# In this thread, you ask for help identifying songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904 "2004-03-17T20:33:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/21 "2004-03-19T01:24:52Z")
Anyone know the name of the song in the current Audi commercial that’s been playing quite a bit during the NCAA Tournament broadcasts? I’ve heard it before…a lot…but I have no idea of the artist or the name of the song. A little help? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/22 "2004-03-19T01:37:18Z")
> [@Phnord Prephect](#): > > Hmm, ok, here’s one for ya: > > It was used on FOX a lot a few seasons ago in their commercials, so I only know the part I’ve heard. And it doesn’t have any lyrics, makin’ it that much higher. > > I remember it best from some of the commercials for “The Lone Gunmen”, the very short-lived X-files spinoff, although I don’t know if it was actually in the show or not. > > It’s a kinda deep bass beat with a guitar, and to embarress myself even further, I will attempt to type out my attempt to hum what I remember of it. I’m pretty sure I’ve found it for you, since this sounds like what you describe (starts off sounding like Hendrix version of the Star Spangled Banner, then changes to an unreconginizable beat) here [http://www.x-filesmusic.de/gunmen.html](http://www.x-filesmusic.de/gunmen.html) and I do remember the Hendrix-y part from the TV commericals, but since I don’t speak German, I’m not sure what it says other than it’s the Lone Gunmen theme. However, it does seem to say it’s by Mark Snow, who did all the instrumentals for the X-Files too. That’s what “von” means, right? By? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/23 "2004-03-19T01:54:37Z")
> [@LSD-25](#): > > There are a couple of tracks that I’ve wanted to find for years; > > **1** I heard it around 1996 so it may be a bit obscure - slow, ambient track with a voice-over by an evangelical preacher (Billy Graham?) talking about the usual bible-related stuff. It was very mellow. (It’s not “Sex On The Streets” by Pizzaman (aka Norman Cook/Fatboy Slim) which also had a preacher’s words set to music - much slower than that one. Try “Christian Zeal and Activity” by John Adams. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/24 "2004-03-19T03:00:46Z")
This one has been stumping me for two decades: The first line is something like “If there’s somewhere else you’d rather go, I wish you’d go there now. . . .” It was around the same time as the group “Sheriff” had the hit “When I’m with You,” because I thought they were the same song at first. Anyone??? ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/25 "2004-03-19T04:11:20Z")
Alright, this one has been bugging me for a while. I’m looking for a very clubby techno song, it goes along at sort of a quick pace, and there’s a somewhat affected-sounding guy very blandly listing every possible insult you can imagine. “whore, c_nt, sh_t eating b_tch, d_ck, c\*cksucker”, that sort of thing. He says all this rhythmically, in time to the music. It’s been a few years since I heard this. Can anyone help me out? ---
**Author:** ![Talking\_Walls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@Talking\_Walls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talking_Walls)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/26 "2004-03-19T05:21:45Z")
All right…hopefully someone can help me with this one. I heard a song on a local radio station three or four years ago that I’ve never been able to identify. The thing is, I only heard maybe the last ten seconds or so before the song ended, and the radio station decided not to tell me who it was (of course). There was singing in the part I heard, but I couldn’t clearly make out any lyrics to google. So all I have in my mind is the melody and general sound of those ten seconds. I’ve created a MIDI that represents (to the best of my memory - keep in mind this was 3-4 years ago) what I heard on the radio. The melody in the MIDI is the vocal melody, and I completely guessed on the backing chords. The song sounded sort of like A-Ha or one of those bands. I’m not sure how well this MIDI (made in Cakewalk Home Studio) will transfer to other machines, but the chords in the background are supposed to be synth strings, which I think is a good representation of the sound of the song. I have no idea how the drums went in this song; I just made them up for the MIDI. Here’s hoping someone will be able to help me somehow! [Here’s the MIDI.](http://www.geocities.com/random_zxcv_characters/unknown_song.mid) ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/27 "2004-03-19T09:22:06Z")
Years ago, on a German shortwave radio station, I heard a cool German song. The instrumentation was synthesized, and it generally sounded like something in between Kraftwerk and Nena. There was a male vocalist, and the lyrics that were repeated sounded something like “nie um licht” or the like. I didn’t know German at the time, and I still don’t know enough now to parse the phrase into anything intelligible. The tune was quite simple, short, and there was a spacey-sounding middle eight-type part in the middle. Maybe later if I remember I can cobble together an mp3 of my whistling it or even playing it badly on an instrument if I’m feeling adventurous. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/28 "2004-03-19T10:44:48Z")
Okay, in I go. Not a life or death matter. I heard this on the radio in the bus and reached my stop before I could here the name of the band. I never hear it again since. It’s a white guys with jangly guitars sort of band. It’s about a girl with a Japanese name sounding like Sushime fighting robots. The lyrics seem to be about being in love with a video game character. It’s not my kind of music at all but the lyrics really made me smile, so I wonder who the band was. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/29 "2004-03-19T13:15:32Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > Okay, in I go. Not a life or death matter. I heard this on the radio in the bus and reached my stop before I could here the name of the band. I never hear it again since. > > It’s a white guys with jangly guitars sort of band. It’s about a girl with a Japanese name sounding like Sushime fighting robots. The lyrics seem to be about being in love with a video game character. It’s not my kind of music at all but the lyrics really made me smile, so I wonder who the band was. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you heard _Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots_ by the Flaming Lips, **Pookah**. Or possibly _Free Bird_ by Lynyrd Skynyrd. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/30 "2004-03-19T13:46:23Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb and say you heard _Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots_ by the Flaming Lips, **Pookah**. Or possibly _Free Bird_ by Lynyrd Skynyrd. 😃 And I’m going to say it’s highly probable that your first answer’s right. 🙂 Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/31 "2004-03-19T14:05:38Z")
Okay, now it’s my turn. On NPR this morning, I heard a clip that I’ve heard used several times during _Marketplace_ as incidental music. But _Marketplace_ was over, and I was well in the thick of _Morning Edition_ – however, we may have been getting local programming. In D.C. sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. In any case, the “sound button” they played was the hook from a hip-hop/trip-hop song that I remember hearing in the early 90’s. The hook was four measures long, and consisted of a _very_ simple rhythm played on a synthesizer that sounded like phone dialing beeps, only warbling. The rhythm (rests in parentheses) went like Dah (2-3-4) Dah (2-3-4-1-2) Daah dat-da. The bass line was descending; four quarter notes on each pitch, a similar progression to the bass part from “Hit the Road Jack”. The melody (with rhythm above) was all on one pitch, a minor third (and some octaves) above the starting bass note, except the last note was a half-step lower to resolve the tension. The real distinctive aspect of it was that weird warbling-touch-tone quality of the synthesizer. Any hints? ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/32 "2004-03-19T14:34:41Z")
> [@LSD-25](#): > > There are a couple of tracks that I’ve wanted to find for years; > > **1** I heard it around 1996 so it may be a bit obscure - slow, ambient track with a voice-over by an evangelical preacher (Billy Graham?) talking about the usual bible-related stuff. It was very mellow. (It’s not “Sex On The Streets” by Pizzaman (aka Norman Cook/Fatboy Slim) which also had a preacher’s words set to music - much slower than that one. Not a preacher speaking, but there are vocal tracks by BB King that could be confused. I know this is a stretch, but thought I’d throw it out there: Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand [http://www.elyrics4u.com/s/standing\_outside\_a\_broken\_phone\_booth\_with\_money\_i.htm](http://www.elyrics4u.com/s/standing_outside_a_broken_phone_booth_with_money_i.htm) ---
**Author:** ![LSD-25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@LSD-25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSD-25)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/33 "2004-03-21T21:06:43Z")
> [@LSD-25](#): > > I heard it around 1996 so it may be a bit obscure - slow, ambient track with a voice-over by an evangelical preacher (Billy Graham?) talking about the usual bible-related stuff. It was very mellow. (It’s not “Sex On The Streets” by Pizzaman (aka Norman Cook/Fatboy Slim) which also had a preacher’s words set to music - much slower than that one. > [@Eutychus](#): > > Try “Christian Zeal and Activity” by John Adams. Alas, no. It does sound similar from the descriptions I found (preacher talking, slow strings) but the track I’ve got in my head was ambient/techno rather than classical, but thanks anyway Eutychus. > [@LlamaPoet](#): > > Not a preacher speaking, but there are vocal tracks by BB King that could be confused. I know this is a stretch, but thought I’d throw it out there Yeah, I’m grateful for any suggestions, but this one definitely featured a typical southern evangelist. ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/34 "2004-03-21T22:17:29Z")
**Jurph** , you wouldn’t happen to be talking about the song “Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha” by Trio, hmm? It’s not exactly what you typed 3 “dahs” instead of just one– "dah dah dah _doot doot doot doot_ dah dah dah\* etc. It was in a Volkswagen commercial a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/35 "2004-03-21T22:31:24Z")
> [@captaindoesnotlikeyou](#): > > **Jurph** , you wouldn’t happen to be talking about the song “Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha” by Trio, hmm? > > It’s not exactly what you typed 3 “dahs” instead of just one– > > "dah dah dah _doot doot doot doot_ > dah dah dah\* etc. > > It was in a Volkswagen commercial a few years back. Great. Now I’ll have that tune in my head all night. D’oh. Great commercial though. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/36 "2004-03-21T22:44:41Z")
This is so lame I’m ashamed to post it: Currently, Fidelity Investments is playing a rock song in the background of their television commercial for IRA’s. It’s a popular song that I _ONCE_ knew very well. Suddenly the title, artist and all that has escaped my feeble brain cells. Please be kind, and provide aid to the senile…Please? Before it drives me nuttier than I currently am. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/37 "2004-03-22T00:19:38Z")
Wast it [Changes by David Bowie](http://www.connollyco.com/discography/david_bowie/changes7.html)? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904/38 "2004-03-22T00:35:31Z")
> [@LSD-25](#): > > Yeah, I’m grateful for any suggestions, but this one definitely featured a typical southern evangelist. There’s a guns n roses song about War that features some southern gentleman preaching in it, couldn’t be that, could it? I’ve only heard it twice, so unfortunately I don’t know the title or which album it’s from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-thread-you-ask-for-help-identifying-songs/234904.md?page=1)