# Olympic theme songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009 "2002-07-02T10:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009/1 "2002-07-02T10:32:53Z")
Back in the 80’s and 90’s, when NBC televised the Olympics, they used their own theme songs, composed by John Williams; but now they use the one made famous by ABC…you know the one. What happened to make them change? ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009/2 "2002-07-02T10:58:38Z")
Perhaps it was Coca-Cola and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. They had famous people like Freddie Mercury and Eric Clapton write songs for the event, put them on CDs and if you sent in proof of purchases you could receive them for free. I remember Mercury’s 'Barcelona’was an awesome song. But he just had the greatest voice ever. Ok, maybe that doesn’t make much sense. But I’ll post it anyway in case it does to anybody. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009/3 "2002-07-02T16:07:14Z")
David Foster wrote the 1988 Winter Olympic theme. I lived in Calgary at the time, and heard it over, and over, and over, and over, and over. Being a teenager in Calgary, we spent a lot of time at Olympic Plaza, for the medals ceremonies and the free concerts and meeting people from all over the world. It was very exciting. I still have that song in my head, though. I want it to go 'way. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009/4 "2002-07-02T16:58:51Z")
Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote “Amigos para Sempre” for the 1992 Barcelona Games. It has been done in English, Spanish, German, and Finnish. Always love a thread where I can mention ALW. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009/5 "2002-07-02T18:30:05Z")
John Williams wrote a theme for the 2002 Winter Olympics. I think NBC themselves used two tunes mainly on their Olympic coverage, one of which was the old standby _Bugler’s Dream_. ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-theme-songs/117009/6 "2002-07-03T00:12:55Z")
The two most common Olympic themes were used in the 1984 Los Angeles XXIIIrd Olympiad. One is **Olympic Fanfare and Theme** by John Williams. The other is **Bugler’s Dream** by Leo Arnaud (supposedly from his “Charge Suite” but I haven’t been able to find a recording of the suite). Another commonly used piece during the Olympics is **Fanfare for the Common Man** by Aaron Copeland (originally written to celebrate the end of World War II). The change probably came as a result of the popularity of the 1984 themes, so they started using the “official” themes after that time. That’s what people would remember, so that’s what they would be given.