# Pop culture associations with classical music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261 "2018-10-20T20:25:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 21, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/41 "2018-10-21T06:35:51Z")
The episode of _Gilligan’s Island_, entitled “The Producer,” where they put on a musical version of _Hamlet_, put new lyrics to two different pieces from _Carmen_ that have stuck in my mind for over forty years: [I ask to be, or not to be!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKMOClN9ITg) [Neither a borrower, nor a lender be!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXId5jOTxdg) ---
**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:** [October 21, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/42 "2018-10-21T06:51:24Z")
Feh, I should have read the OP for comprehension, as **terentii** mentioned the _Gilligan’s Island_ episode. However, those of us who grew up on the early years of _Sesame Street_ will also always associate _Carmen_ with [a singing orange](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8TqOTe3ODc). 😃 ---
**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:** [October 21, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/43 "2018-10-21T11:36:37Z")
I first heard Wagner’s \*\*\*Tannhäuser \*\*\*overture watching **this movie** , in which a German infiltrator in the opening scenes doesn’t know who Betty Grable is: Go to 1:22:17 and you'll see Charleton Heston and Leslie Nielsen sharing some dramatic moments just before the concert starts. I challenge you to watch this without laughing. The association between Wagner and \*\*\*Counterpoint \*\*\*is etched indelibly in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/44 "2018-10-21T15:15:38Z")
I have no specific examples in mind, but I’m convinced that **Satie** ’s [_Gnossienne n°1_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7z8k4OfFek) and [_Gymnopédie n°1_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzDWnFKT-N8) were the default background music for all the weird weekday afternoon documentaries in the '80s. You know, things like “Contemporary Bulgarian Abstract Expressionism” or “The Art of Puppet-Making”… ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/45 "2018-10-21T15:21:53Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I have no specific examples in mind, but I’m convinced that **Satie** ’s [_Gnossienne n°1_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7z8k4OfFek) and [_Gymnopédie n°1_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzDWnFKT-N8) were the default background music for all the weird weekday afternoon documentaries in the '80s. You know, things like “Contemporary Bulgarian Abstract Expressionism” or “The Art of Puppet-Making”… I used to call the latter “The Drowning Song”, because there was a PSA about water safety when I was young that used that music in the background. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/46 "2018-10-21T20:31:46Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I used to call the latter “The Drowning Song”, because there was a PSA about water safety when I was young that used that music in the background. That reminds me - in a similar vein, for those in Canada of sufficient age, Chopin’s famous C# minor waltz is The Arthritis Song. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/47 "2018-10-22T05:02:46Z")
The [Flower Duet from Lakme](https://youtu.be/Vf42IP__ipw?t=75) is the [British Airways](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVi6GgQBkwE)music to me. > [@mbh](#): > > “O Fortuna”, set to [Carl Orff’s music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5b7tgkdFH0) is the go-to mood music for epic battles and cataclysms. You mean the [Old Spice music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-IlJMQMIU)? ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/48 "2018-10-22T06:01:33Z")
Smurfberry Crunch is fun to eat A smurfy, fruity breakfast treat Made by smurfs so happily They taste like crunchy smurfberries It’s berry-shaped and crispy, too And very red and smurfy blue! [–Tchaikovsky, March, _The Nutcracker_](https://youtu.be/E166wfxy21Y) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2018, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/49 "2018-10-22T06:50:35Z")
I’ll always associate Debussy’s Clair de Lune with the [ending of Ocean’s 11.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfu9s89C-pc) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2018, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/50 "2018-10-22T06:58:37Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Star Trek battles often closely mimic “Mars” from Holst’s _The Planets_, without using it literally. Whereas John Williams literally copied the last few bars of Mars in _Star Wars_ - down to harmony, rhythm and exact instrumentation. Compare 6:38 of [Mars](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmk5frp6-3Q) with 1:46 of the [Star Wars Theme](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_D0ZQPqeJkk). ---
**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:** [October 22, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/51 "2018-10-22T14:33:52Z")
The aria _Der Holle Rache_ from _The Magic Flute_ is, I think, now firmly ensconced in people’s minds as “that music from the Volvo commercial”. > **[Der Holle Rache - Yahoo Video Search Results](https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=Der%2BHolle%2BRache#id=1&vid=7ac99ca096b5f03b74c4d1c4d2fa5f35&action=click)** > > The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/52 "2018-10-22T21:21:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [Bolero.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZDiaRZy0Ak) > [Association.](https://condenaststore.com/featured/now-last-time-near-the-end-of-ravels-bolero-george-booth.html) Not Dudley Moore and Bo Derek? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/53 "2018-10-22T21:52:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I leave my TV tuned to WNED Classical when I go out so my cat doesn’t get lonely. When I got home from the store this afternoon, they were playing “March of the Toreadors” from _ **Carmen** _. I immediately thought “Oh, _ **Gilligan’s Island** _, cool!” For me, “Toreador” recalls The Bad News Bears. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/54 "2018-10-23T06:23:46Z")
Another Kubric cinematic masterpiece, Barry Lyndon has 2: [Handel’s Saraband](https://youtu.be/cOezEpigDmU?t=6) [Schubert’s Piano Trio in E flat, op. 100 (2nd movement)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KYf9Le0Hdw) Platoon: Barber’s [Adagio for Strings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRCubAtPiKg) And who can hear Liszt’s [Hungarian Rhapsody #2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1JKd1C7izQ) (cute rendition) without seeing Jerry running the keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2018, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/55 "2018-10-23T07:07:47Z")
Billy Joel cribbed a melody from Beethoven for the chorus of “This Night.” ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2018, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/56 "2018-10-23T07:26:24Z")
Speaking of Beethoven and a couple of aforementioned shout-outs to Kubrick’s, _A Clockwork Orange,_ Ludwig van’s [9th Symphony](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDkzbIIKDJU) figures pretty prominently in that flick. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2018, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261/57 "2018-10-23T09:29:32Z")
The Anvil Chorus by Verdi reminds me of [this ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoJj3ixZqeo). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-associations-with-classical-music/823261.md?page=2)