# Best theme music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507 "2002-05-23T16:49:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/41 "2002-05-26T22:52:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Knowed Out \* > \*\*from TV Land, anybody who grew up in the 70s could sing the entire theme to _All in the Family_, except for perhaps the next to last line. \*\* Gee, our old LaSalle ran great! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/42 "2002-05-27T00:27:41Z")
For me, right now, it’s a tie between “Just Communication” and “Rhythm Emotion” from _Gundam Wing_. For Western series, it’s the DS9 theme. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/43 "2002-05-27T00:31:11Z")
Oh, and I have to mention “Zankoku na tenshi no teze” (Cruel angel’s thesis) from _Neon Genesis Evangelion_; the theme from the British _Queer as Folk_; and Michael Nyman’s sublime “The heart seeks pleasure first” from _The Piano_. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/44 "2002-05-27T00:36:45Z")
Jack Spade’s theme music from **I’m Gonna Git You Sucka**. **Duel of the Fates** was amazing. Sadly the movie was so terrible that I only learned to appreciate the song a few months ago while plays Obi-Wan on Xbox. Also a few that have already been mentioned: Jurrasic Park, Sanford and Son, Mission Impossible, Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/45 "2002-05-27T05:55:29Z")
While not officially the theme music, the ‘dueling banjo’s’ from Deliverance always struck me as strangely appropriate to the tone of the movie. And I just like banjo’s anyway! ---
**Author:** ![RaCha\_ar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@RaCha\_ar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaCha_ar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/46 "2002-05-27T07:03:06Z")
D’oh, I didn’t even think of anime themes until **matt** mentioned Eva. The themes to _Trigun_ and _Cowboy Bebop_ are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/47 "2002-05-27T19:16:12Z")
Quoth **RaCha’ar** : > [@](#): > > _Jurassic Park_ gives me chills. Every time. We played it in high school orchestra, and if you think it’s cool to listen to it on a stereo, try being in the _middle_ of it, with all that beauty swelling all around you… Did your percussionists do the raptor call thing, too? There’s some way to run your fingers over the surface of a timp that sounds _exactly_ right. And on _Star Wars_, the obvious “Imperial March”, main theme, and “Battle of the Fates” have already been mentioned, but my favorite is the Old Republic Theme (when Leia is handing out the medals). It really captures the nostalgia. Does it show that I’m a fan of Williams? ---
**Author:** ![Molly\_Coddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bcef8e/32.png) [@Molly\_Coddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molly_Coddle)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/48 "2002-05-27T20:03:52Z")
I adored Braveheart’s theme song… and the love soneg " For the Love of a Princess"… they also used that in Castaway. - anyone else notice? ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/49 "2002-05-28T03:17:51Z")
I’ll agree with many of the above and add _Perry Mason_ ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/50 "2002-05-28T05:01:52Z")
Fever, from Dr. Mario ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/51 "2002-05-28T10:37:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > \*\*Fever, from Dr. Mario \*\* I probably haven’t played Dr. Mario in over a decade but I still hum _Chill_ outloud almost daily. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bibliophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophile)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/52 "2002-05-29T00:45:27Z")
How could I have forgotten Twin Peaks? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Teerious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Miss\_Teerious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Teerious)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/53 "2002-05-29T02:02:50Z")
The best theme song ever from a movie, and my friends and I have actually had this conversation (yes, we’re lame) is the Storm Troopers theme (is it called The Imperial March?) from _Star Wars_, and I’m not even a big _Star Wars fan_. You hear that music and you know something’s a-coming for you, and it’s gonna kick your ass hardcore. Also, that sad, sad violin music at the end of _Schindler’s List_ is beautiful, and makes me cry like a baby every time. ---
**Author:** ![JBERGES](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@JBERGES](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBERGES)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/54 "2002-05-29T02:22:13Z")
Besides what’s been said, how about the theme from _Back to the Future_? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/55 "2002-05-29T02:55:25Z")
Ennio Morricone’s: _‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’_ theme. Also by Morricone _‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’_ and \* ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’\* both from ‘The Mission’ Also - no one has mentioned Carl Orff’s _‘O Fortuna’_ from _‘Carmina Burana’_ used in a million movies, commercials and computer games. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/56 "2002-05-29T05:11:11Z")
I think I’ve said this before, but: the theme from the late fifties TV show “M Squad” done by Count Basie (and riffed on for the “Police Squad” parodies). ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/57 "2002-07-18T07:45:34Z")
Best theme ever, no contest: **Space 1999**. It has _everything_! Also notable are _both_ themes to **Lost in Space**. And I want to third the votes for **Cowboy Bebop**. That entire score is beyond brilliant. Yoko Kanno is my hero. My favorite track is “American Money,” the theme from the bounty hunter show. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507/58 "2002-07-18T08:01:08Z")
Ooops… I put my movie picks in [this other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126166). Let’s just say I’m sort of a film score buff. Waiting anxiously for my order of Horner’s score for _Iris_ as I type. 🙂 Since people here are mentioning TV and computer game themes, though, I’ll throw a couple of those in. For television, I always loved the theme used in the orignal Star Trek episode, “The Doomsday Machine.” As far as I’m concerned, John Williams ripped the idea for _Jaws_ right out of that theme. DUH-nuh, DUH-nuh, DUH-nuh… _shiver_ Relentless. Very evocative. And for computer games, the music for the PC game “Homeworld” was a stunning piece of work. It incorporated a choral version of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” (also heard in _Platoon_), an original song by Yes written for the game, and some amazing battle music and ambient space themes. Great stuff. The “Game of the Year” edition comes with a soundtrack CD, check it out! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-theme-music/110507.md?page=2)