# 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:** 7
**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 7, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/121 "2026-08-07T16:11:40Z")
**Heart of Oak** , the anthem of Britain’s Royal Navy, was given new lyrics during the American Revolution to become **The Liberty Song** , which was heard in the Bicentennial TV series _ **The Adams Chronicles** _. **Heart of Oak** was memorably sung by the doppelganger of Jean-Luc Picard (a Frenchman!) in the third-season _ **ST:TNG** _ episode “Allegiance.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wfmueaVNDTE/maxresdefault.jpg "Cap. Jean-Luc Picard sings Heart Of Oak in Ten-Forward. Star Trek: TNG S03E18") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfmueaVNDTE) ---
**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 7, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/122 "2026-08-07T16:21:35Z")
Here’s a clip from _ **The Adams Chronicles** _ with **The Liberty Song** : ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ibZ-aG6ATHU/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/ibZ-aG6ATHU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLutXO1Ng1YWlGfU6oH3Aur1w7vUqm81yb&start=2321 ---
**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 7, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/123 "2026-08-07T16:44:19Z")
Which one came first? 🤨 [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gtM8BRF7Bd0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGcgZyhnMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBCejdZ9JoMl12dAuNiYF0xCqFnLA "The Dubliners ~ Lord of the Dance") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtM8BRF7Bd0) ---
**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 7, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/124 "2026-08-07T16:44:25Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > 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. > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > A.k.a. “Thunder and Blazes.” IIRC “Thunder and Blazes” is the name given to the wind band arrangement that circuses use, as opposed to original composer Julius Fucik’s (note spelling) version for orchestra. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “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_. Having seen it, it’s best forgotten. RIP Gene Wilder, but this was not one of his better efforts. > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Originally a traditional song with origins that aren’t quite clear, “You Are My Sunshine” has come a long way since [Jimmie Davis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Davis) popularized it in his gubernatorial campaigns. See also “[The M.T.A. Song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.T.A._(song))”, written in 1949 for the Boston Mayoral election and later recorded by the Kingston Trio. > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Yet another one: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” first appeared in the 1949 film **Neptune’s Daughter**. It was actually a party piece Frank Loesser and his wife Lynn used to perform at gatherings. Lynn was majorly pissed that he let it be used in the film, money be damned. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Does anyone care that O Fortuna was part of a cantata written by Carl Orff in the 1930s to set a bunch of medieval poems to music. Or is it enough that it’s simply awesome? The whole work is awesome, and I have gotten into fearsome arguments with musicologists over this opinion. Orff’s personal issues with potential Nazism are not excused by it, but it’s a damn good work. There are a couple of other songs which, while lesser known, have escaped their original stage contexts. “I Dreamt I Dwelled in Marble Halls” is a beautiful aria (and I recommend Joan Sutherland’s recording) but no one stages the full operetta _The Bohemian Girl_ anymore. “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup” occasionally gets an outing as a peppy song and dance number, but who even remembers the musical _70, Girls, 70_? And while Sondheim’s _A Little Night Music_ does get revived from time to time, I don’t know how many people know that “Send In The Clowns” came from it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/125 "2026-08-07T16:54:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Which one came first? 🤨 Written references to the Shaker hymn date back to the 1840s. In 1963 Sydney Carter adapted the melody, wrote new lyrics and copyrighted [_Lord of the Dance._](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Dance_(hymn)) He didn’t credit the Shakers, but then again, neither did Aaron Copeland. ---
**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 7, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/126 "2026-08-07T17:05:01Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > There are only three remaining members of the Shaker community left in the U.S., and none anywhere else, but their hymn _Simple Gifts_ lives on as the final part of Aaron Copeland’s _Appalachian Spring_. We used “Simple Gifts” as our wedding song… …despite the fact that it was written by a religious colony of celibates. ---
**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 7, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/127 "2026-08-07T17:06:37Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > He didn’t credit the Shakers, but then again, neither did Aaron Copeland. Copland didn’t have to. His composition was a combination of American folk music, all taken in homage and understood as such. He wasn’t claiming it as an independent creation of his. ---
**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 7, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/128 "2026-08-07T17:14:03Z")
“A Groovy Kind of Love” was based on a piano sonatina by Muzio Clementi. ---
**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 7, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/129 "2026-08-07T17:32:01Z")
Here’s a wonderfully obscure one. Irving Berlin wrote a song called _The Near Future_ for the revue _The Ziegfeld Follies of 1919_ (although he apparently stole the melody from elsewhere). The “near future” it referred to was Prohibition, which was set to begin on January 17, 1920. This lead to the following lyrics, by which the song is much better known > **How dry I am, how dry I am > It’s plain to see just why I am > No alcohol in my highball > And that is why so dry I am > Waiter, Waiter** The music was used in a LOT of Warner Brothers cartoons and elsewhere, which lead to its becoming very familiar. Nobody ever seemed to cite the title, so it became known to generations of cartoon viewers simply as “How Dry I Am.” > **[The Near Future](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Near_Future)** > > "The Near Future" is a song written by Irving Berlin and performed in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919. It is better known for the small part of its lyric that took on a life of its own: "How Dry I Am". The origins of the song and its components are somewhat obscure, as are the factors that differentiate "The Near Future" from "How Dry I Am". The origin of the melody predates Berlin's song. The distinctive four-note motif was used by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Sonata, Op. 10 No. 3, published in 1798... ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/130 "2026-08-07T20:06:44Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > IIRC “Thunder and Blazes” is the name given to the wind band arrangement that circuses use, as opposed to original composer Julius Fucik’s (note spelling) version for orchestra. In my mind I always hear that played on a calliope. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/131 "2026-08-07T20:57:50Z")
“Rock and Roll Part 2” is an instrumental song (except for the "Hey!"s), by English vocalist Gary Glitter. In the '80s and '90s, the song became ubiquitous at U.S. sporting events, as well as in movies and TV. American fans likely didn’t know, or remember, that it was an instrumental version of Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 1,” which had been a top 10 hit in the U.S. and numerous other countries. Of course, “Part 2” has also faded away now, due to Glitter being repeatedly charged of, and thrice convicted for, child sexual abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/132 "2026-08-07T21:47:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The Adagio from Aram Khachaturian’s opera _ **Spartacus** _ became the theme for the TV series _ **The Onedin Line** _, and the theme for _ **Reilly, Ace of Spies** _ was taken from Dmitri Shostakovich’s _ **The Gadfly Suite** _. There must be other such classical works used as TV themes besides the ones listed above. The overture from _[Ruslan and Lyudmila](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruslan_and_Lyudmila_(opera))_ by Mikhail Glinka was used as the theme music for the American television sitcom Mom (starring Allison Janney) and the British radio sitcom Cabin Pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/133 "2026-08-07T23:20:19Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The theme to _Peter Gunn_ by Henry Mancini appeared on my YouTube rotation this morning. I’ve never seen an episode of _Peter Gunn_, it ended fifteen years before I was born and I don’t recall anyone running reruns like they did with _The Addams Family, I Love Lucy,_ or even _F Troop_, but I certainly know the song. It was used in the 1983 arcade game Spy Hunter, Art of Noise had their own version in 1986, and I’m sure I’ve heard it many times from other sources. The Theme to Peter Gunn showed up in [“Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courageous_Cat_and_Minute_Mouse) cartoon, which is almost certainly where I first heard it (in the 1970s in rerun). ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/134 "2026-08-07T23:49:08Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I think it fits the OP definition just fine Yeah, given the order of magnitude in fame between the song (which I heard at mini-golf just today!) and the play it fits the spirit of this thread, which is really “music that eclipsed what it was originally associated with”. If we broaden the subject to audio that outlived what it was originally associated, I’ve got one: podcasts, which have continued after the end of the iPod in 2022. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/135 "2026-08-07T23:53:34Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The Theme to Peter Gunn It was a staple of my high school pep band through out the 70’s. The trombones (I had 3 brothers who played that instrument) in particular loved the opening bass line. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/136 "2026-08-08T00:01:45Z")
[Mahna Mahna](https://youtu.be/QTXyXuqfBLA?si=YFbNQsSA9SOaC5kB), a song everyone knows as a number by the Muppets, originated from the sex exploitation documentary film _[Sweden: Heaven and Hell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden:_Heaven_and_Hell)_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/137 "2026-08-08T01:36:04Z")
I wish [I’d thought of that example](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/58). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/138 "2026-08-08T03:12:28Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > > Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” has enjoyed lasting popularity long after _Batman Returns_. > > Correction: “Kiss from a Rose” was actually used in the next sequel, _Batman Forever_, and given the minimal legacy of _Batman Forever_ pretty much _does_ count for this thread. Watching the movie, i remember thinking the only good thing about it was that song. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/139 "2026-08-08T07:33:46Z")
Not true: U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” is also a banger. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186/140 "2026-08-08T07:53:35Z")
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this one yet (surprisingly)… The James Bond theme (tune) wasn’t written for James Bond. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-outlived-what-it-was-originally-associated-with/1032186.md?page=8)