# Actual Names of Some Well-Known 'Cliché' Songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178 "2014-04-02T16:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/121 "2014-04-03T23:00:25Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > @ **astorian** : I have a bunch of CDs with Russian folk music on them and will have to dig them out and see if I can find the song you’re trying to ID. Repeat: The tune in the Popeye cartoon is the Hopak (or Gopak, depending on which region you’re from). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ALzZ69HLXuY/hqdefault.jpg "Virsky - Hopak / Вірський - Гопак (ukrainian dance)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALzZ69HLXuY) ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/122 "2014-04-03T23:07:55Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > One of the most stereotypical Highland bagpipe tunes is, in fact, Amazing Grace - the same tune you might sing in church. Scotty played it on the pipes in one of the Star Trek movies, iirc. And it isn’t even Scottish. How about [Verdi’s Dies Irae](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDFFHaz9GsY&feature=kp)? That one has seen service for the forces of good _and_ evil. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/123 "2014-04-03T23:21:00Z")
[quote=“terentii, post:121, topic:685178”] Repeat: The tune in the Popeye cartoon is the Hopak (or Gopak, depending on which region you’re from). [/QUOTE] That tune appears before and after the tune that \*\*Jeff Lichtman \*\* referred to, but your video does not contain the specific part in question, which is heard only briefly (when Popeye and Bluto dance up into the air, and when Popeye kicks Bluto’s butt). ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/124 "2014-04-03T23:26:28Z")
[quote=“terentii, post:121, topic:685178”] Repeat: The tune in the Popeye cartoon is the Hopak (or Gopak, depending on which region you’re from). [/QUOTE] Yes, you’re right, the Hopak is heard in the Popeye cartoon, starting at 6:50. What I was trying to say (and mangled badly because I’m following a game in another thread 😉 ) is that there are three stereotypically “Russian” songs heard, starting at 6:50 and ending at 7:45: the (Ukranian) _Hopak_, an as-yet unidentified song, and then _The Song of the Volga Boatmen_. The _Hopak_ and the A-YUS alternate twice, and then the SotVB is heard. It’s that second song snippet I’m trying to ID. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/125 "2014-04-03T23:38:40Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > That tune appears before and after the tune that \*\*Jeff Lichtman \*\* referred to, but your video does not contain the specific part in question, which is heard only briefly (when Popeye and Bluto dance up into the air, and when Popeye kicks Bluto’s butt). FWIW… Time stamps are approximate: 6:50 Hopak 7:05 A-YUS 7:15 Hopak 7:25 A-YUS 7:37 SotVB 7:45 Closing _Popeye_ theme music. (Please, please, please, don’t make me watch that cartoon again! I don’t even like _Popeye_. 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/126 "2014-04-04T01:20:44Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > The _Hopak_ and the A-YUS alternate twice, and then the SotVB is heard. It’s that second song snippet I’m trying to ID. Aha! My fault for not watching to the end. I don’t know the name of the unknown piece right offhand, but I recognize it from _ **Bullwinkle’s Corner** _ (“Little Tommy Tucker”): _RUSSIAN DRESSING?!? Tomatoes, beets, and turnips, we use to make it red! HEY! Put it on your salad and you’ll wish that you were dead! HEY!_ ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/127 "2014-04-04T02:11:56Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Folks who lived in the New York area in the 1970s will recognize this as the interlude music from one of the regional TV stations there – WPIX (channel 11) maybe? Or WOR (channel 9)? Played, if I recall correctly, when a film ended before the top of the hour. As a little kid, when I was still young enough to find most of the jokes in the WPIX Sunday Morning Abbot & Costello movies funny, the theme music in the early 1970s was [Hot Butter - Popcorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYjZTdrJlA). On the subject of the '70s, no question that I associated John Philip Sousa “[Liberty Bell March](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov1kjVvYpWk)” first and foremost (actually, only) with Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Hard not to imagine the cartoon foot going splat around the 0:56 mark) On pre-Fox NY Channel 5 10:00PM local news - the song “[Music Box Dancer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_tmH6y7ng)” was often used to end the newscast. And does the song [Heavy Action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p41_M_mehG0) have any other connotations in America than the obvious? ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/128 "2014-04-04T02:47:34Z")
Interesting article about cartoons with classical music in them: [10 Best Uses Of Classical Music In Classic Cartoons - Listverse](http://listverse.com/2009/06/30/10-best-uses-of-classical-music-in-classic-cartoons/) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/129 "2014-04-04T05:34:16Z")
The Apache dance: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s48wDOalMLw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s48wDOalMLw) The music is actually by Offenbach: “Valse des rayons” (waltz of the sunbeams) from “Le Papillon”. According to [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF7dniksnHY) it was adapted for “le revue des femmes” at the Moulin Rouge, and called “la valse chaloupée” (swaying waltz). > [@terentii](#): > > Like “Yakety Sax,” this piece was often used as background for pantomime sketches in the late '60s and early ‘70s. I had a 45 cover of it that was **much** better than the Muppets’ version, but sadly it’s long gone. ☹ > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjcb7w1Y-w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjcb7w1Y-w) Is “[Mais non, mais non](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HudhA28bk6U)” that cover? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/130 "2014-04-04T05:38:55Z")
BTW, here are the lyrics for “la valse chaloupée”: > [@](#): > > Tout en dansant la valse chaloupée > Son cavalier a les mains occupées > Il la balance > Lance avec violence > Puis, avec force, il la prend aux cheveux > La fait plier entre ses bras nerveux > Elle chavire, vire > Et tombe en disant “Je te veux” Google translation: > [@](#): > > While dancing the waltz swaying > Rider’s hands are occupied > He balance > Lance violent > Then, forcefully, he takes the hair > The bends in his sinewy arms > It capsizes, turns > And falls by saying “I want you” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/131 "2014-04-04T05:47:39Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > It’s just not an awkwardly-trying-to-carry-a-big-bulky-object scene without Henry Mancini’s [Baby Elephant Walk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1z4JfxFb6c). [Well, son of a bitch.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6kizqah-Po) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/132 "2014-04-04T06:59:23Z")
Mules slowly plodding along comes from [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKVB0MImOg) starting at 1:30 (The Grand Canyon Suite) The typical circus music is [Henry Hall:- "The Man On The Flying Trapeze" - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5ntF9XjhA) (The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/133 "2014-04-04T11:40:36Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > The _Hopak_ and the A-YUS alternate twice, and then the SotVB is heard. It’s that second song snippet I’m trying to ID. My ex, who is Russian, was able to identify it. It’s call _Vo sadu li, v ogorode_, which I would translate as “In My Backyard Garden, Eh?”\* \*A little Canadian flavor, there! :D ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/134 "2014-04-04T11:47:47Z")
If you’re curious, the stress in _sadu_ is on the second syllable, _li_ is with a long _e_, and _ogorode_ is pronounced a-ga-ROD-yeh. The part in parentheses indicates it’s a children’s song (_detskaya [pesenka]_). ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/135 "2014-04-04T12:31:17Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > One of the most stereotypical Highland bagpipe tunes is, in fact, Amazing Grace - the same tune you might sing in church. Scotty played it on the pipes in one of the Star Trek movies, iirc. Actually, the text to “Amazing Grace” was originally titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation” while the most familiar accompanying melody is called “New Britain” which itself is an amalgamation of 2 older hymns. > [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > And it isn’t even Scottish. Not really true, the melody’s origin are unknown. There is some evidence that it’s quite possible the tune has a Scottish origin anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/136 "2014-04-04T13:18:54Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Slightly off-topic, the _Popeye_ theme song is based on an old folk song called, _[The Sailor’s Hornpipe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YxKeuURayU%22)_. This statement is somewhat misleading. Some early Fleischer Popeye cartoons used “The Sailor’s Hornpipe” as an introduction to the Popeye theme song, and later entries in the series did sometimes use an uptempo version of it over the opening and closing credits. But the Popeye theme song itself (“I’m Popeye the Sailor Man [toot]”) was purpose-written for the cartoon series by Sammy Lerner, and has nothing in common with “The Sailor’s Hornpipe.” ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/137 "2014-04-04T17:25:55Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > This statement is somewhat misleading… [shrugs in confusion]I guess it kind of depend on how one uses, and interprets the use of, italics when naming creative works. [/shrugs in confusion] I was saying that the series of animated short films titled _Popeye_–note the italicized title–used an (uptempo) arrangement of “The Sailor’s Hornpipe” during its opening and closing credits. As you point out, the character of “Popeye the Sailor” had his own theme song, “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man”. (I had typed out a longer and more philosophical answer, but then my computer ate it, and I don’t feel like retyping it, so this will have to stand. But to sum up, I have spent far more time than I ought, on discussing a cartoon I do not like and have never liked. It was only my love of Russian folk music [and the current difficulty in accessing my CD collection] that has led me down this _Popeye_-tainted rabbit hole. Do svidanya to the squinty-eyed mariner.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/138 "2014-04-04T17:40:50Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > I was saying that the series of animated short films titled _Popeye_–note the italicized title–used an (uptempo) arrangement of “The Sailor’s Hornpipe” during its opening and closing credits. As you point out, the character of “Popeye the Sailor” had his own theme song, “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man”. The most familiar versions of the Popeye opening titles \*begin \*with a quick snatch of “Sailor’s Hornpipe,” but this leads into an instrumental version of “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man,” which is the main theme. The earliest Popeye cartoons had a different theme song, “Strike Up the Band,” but both the “Sailor’s Hornpipe” and Popeye’s own theme were in place from the [very first episode.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UjM9UI40jk) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/139 "2014-04-04T19:30:00Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > My ex, who is Russian, was able to identify it. It’s call _Vo sadu li, v ogorode_, which I would translate as “In My Backyard Garden, Eh?”\* > > \*A little Canadian flavor, there! :D Well, I’ll be! Thanks! And thank your wife for me! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178/140 "2014-04-04T19:50:39Z")
Just because I heard [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfKbuOGdcuU) 22,000,000 times on The Flintstones and other Hanna-Barbera cartoons may not earn it “cliche” status. You decide. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-names-of-some-well-known-cliche-songs/685178.md?page=8)