# Help me identify this tune (possibly the theme from a movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448 "2015-01-09T23:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [January 9, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/1 "2015-01-09T23:26:55Z")
I would date it from around 1970. Very ethereal string piece, starts with two bold downstrokes on the violins. Has a kind of pulsating quality, more like a clock ticking than a heart beat: _SLASH! SLASH!_ Da-da-da. Da-da, da-da-da-da-da. Da-da. _SLASH! SLASH!_ Da-da-da. Da-da, da-da-da-da-da. Da-da. Not from a science fiction movie. Maybe a romance/heist flick like _ **The Thomas Crown Affair** _. I heard it briefly on the radio a few days ago, and while I probably could have identified it immediately when I was younger, I now have a complete memory block and it’s driving me crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/2 "2015-01-10T08:07:46Z")
Hmm, did the Kronos Quartet ever cover Louie Louie? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/3 "2015-01-10T12:26:13Z")
This is not your song, but it reminded me of Thomas Dolby’s [Hyperactive (1984)](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20z1b_thomas-dolby-hyperactive_music). ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/4 "2015-01-10T16:06:44Z")
Tons of 70’s ethereal pieces like that, but the opening violins are throwing me. Maybe a Morricone piece? Doesn’t sound like John Barry, or Lalo Schifrin or Henry Mancini. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/5 "2015-01-10T17:27:24Z")
it’s not [Beethoven’s Third](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHvztnHOWEQ), is it? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/6 "2015-01-10T17:30:46Z")
Oh, I think I know it. But I just need you to hum it a little bit more. Could you maybe hum away please? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/7 "2015-01-10T18:06:41Z")
Is it Danse Macabre? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YyknBTm_YyM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgXChHMA8=&rs=AOn4CLC8wVYomwalM7keIkq5MJHvuThoqw "Camille Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyknBTm_YyM) ---
**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:** [January 10, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/8 "2015-01-10T21:11:20Z")
None of the above. Not at all frenetic or macabre. More … pensive, if anything. Slow, like a clock ticking. The kind of music you might listen to in the dark in front of a lava lamp. (Well, I would, anyway.) Definitely not classical. I would have recognized Beethoven’s _Eroica_ instantly. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/9 "2015-01-10T21:50:58Z")
All the “slash, slash” makes me think of is [Theme from Psycho (1960) - Shower Scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me-VhC9ieh0) 😃 ---
**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:** [January 10, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/10 "2015-01-10T22:58:47Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > All the “slash, slash” makes me think of is [Theme from Psycho (1960) - Shower Scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me-VhC9ieh0) 😃 The first two notes of the above phrase sound like that, but slower and richer in tone. Not at all murderous, either. Maybe the kind of music you’d hear watching a spaceship as it sails through the galaxy or travels in time. But again, I’m pretty sure it’s not from a science fiction movie. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/11 "2015-01-11T00:46:47Z")
Stylistically speaking, does it sound anything like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLDyrun_Cc)? ---
**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:** [January 11, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/12 "2015-01-11T01:19:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Stylistically speaking, does it sound anything like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLDyrun_Cc)? Not really, no. Much slower and better paced. Also much richer. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/13 "2015-01-11T03:59:18Z")
Okay; using the Online Sequencer, I’ve come up with these: G#5 G#5 F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C#5 C#5 D#5 E5 E5 A4 G#5 F#5 As far as I can determine with my limited musical knowledge, the beats are ONE (rest); TWO (rest, rest, rest); three-and-four (rest). One, two (rest), and four and one-two (rest, rest, rest). Three, four. Repeats. There should be an app for this sort of thing; sing a few bars of the tune into your laptop or iPhone and it automatically finds the one you’re looking for (or a number of possibilities from which to choose). Whoever comes up with this will make a fortune! And you heard it here first! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/14 "2015-01-11T04:14:41Z")
> [@](#): > > There should be an app for this sort of thing Well, there’s SongTapper [http://www.songtapper.com/public\_html/](http://www.songtapper.com/public_html/) ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/15 "2015-01-11T04:48:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Okay; using the Online Sequencer, I’ve come up with these: > > G#5 G#5 F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C#5 C#5 D#5 E5 E5 A4 G#5 F#5 > > As far as I can determine with my limited musical knowledge, the beats are > > ONE (rest); TWO (rest, rest, rest); three-and-four (rest). One, two (rest), and four and one-two (rest, rest, rest). Three, four. > > Repeats. > > There should be an app for this sort of thing; sing a few bars of the tune into your laptop or iPhone and it automatically finds the one you’re looking for (or a number of possibilities from which to choose). Whoever comes up with this will make a fortune! > > And you heard it here first! Soundhound does just that - I haven’t used it in a while so I pulled it up - and it got “America the Beautiful” from singing and “row row row your boat” from humming, but failed on two other ones that I am too embarrassed to mention. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/16 "2015-01-11T05:53:56Z")
I did not know of either of these. Unfortunately, Soundtapper tells me my tapping is too short (I find that hard to believe), so I’ll give Soundhound a try. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2015, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/17 "2015-01-11T06:15:45Z")
Neither was much help, sad to say. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/18 "2015-01-11T06:40:13Z")
Are you sure it’s _not_ from [The Thomas Crown Affair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igRtFCwv710)? The only other suggestions I can make are [The Ipcress Files](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB6uBteN5QA) and [Boom!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWynOquQZ44) ---
**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:** [January 11, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/19 "2015-01-11T09:15:58Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Are you sure it’s _not_ from [The Thomas Crown Affair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igRtFCwv710)? > > The only other suggestions I can make are [The Ipcress Files](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB6uBteN5QA) > > and > > [Boom!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWynOquQZ44) Nope. None of the above. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448/20 "2015-01-11T11:47:30Z")
Well, I now know exactly what it is, but I also cannot remember its name. I keep thinking it’s “someone’s theme” from a war movie like _The Killing Fields_ or _Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence_, but neither of those are correct, it’s just a general feeling I have. All the notes are bold strokes on violins, with a slow pace and long spaces between most notes. Each dot is a beat. ```auto Dum.....dum..dum......dum-dum-dum..... dum..dum.....dum.dum-dum..... dum-de-dum dum-de-dum dum-de-dum dum..dum........ dum.....dum-de-dum dum-de-dum dum-de-dum...dum ``` [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-tune-possibly-the-theme-from-a-movie/709448.md?page=2)