music Rock around the clock 10. Piece of Blues Music 11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) 12. Piece of Latin Music 13. Novel Catch 22 14. Poem 15. Movie Titanic 16. Stage Play – Drama Hamlet 17. Stage Play – Musical 18. TV Drama Series CSI 19. TV Comedy Series Friends 20. TV News Program ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/126 "2007-03-25T00:40:41Z")
Ah, a \*second \*person who doesn’t think the Mona Lisa (AKA La Joconde, La Gioconda) is tha most famous painting. Our consensus is starting to crumble! And, on retrospect I would substitute the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for St. Peter’s Basilica in the “Medeival Architecture” category. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/127 "2007-03-25T07:11:52Z")
I counted 11-15 but somehow ended up with only 51 votes. So I missed 7 people. I don’t know how that happened, but here are the results from 51 randomly selected samples: Folk Music This land is your land (12) Blowin in the wind (11) Scarborough Fair (6) Greensleeves (3) O Danny Boy (2) If I had a Hammer (2) Bridge over troubled waters (2) Puff the Magic Dragon (2) Kumbayah (2) She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain Whiskey in a Jar Camptown Races We shall overcome Happy birthday to you I’ve been working on the Railroad Alice’s Restaurant Yankee Doodle The Wild Rover Latin Music La Bomba (7) Abstain (6) La Macarena (5) Oye Como Va (5) La Cucaracha (5) La Vida Loca (5) Guantanamera (3) Black Magic Woman (2) Ave Maria (2) Adeste Fideles (2) Girl from Ipanema (2) Babalu Something by Selena Feliz Navidad Tequila Besame Mucho Conga Lambada Novel War and Peace (11) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (6) Catcher in the Rye (3) The Great Gatsby (2) The Three Musketeers (2) A Tale of Two Cities (2) Ulyssses (2) Lord of the Rings (2) Crime and Punishment (2) Pride and Prejudice (2) 1984 (2) Abstain (2) Les Miserables The old man and the sea Don Quixote David Copperfield For Whom the Bell Tolls Catch 22 Tom Sawyer Gone with the wind The Grapes of Wrath Dante’s Inferno Harry Potter Great Expectations Count of Monte Cristo Poem Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” (9) Rudyard Kipling’s “If” (5) Homer’s “The Odyssey” (3) Twas the Night Before Christmas (2) Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (3) There once was a Man from Nantucket (2) Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken (2) Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII (2) Abstain (2) Homer’s The Illiad Blake’s “The Tiger” Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” Shel Silverstein’s “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout” Matsuo Bashō’s Frog Haiku Carl Sandberg’s “The Fog” Joyce Kilmer’s Trees Here I sit, All Broken Hearted Mary Had A Little Lamb She Walks in Beauty Footprints in the Sand Song of Solomon The 23rd Psalm of the Bible Leaves of Grass The Wasteland Ozymandias Longfellow’s Hiawatha Flander’s Field There was an old woman from… Leaves of Grass To a Mouse Movie Gone with the Wind (13) Casablanca (12) Wizard of Oz (5) Star Wars (4) Citizen Kane (3) The Godfather (3) Titanic (3) Psycho (2) Animal House Passion of the Christ Lawrence of Arabia Shawshank Redemption Lord of the Rings ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/128 "2007-03-25T08:32:41Z")
1. Painting **Mona Lisa** 2. Piece of Sculpture **The Thinker** 3. Instance of Classical Architecture **Acropolis** 4. Instance of Medieval Architecture **Basilica** 5. Instance of Modern Architecture **Guggenheim Museum** 6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) **Beethoven’s 5th** 7. Piece of Jazz Music **I Got Rhythm** 8. Piece of “Pop” Music **Yesterday** 9. Piece of Rock Music **Rock Around The Clock** 10. Piece of Blues Music **God Bless The Child** 11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) **If I Had A Hammer** 12. Piece of Latin Music **La Cucaracha** 13. Novel **Tom Sawyer** 14. Poem **The Raven** 15. Movie **Gone With The Wind** 16. Stage Play – Drama **Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?** 17. Stage Play – Musical **Sound Of Music** 18. TV Drama Series **Bonanza** 19. TV Comedy Series **I Love Lucy** 20. TV News Program **Edward R. Murrow** Forgive spelling errors above. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430/129 "2007-03-25T13:06:57Z")
Many thanks, **Lakai** for the summary. Nicely done. I’d say the numbers are not all that important after 50 or so, as the “consensus” (if any) ought to start settling out after that many opinions have been registered. I can only hope that the Dopers who have posted after the summaries went up can do their own estimating of how their posts fit in with the overall results. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-the-most-famous-_______/396430.md?page=6)