# Music That Outlived What It Was Originally Associated With **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 6, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186 "2026-08-06T16:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 11
**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:** [August 10, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/201 "2026-08-10T20:10:17Z")
Damn, she was hot in that film. Soviets: “Send the blonde lady with the papers, in triplicate”. Mac: “The papers in triplicate, or the blonde in triplicate?” Soviets: “See what you can do!” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/202 "2026-08-10T20:24:50Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Here’s a little piece of music I think we’ve all heard, but I bet few, if any, know the origin of. I think of it as ‘the snake charmer song’. It’s also known as ‘The Arabian Riff’. Oh that’s very surprising, I assumed it was from a place in France. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/203 "2026-08-10T20:34:27Z")
Similarly, the song “Car Wash” was written as the theme song to the 1976 movie of the same name. While the movie has become a bit of a cult classic, I would wager that the song is more well known than the movie at this point. A lot of people who have heard the song seem to be unaware that it was the theme from a movie (and at one point in the past I was one of those people). ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/204 "2026-08-10T20:53:32Z")
Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better” was the theme song from the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”. I guess the song did not outlive the film, but rather took on a separate life, as most people (including me until recently) probably don’t recall that the song was from a 007 film. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/205 "2026-08-10T20:57:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, The Creatures of Prometheus is a full ballet by Beethoven, and Fidelio was his only opera (later renamed Leonore) Just noting that it’s the other way around: _Leonore_ became _Fidelio_. Early productions of _Leonore_ were billed as _Fidelio_ (to avoid confusion with other similarly named operas) but Beethoven’s title was _Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe._ The final 1814 revision is the one officially titled as _Fidelio._ (Of course, Fidelio is Leonore’s alias, so, you know, same difference). Incidentally, having sung enough Beethoven to last me several lifetimes, including Florestan’s aria from _Fidelio_, it is no great tragedy that Beethoven only wrote the one opera. Man did not write well for voices. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/206 "2026-08-10T21:10:09Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better” was the theme song from the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”. I guess the song did not outlive the film, but rather took on a separate life, as most people (including me until recently) probably don’t recall that the song was from a 007 film. I was a year old when that movie came out, but while I do remember occasionally hearing it on the radio, I don’t know if I’d classify that as a song that outlived what it was originally associated with. I’d wager younger people aren’t familiar with the song at all. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/207 "2026-08-10T21:24:18Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’ve never seen the Ed Sullivan Show, being German and too young, but I’ve always known this piece from countless uses in animation and other films, usually in chase scenes. I even knew the title, but not it’s composer. I also assumed it was older than 1942. Here’s Lilo Pulver dancing to it in Billy Wilder’s “One, Two, Three”: What’s really wild to think about this is (didn’t know that until just now) that the piece was less than 20 years old at the time - there are Taylor Swift songs that are older than that… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/208 "2026-08-10T21:41:38Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > What’s really wild to think about this is (didn’t know that until just now) that the piece was less than 20 years old at the time - there are Taylor Swift songs that are older than that… The bar band in that scene also plays the German version of “Yes, We Have No Bananas”, “Ausgerechnet Bananen”, which was 38 old years at the time, like, say, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” today… ---
**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:** [August 10, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/209 "2026-08-10T22:28:49Z")
Some more about it: [The Streets Of Cairo or The Poor Little Country Maid](https://www.gildedserpent.com/articles3/streets-of-cairo.htm) I always thought it was associated with the character Svengali (No, not “Sven-jolly”!) too: [Svengali - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svengali) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/210 "2026-08-10T23:12:45Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Man did not write well for voices. Speaking as a bass chorister, I very much concur. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/211 "2026-08-11T14:05:39Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > (Many examples in this thread are, at least to me, completely standard classical music pieces - Username checks out. Yeah, as I said about the Wagner operas upthread, I don’t think that firmly established mainstays of the standard classical/operatic repertoires have really been “outlived” in any meaningful way, because they’re far from dead. But it is true that **general public awareness** of those famous excerpt snippets has long outlived general public familiarity (if any) with the original work. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/212 "2026-08-11T14:48:59Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Similarly, the song “Car Wash” was written as the theme song to the 1976 movie of the same name. While the movie has become a bit of a cult classic, I would wager that the song is more well known than the movie at this point. It’s probably a generational thing; I strongly associate that song, “Call Me”, and “Nobody Does it Better” with the films they were recorded for. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/213 "2026-08-12T15:18:24Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Apparently it wasn’t even available on a Blondie album though you could get a single. Yeah, I remember being nine years old and hearing “Call Me” on the radio a lot, without any association with the film. So, I don’t think this fits the OP. “Originally composed for” is sometimes different than “originally associated with.” (I just checked – “Call Me” _was_ at least composed for the film American Gigolo – unlike, say, Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose,” which was chosen for a film a year _after_ its release.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/214 "2026-08-12T15:27:56Z")
I too never associated Call Me with a film at the time of its release. My guess is that DJs were shy of saying the name of the movie, at least for the ones I listened to when I was young. Whereas Nobody Does it Better, I _originally_ did not associate it with a movie, but I fairly quickly learned that it was from a James Bond movie and the fact stuck with me, whereas it’s hard for me to even remember the name of the film Call Me came from, that is, once I remember the fact halfway through the song. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/215 "2026-08-12T18:51:07Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Just noting that it’s the other way around: _Leonore_ became _Fidelio_. Early productions of _Leonore_ were billed as _Fidelio_ (to avoid confusion with other similarly named operas) but Beethoven’s title was _Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe._ The final 1814 revision is the one officially titled as _Fidelio._ (Of course, Fidelio is Leonore’s alias, so, you know, same difference). As Victor Borge said (in his book, “My Favorite Intermissions”), “Beethoven only wrote one opera, but it seemed like more because it had two titles, three productions, and four overtures.” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/216 "2026-08-12T18:52:03Z")
I mentioned The Sabre Dance and spinning plates back in Post 25. But later I wondered if I was thinking of the correct music or not. So I hit YouTube, and found a clip of Eric Brenn on Ed Sullivan doing his plate spinning act, and the music was indeed the Sabre Dance. But then I found another video which looked like the exact same clip _but with different music_. And the more I looked, no other clips had The Sabre Dance. So that really made my head spin (pun intended). Good to know there’s a reason for the different music. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/217 "2026-08-12T18:55:44Z")
“Flight of the Bumblebee” was originally an instrumental interlude in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera _The Tale of Tsar Saltan_, which hasn’t been part of the standard operatic repertoire for decades. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186.md?page=10)