# Pop culture flotsam: things that long outlive the work they came from **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161 "2007-09-05T20:47:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/41 "2007-09-06T19:26:22Z")
There’s a theme that’s played when a train is approaching the heroine who is tied to the tracks. Everybody has heard it, but only classical music lovers know it’s from Schubert’s “Der Erlkoenig”. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5B6nysheec](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5B6nysheec) [QUOTE=RealityChuck] Similarly, Porky Pig is known to everyone, but only cartoon experts have seen “I Haven’t Got a Hat,” his first appearance (and it was a bit part). [/QUOTE] I don’t consider myself an expert, but IIRC it would show up on Cartoon Network when they were still airing Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies. And as a kid I saw it many times in the 50s and 60s on kids’ tv shows, long before I knew it was Porky’s first cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/42 "2007-09-06T19:32:48Z")
Popeye! He was a minor character on the old timey comic strip [Thimble Theatre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye). ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/43 "2007-09-06T20:25:11Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” “Good night, sweet prince.” NO ONE seems to know those come from _Hamlet_. (Well, I’m sure some Dopers do, but go ask your office mates!) [/QUOTE] Who know how many Americans had their first exposure to both William Shakespeare and Georges Bizet simultaneously on _Gilligan’s Island_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/44 "2007-09-06T20:25:30Z")
[QUOTE=Chingon] Popeye! He was a minor character on the old timey comic strip [Thimble Theatre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye). [/QUOTE] Yup. See post #23. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/45 "2007-09-06T20:29:14Z")
People are a lot more familiar with Mae West than they are of any of her movies. The same with Greta Garbo. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/46 "2007-09-06T20:38:50Z")
“Luthy! You got some ‘splainin’ to do!” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/47 "2007-09-06T21:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Interrobang!?] The 1997 version of **Island of Dr. Moreau** is basically remembered for being a [fiasco](http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/my_year_of_flops_case_file_64_the). But it also had a wee little sidekick for Marlon Brando, which in turn inspired long-running gags on _South Park_ and the _Austin Powers_ films. [/QUOTE] And I didn’t know that until I read The Onion AV Club yesterday. 😉 I think an entire thread could be devoted to songs written for movies / TV that far outlasted the show in terms of public awareness. _Secret Agent Man_ comes to mind. And _Rock N’ Roll High School_. And _Theme from A Summer Place_ - see? this practically writes itself. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/48 "2007-09-06T21:20:52Z")
I can’t think of anything. Sorry about that, Chief. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/49 "2007-09-06T21:27:30Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] And I didn’t know that until I read The Onion AV Club yesterday. 😉 I think an entire thread could be devoted to songs written for movies / TV that far outlasted the show in terms of public awareness. _Secret Agent Man_ comes to mind. And _Rock N’ Roll High School_. And _Theme from A Summer Place_ - see? this practically writes itself. 🙂 [/QUOTE] The _Peter Gunn Theme_ is classic. And nobody I know has ever seen the old TV show it came from! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/50 "2007-09-06T21:47:02Z")
You could probably also devote an entire thread to classical pieces that have long been divorced from their original context: everyone knows “The Wedding March”, but not many people know it comes from Mendelsohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Ditto Bach’s Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, which for most people is just the creepy organ music that vampires play when hapless visitors arrive at their castles late at night. And my personal favourite for well-known obscurity is [Hearts And Flowers](http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2002-1/thismonth/featurea.asp) {third listing down}: everyone recognises the cliched maudlin violin tune; no-one know where it comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/51 "2007-09-06T21:52:46Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] [That’s some Bad Hat Harry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Singer) is associated with the production company more than with “Jaws” [/QUOTE] Do you really think so? That’s so disappointing… All the _Jaws_ fans I know did squeal the first time they saw the opening credits of _The Usual Suspects_, though. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/52 "2007-09-06T22:48:34Z")
I got a strange one: The phrase “Perfect Storm” was apparently coined by author Sebastian Junger in 1993 to describe the Halloween 1991 storm that hit New England and was the basis for the book and movie of the same name. That phrase has seemingly entered mainstream American English to describe a confluence of events that make something worse then it might otherwise have been. It has certainly outlived most peoples memories of the storm and I expect will eventually outlive the memories of the book and movie. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/53 "2007-09-06T23:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] The _Peter Gunn Theme_ is classic. And nobody I know has ever seen the old TV show it came from! [/QUOTE] I have. NickatNite I think it was or something similar. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/54 "2007-09-07T03:21:44Z")
I doubt anyone has ever heard of the opera _Clari, Maid of Milan_. Yet everyone has heard of one tune from it: Home Sweet Home. ("Be it ever so humble . . . . "). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/55 "2007-09-07T05:29:31Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] …Ditto Bach’s Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, which for most people is just the creepy organ music that vampires play when hapless visitors arrive at their castles late at night… [/QUOTE] As it happens, I always associate it with the '70s James Caan thriller _Rollerball_; it’s played over the opening credits. “Rule Britannia” and “God Bless America” were both written for long-forgotten vaudeville shows, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/56 "2007-09-07T12:29:54Z")
An Australian Idol judge down here constantly tells contestants “to thine own self be true”, seemingly completely missing the irony behind the statement given the character who uttered it. (Most of the ‘advice’ given by Polonius in that speech were clichés at the time of writing.) ---
**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:** [September 7, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/57 "2007-09-07T14:04:51Z")
[QUOTE=Leechboy] An Australian Idol judge down here constantly tells contestants “to thine own self be true”, seemingly completely missing the irony behind the statement given the character who uttered it. (Most of the ‘advice’ given by Polonius in that speech were clichés at the time of writing.) [/QUOTE] Your post reminded me of the line “The dingo ate my baby.” It’s used in this country a lot, but most people here couldn’t tell you who Lyndsey Chamberlain is. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/58 "2007-09-07T14:16:35Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] And my personal favourite for well-known obscurity is [Hearts And Flowers](http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2002-1/thismonth/featurea.asp) {third listing down}: everyone recognises the cliched maudlin violin tune; no-one know where it comes from. [/QUOTE] It also survives in the expression “Spare me the Hearts & Flowers”, meaning to stop ladling on the maudlin whining. However, I imagine that there are people who don’t know that “Hearts & Flowers” in that context is musical. So I guess both versions have become detached from their original contexts, to a certain extent. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/59 "2007-09-08T20:44:47Z")
“The horror, the horror” Probably most people don’t realize it comes from a book over 100 years old, “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. Rather they probably picked it up from “Apocalypse Now” but I’ve also seen it referenced in “Rugrats” and many other places. ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/60 "2007-09-09T03:24:32Z")
[QUOTE=kidchameleon] It’s not hard to outlive Mister Mister. Or Duran Duran [/QUOTE] Or, for that matter, Talk Talk. nice use of white, kc My contribution? > [@](#): > > Revenge is a dish best served cold I always assumed it was from Shakespeare, or some other learned source. I don’t watch Star Trek [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161.md?page=4)