# Most Unexpected / Obscure Song Heard In A Restaurant or Other Public Setting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971 "2012-11-05T17:18:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/21 "2012-11-05T23:01:06Z")
Who would have thought that the first use of a [Pogues song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAX82lpnkRE) would be in a commercial about a hockey mom praising her Subaru minivan? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/22 "2012-11-05T23:02:11Z")
Another one, and even more unexpected than my previous 3: _Northern Downpour_ by Panic at the Disco. Now most of their stuff off of that album would also work as background music, but I don’t expect station programmers to realize it. (Of course, some background music programmers want peppy music, but they _would_ realize that most of the songs on that album aren’t fast rock, so I wouldn’t expect to hear most stuff from that album in either sort of situation.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/23 "2012-11-05T23:03:43Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Who would have thought that the first use of a [Pogues song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAX82lpnkRE) would be in a commercial about a hockey mom praising her Subaru minivan? Inb4 “Lust For Life” hawking cruises. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/24 "2012-11-05T23:53:15Z")
I walked into a Walgreens earlier this year, and they were playing “I Want a New Drug.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/25 "2012-11-06T01:32:53Z")
Barbra Streisand trying _much_ too hard to wring whimsy out of “Jingle Bells” once sent me running from a grocery store, the cart abandoned in the aisle. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/26 "2012-11-06T02:12:38Z")
Thanksgiving Day fell on my mom’s birthday last year (she died in Feb 2011). We’d spent the day painting at our new house because I wanted to ignore the day completely. Went out to eat that night and [this started playing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH2VZG5I4Aw). One of her favorite songs from an obscure album. I hadn’t heard it in about 25 years. At the time I was pissed and devastated by it. Now I wonder if it was her way of saying hi. Funnier story: my dad’s wake, the Muzak version of “Take My Breath Away” started playing. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/27 "2012-11-06T02:18:26Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I walked into a Walgreens earlier this year, and they were playing “I Want a New Drug.” Win. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/28 "2012-11-06T04:05:12Z")
“It’s a Small World” playing at a local [pachinko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko) parlor. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/29 "2012-11-06T04:42:52Z")
The last few times I’ve been to one of the local grocery stores it’s like a retro 80s dance party. I’ve heard: “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)”-Squeeze “Every Little Counts”- Depeche Mode “Love Vigilantes”-New Order “Falling Down The Mountain”-INXS I also heard “Fresh Feeling” by Eels at Bath and Body Works once. ---
**Author:** ![RockytheflyingS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RockytheflyingS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RockytheflyingS)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/30 "2012-11-06T05:07:21Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Barbra Streisand trying _much_ too hard to wring whimsy out of “Jingle Bells” once sent me running from a grocery store, the cart abandoned in the aisle. I can’t remember where I heard it, but it was in the local mall. They were playing Celine Dion singing Feliz Navidad. 😕 I stood it out, but her verison is about eight minutes long. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/31 "2012-11-06T05:30:55Z")
G. G. Allin’s _I Wanna Fuck The Shit Out Of You_ in a steakhouse. I wonder what college kid was running the audio system? Oh, thats right. It was me. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/32 "2012-11-06T06:13:36Z")
I was at a deceased relative’s viewing a couple years ago when the funeral parlor Muzak played “Sexual Healing.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/33 "2012-11-06T06:54:52Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > G. G. Allin’s _I Wanna Fuck The Shit Out Of You_ in a steakhouse. I wonder what college kid was running the audio system? > > Oh, thats right. It was me. Ah, youth. I once played Pachelbel’s _Canon_ at 45 from a 33rpm record on my campus radio station. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/34 "2012-11-08T20:44:23Z")
> [@RockytheflyingS](#): > > I can’t remember where I heard it, but it was in the local mall. They were playing Celine Dion singing Feliz Navidad. 😕 I stood it out, but her verison is about eight minutes long. My first thought was how long did it take for you to run screaming into the night? ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/35 "2012-11-08T21:08:37Z")
One time I was in the gas station convenience store and there was some benign adult contemporary song playing with a female singing… But it was registering as vaguely familiar. After a few lines I realized it was a cover of **I remember you** by **Skid Row** ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/36 "2012-11-08T21:15:24Z")
I was eating an a chain TexMex place…On The Border, I think. They were playing a string of what I guess they thought were pretty good authentic songs for a Mexican place. Than a Miami Sound Machine song came on. 'Cuz hey, they’re all Mexican, right? ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/37 "2012-11-08T21:16:44Z")
My gym was playing ['nth degree’](http://www.vevo.com/watch/morningwood/nth-degree/USCA30500085#/watch/morningwood/nth-degree/USCA30500085)by Morningwood the other day. It pretty much made my day. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/38 "2012-11-09T01:02:08Z")
A couple years ago I was in WalMart and they played… Bobby Sherman’s ‘Julie Do You Love Me?’. I guess the last time I had heard that was about 1967. What freaked me out was that I _remembered_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/39 "2012-11-09T02:12:58Z")
At a rural town show (the crowd was all all farmers and [Country Women’s Association](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Women%27s_Association) members) a busker was doing a slow, acoustic version of _Sympathy for the Devil_ - she was pretty good too. In the waiting room when I was about to go in for my vasectomy, \*Ghostbusters \*was playing. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971/40 "2012-11-09T08:45:05Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Can’t remember exactly where I was, but I heard a Muzak version of Frank Zappa’s “Peaches En Regalia” That’s funny, because it’s the one Zappa tune I can think of that seems to have been a nice little tribute to muzak in the first place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unexpected-obscure-song-heard-in-a-restaurant-or-other-public-setting/639971.md?page=3)