# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 6, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/21 "2026-08-06T17:31:05Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I assumed this was going to be about songs that reference once-common things. Like Kodachrome, and the payphone in Jim Croce’s _Operator_. I lack the number of divisions it would take for me to enforce my will upon the participants in this thread. Go crazy, man! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/22 "2026-08-06T17:31:22Z")
I used to think that “Entry of the Gladiators” must’ve accompanied some opera or something set in ancient Rome, and later became circus clown music. Turns out, it was just a march, and he named it that because he liked gladiators. ---
**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 6, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/23 "2026-08-06T17:32:36Z")
A.k.a. “Thunder and Blazes.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/24 "2026-08-06T17:34:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Mussorgsky’s “Night On Bald Mountain” was written in the 1800s and was meant to be about a witches’ sabbath on a very real mountain near Kiev. Many decades later it was used as part of Disney’s “Fantasia”, with the orchestra conducted by the brilliant Leopold Stokowski. I’ve just looked it up on Wikipedia, and I hadn’t realized what a complex history the piece has. Mussorgsky himself worked it into several projects, After Mussorgsky’s death Rimsky-Korskov adapted the music from one of these later versions into a new composition of the same name. Then Leopold Stokowski got his hands on it and adapted and rewrote it _again_. This is the version he used in _Fantasia_ > Stokowski stated that he based it on the [Rimsky-Korsakov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov "Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov") arrangement in form and content (though notably without the “fanfare” that marks the entrance of [Chernobog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobog_and_Belobog "Chernobog and Belobog")), but on Mussorgsky’s original in orchestration. However, like Rimsky-Korsakov, Stokowski had no copy of the original tone poem from 1867, so he did what he felt Mussorgsky would have done, being somewhat familiar with Mussorgsky’s style. I suspect I’ve never really heard Mussorgsky’s version at all. Or Rimsky-Korsakov’s, for that matter. I certainly never heard a fanfare for Chernobog. > **[Night on Bald Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Bald_Mountain)** > > Night on Bald Mountain (Russian: Ночь на лысой горе, romanized: Noch′ na lysoy gore), also known as Night on the Bare Mountain, is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed a "musical picture", St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, romanized: Ivanova noch′ na lysoy gore) on the theme of a Witches' Sabbath occurring at Bald Mountain on St. John's Eve, which he completed on that very... ---
**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 6, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/25 "2026-08-06T17:35:40Z")
Also “Silver Bells,” from the somewhat more Christmassy (but mostly forgotten) film _The Lemon Drop Kid_. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/26 "2026-08-06T17:37:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > and in the case of ‘Lotte Lenya’, the actual name of one of the actresses from the 1928 play. And the songwriter’s wife. (and future Bond villain) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/27 "2026-08-06T17:42:15Z")
“I Just Called to Say I Love You” is Stevie Wonder’s biggest hit. It was originally written for a mostly forgotten movie _The Woman In Red_. ---
**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 6, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/28 "2026-08-06T17:46:07Z")
I don’t know what the “Sabre Dance” was written for originally, but it just makes me think of spinning plates when I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/29 "2026-08-06T17:46:39Z")
I don’t know if this is what the OP was looking for but the William Tell Overture has mostly lost its connection with the opera _William Tell_. Most people now associate it with the Lone Ranger. (Assuming you’re old enough to have associations with that character.) ---
**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 6, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/30 "2026-08-06T17:47:24Z")
“Theme from _New York, New York_” had a much longer afterlife than the movie it first appeared in, to the point that most people just call it “New York, New York.” (And Frank Sinatra’s version has all but overshadowed Liza Minnelli’s from the soundtrack.) ---
**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 6, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/31 "2026-08-06T17:53:40Z")
The musical _Top Banana_ hasn’t been revived (to my knowledge, by anyone, anywhere) since its Broadway run in the early 50s, but its title number lives on. How many people other than musical theater junkies can name the show that gave us “Who Can I Turn To?” and “The Joker”? **The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd** ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/32 "2026-08-06T18:00:22Z")
I can’t honestly say that Elmer Bernstein’s score for **The Magnificent Seven** really outlived what it was associated with - I think the film is still well-known. But for years Phillip Morris used it to promote Marlboro cigarettes through the cowboy tie-in (ironic, considering that at first the cigarette was marketed as a “luxury” brand, its name taken from a British market town. Later it was marketed as a “women’s cigarette”. In the 1950s it was re-imagined as a macho cigarette, advertised with sea captains, athletes and cowboys. The cowboys won out.) As a kid, I knew about the Marlboro connection, but it wasn’t until I finally saw the movie that I knew where the music really came from. It looked for a while as if Aaron Copland’s ballet _Rodeo_ might suffer a similar fate, with more people associating it with the National Livestock and Meat Board’s _Beef – It’s what’s for Dinner_ TV advertisements, but those seem to have disappeared now. ---
**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 6, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/33 "2026-08-06T18:04:14Z")
_A Summer Place_ is mainly known today as the film whose theme is “Theme from _A Summer Place_.” (And it’s not even the main theme.) ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/34 "2026-08-06T18:08:22Z")
More people know “Silver Bells” than the movie it came from, _The Lemon Drop Kid_. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/35 "2026-08-06T18:09:41Z")
nm ---
**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 6, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/36 "2026-08-06T18:15:07Z")
Oddball example: the Andante movement from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 was featured on the soundtrack of the 1967 film _Elvira Madigan_. Decades later, that film has pretty much dropped off the radar - and yet classical music listeners young and old still refer to No. 21 as “the _Elvira Madigan_ concerto.” ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/37 "2026-08-06T18:17:36Z")
I still hear “I’ll Be There for You” by the Rembrandts on oldies radio, two decades after the finale of _Friends._ Also, I don’t know if Herb Alpert’s “[Spanish Flea](https://youtu.be/aBE9EQ7gXKI?si=pe8_tp9ZJkero1yz)” was ever associated with anything else, but these days it’s forever associated with delays, technical difficulties, being put on hold, etc. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/38 "2026-08-06T18:29:29Z")
The Carpenters’ big hit _we’ve Only Just Begun_ was originally written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols for Crocker-Citizens Commercial Bank in California to use for a schmaltzy commercial about a couple starting out. The Carpenters didn’t even know about it until they saw the commercial on TV (and it had already been covered at least once.) the Carpenters recorded their version and it instantly lit up. How many people remember Crocker-Citizens Bank? the song was a breakthrough in marketing for the bank, but ultimately not a success: > **[We've Only Just Begun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We%27ve_Only_Just_Begun)** > > "We've Only Just Begun" is a song by American sibling duo the Carpenters. It was released on August 21, 1970 through A&M Records as the second single from their second album, Close to You (1970). It was originally conceived by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols for a television commercial, which the Carpenters saw and sought to record; it was produced by Jack Daugherty. It is a soft rock song with lyrics about continuing the journey of life. "We've Only Just Begun" was released to immediate succes... > The unique approach of focusing on storytelling and customer experience, rather than bank products, helped set a new standard for advertising in the industry.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We%27ve_Only_Just_Begun#cite_note-:2-4) However, the campaign ultimately attracted mostly young adults who did not yet have sufficient collateral for loans, which was not the bank’s primary target demographic. As a result, Crocker-Citizens National Bank discontinued the commercial despite its popularity, though its impact on advertising and music endured. Crocker-Citizens was acquire by Wells Fargo in 1986 > **[We've Only Just Begun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We%27ve_Only_Just_Begun)** > > "We've Only Just Begun" is a song by American sibling duo the Carpenters. It was released on August 21, 1970 through A&M Records as the second single from their second album, Close to You (1970). It was originally conceived by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols for a television commercial, which the Carpenters saw and sought to record; it was produced by Jack Daugherty. It is a soft rock song with lyrics about continuing the journey of life. "We've Only Just Begun" was released to immediate succes... ---
**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 6, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/39 "2026-08-06T18:30:22Z")
“Frolic,” best known as the theme from _Curb Your Enthusiasm_, first appeared in a bank commercial. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/40 "2026-08-06T18:46:44Z")
I can’t speak for the general public, but when I hear “Thus Spake Zarathustra” and “The Blue Danube”, I think of space travel, not theology or geography. Stanley Kubrick did perverse things with people’s musical memories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186.md?page=3)