# Disturbing scenes set to cheery music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2003, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965 "2003-07-08T10:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/21 "2003-07-14T20:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SlickRoenick \* > \*\*Opening fight scene in **Gangs of New York**. It’s Civil War era and the music is some kind of trashy 90’s rock. It upset the cosmic balance of the movie. The rest of the movie was junk. The end had the same kind of rock-n-roll music along with different camera angles on the GONY title on the screen. > > And add another vote for **Metropolis**. \*\* Huh? I don’t remember any “trashy '90s rock” in that scene. I remember Irish music and then bagpipes. And another vote for that X-Files episode; that creeped me out. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/22 "2003-07-14T20:25:07Z")
In the movie _Jaws_, when Quint shoots the shark with barrels tied to ropes in an effort to keep the shark near the surface, a light, cheerful tune is playing as the barrel(s) bounce merrily along the surface of the water. Eventually, of course, the shark does take them under, with the music slowing and dying as the barrels submerge. The same music plays a little later in the movie, when Quint has managed to get three barrels into the shark. It also sets up a wonderful dialogue exchange, when Quint yells “He can’t go under with three barrels in 'im! Not with three barrels he can’t!” Of course, the shark does just that. Hooper stands there, amazed, and asks quietly, “You ever had one do that before?” And Quint just shakes his head silently. Man, there’s not a wasted scene in that movie, you know? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/23 "2003-07-14T20:54:11Z")
_ **Spoilers** _ Spinner’s murder in _Death to Smoochy_ was set to happy music. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/24 "2003-07-14T21:08:43Z")
The final scene of _The Life of Brian_. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/25 "2003-07-14T21:23:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > \*\*Actually, it was “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland. When I saw the movie, it was the first time I’d ever heard the song and it ruined it for me for years. \*\* Thanks for the correction; it’s been many, many years since I saw that and it still bothers me. Martin Sheen did a superb job. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/26 "2003-07-14T21:55:35Z")
A friend of mine in my filmmaking course did three short vampire movies that prominently featured the chorus of Yoko Ono’s “I See Rainbows”. The verse of the song isn’t too cheerful, but the chorus has lines like these: I see rainbows, I see tomorrow, I see us sending rainbow thoughts! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/27 "2003-07-14T23:13:28Z")
That Stephen King movie, _Cat’s Eye_ where the wife is being electrocuted and they’re playing _96 Tears_. Which is a really rousing, bouncy song, despite the title. It’s just very surreal. ---
**Author:** ![fizzestothetop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e79b87/32.png) [@fizzestothetop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizzestothetop)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/28 "2003-07-15T01:00:41Z")
In the movie Vanilla Sky during the scene where Tom Cruise kills Penelope Cruz/Cameron Diaz while having sex the song “Can We Still Be Friends” plays. While not an entirely happy song it is a bit upbeat for a murder scene. It works though. It makes the scene feel very surreal. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/29 "2003-07-15T01:10:52Z")
The **Brady Bunch** episode where they go to Hawaii. And the big ‘ol hairy, supposedly deadly, evil looking, freakin’ _TARANTULA_ is sneaking up on Bobby (or was it Peter) step by stealthy step. And what music do Sherwood and Elroy put behind this little tableau of finely crafted suspense? The happy music. What the hell!? You know the music. It goes “\*\*Doot Doot Doot doo Doot Doot Doot doo dooooo…” The Brady Bunch HAPPY music. It’s just another one of those little things that made me the way I am today. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/30 "2003-07-15T01:16:04Z")
_Jaws_ again: Guy singing: “Farewell and adieu all ye fair Spanish ladies” as the shark turns for its final attack. _Little Big Man_: Throughout the scene of the Sand Creek Massacre, Custer’s drum and fife corps plays “Garry Owen”. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/31 "2003-07-15T01:24:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Carter of Mars \* > \*\* > > _Little Big Man_: Throughout the scene of the Sand Creek Massacre, Custer’s drum and fife corps plays “Garry Owen”. \*\* not sure, but I think that _Garry Owen_ was actually the 7th Cav’s adopted battle song ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/32 "2003-07-15T01:28:59Z")
> [@](#): > > [_from the “Camp Garry Owen” website_](http://www-area1.korea.army.mil/Installations/cpgarryowen.htm) > > The rollicking drinking song “Garry Owen” was brought to the United States by ex-members of the Fifth Lancers who immigrated and later served in great numbers with the, then new, 7th Cavalry. The song caught on in the regiment and was a particular favorite of Custer’s. Reportedly “Garry Owen” was the signal for the charge of the 7th Cavalry in its “victory” over the Cheyenne in the Battle of the Wasshita in 1868. Regardless of some of the questionable practices of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, during the Indian Wars, the name and the song Garry Owen instills pride in members of the 7th Cavalry. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/33 "2003-07-15T01:31:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lawoot \* > \*\*not sure, but I think that _Garry Owen_ was actually the 7th Cav’s adopted battle song \*\* Indeed it was, and still is. It was weird in the movie, though, watching Indian women, children and old men being slaughtered while the up-beat, cheery music played in the background. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/34 "2003-07-15T01:53:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fizzestothetop \* > \*\*In the movie Vanilla Sky during the scene where Tom Cruise kills Penelope Cruz/Cameron Diaz while having sex the song “Can We Still Be Friends” plays. While not an entirely happy song it is a bit upbeat for a murder scene. It works though. It makes the scene feel very surreal. \*\* There are a few more cheery music/disturbing scene scenes in that movie… all of which are slipping my mind at the moment… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/35 "2003-07-15T03:35:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > \*\*Actually, it was “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland. When I saw the movie, it was the first time I’d ever heard the song and it ruined it for me for years. \*\* But does _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_ count as cheery music? ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/36 "2003-07-15T03:37:53Z")
This is really mild compared to these other examples, but I’ll never forget the use of the song “Wouldn’t it Be Nice” in Roger and Me. I can’t listen to the song the same way after that. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/37 "2003-07-15T04:34:42Z")
Bing Crosby singing WHITE CHRISTMAS at the end of MOTHER NIGHT ---
**Author:** ![fizzygoodmakefeelnice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@fizzygoodmakefeelnice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizzygoodmakefeelnice)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/38 "2003-07-15T08:23:48Z")
Mason Verger’s semi-flasback in _Hannibal_ where he describes smashing a mirror and peeling off his face with a piece of glass. The music is like something you might hear at a fair ground and I’ve always found it very very creepy. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/39 "2003-07-15T09:44:51Z")
In _Serial Mom_, Kathleen Turner hacks up one of her victims to the tune of “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” from _Annie_. [writer’s hat ON] The term for this particular device is **juxtaposition.** In other words, putting something light right up against something dark, making the light seem brighter and the dark seem darker. Verrrry effective, when used right. Just thought I’d share that. [writer’s hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965/40 "2003-07-15T10:08:11Z")
**Jisatsu Saakuru** (Suicide Circle) has some unbelievably gruesome scenes interspersed with a bouncy little pop song in the style of Morning Musume or Speed. Appropriately enough, the music turns out to be what causing all the suicides [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-scenes-set-to-cheery-music/186965.md?page=3)