# BEEF! I'ts what's for dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328 "2003-10-19T08:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/1 "2003-10-19T08:11:23Z")
I’ve seen this commercial a nillion times, but what is the music behind it. Can anyone tell me? ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/2 "2003-10-19T08:22:26Z")
I believe it’s taken from Handel’s Messiah. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/3 "2003-10-19T08:25:45Z")
Um, no. I don’t recall any passage from the Bible touting the greatness of beef… It’s the Hoedown from Aaron Copeland’s Rodeo. (Insert quotes and italics as needed to satisfy your grammatical leanings.) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/4 "2003-10-19T09:50:22Z")
[The Beef People](http://www.itswhatsfordinner.com/askexpert/advertising.asp#qa1) agree with **Smeghead**. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/5 "2003-10-19T17:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*I don’t recall any passage from the Bible touting the greatness of beef… \*\* “You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your **cattle** and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.” – Exodus 22:29-30 Veal and lamb. It’s what’s for God’s dinner. The firstborn son, I suppose, is the appetizer. – Ukulele “quoting scripture for his own purposes” Ike ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/6 "2003-10-19T17:52:07Z")
Buy [this album](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000029XG/qid=1066586458/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-2973594-7293729?v=glance&s=music&n=507846). (Not necessarily from amazon; if you find it anywhere, get it.) It’s got _Rodeo_ (the Beef theme), _Appalachian Spring_ (the Georgia Pacific theme), and _Fanfare for the Common Man_ (the Wide World of Sports theme). Listen to it in the car and you feel like you’re in a western. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/7 "2003-10-20T00:04:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Charger \* > \*\*I believe it’s taken from Handel’s Messiah. \*\* No, no, that’s the mutton commercials. “For we like sheep. . .” ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/8 "2003-10-20T00:29:23Z")
Mmm…beef and Copland music. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/9 "2003-10-20T01:42:47Z")
I had to memorize every single aspect of _Rodeo_ (among other pieces) my senior year of high school for Academic Decathlon. I still get twitches when I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/10 "2003-10-20T03:03:12Z")
**evilbeth** , don’t you love _Saturday Night Waltz_? I played a piano arrangement of it, and think it’s the greatest! ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/11 "2003-10-20T13:27:00Z")
And if you want to hear a real kick-ass version of _Hoedown_, get a copy of _Live at the Quick_, by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Their version of _Amazing Grace_ isn’t bad either. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/12 "2003-10-20T15:39:24Z")
For “Hoedown” with a bluegrass kick: [It’s A Beautiful Day](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1033188). I think **SolGrundy** would like the [Round Up](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1036249) CD by the Cincinnati Pops. It’s a collection of orchestral Western TV & movie themes with some other stuff thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/13 "2003-10-20T16:08:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > \*\ ***evilbeth** , don’t you love _Saturday Night Waltz_? I played a piano arrangement of it, and think it’s the greatest! \*\* Our main focus was on _Hoedown_ so I’m partial to it–while also being haunted by it! I am also fond of _Buckaroo Holiday_. I am not musically inclined but I imagine playing the piece would be quite entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-its-whats-for-dinner/208328/14 "2003-10-21T15:00:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*For “Hoedown” with a bluegrass kick: [It’s A Beautiful Day](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1033188). \*\* I _think_ I have the original LP of this somewhere in my collection (which is currently in storage). And I probably bought it for “Hoedown.”