# Pop/rock songs lifting from classical music. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2012, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973 "2012-01-28T09:28:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/41 "2012-01-29T13:25:25Z")
Elvis’s “It’s Now or Never” owes a little bit to “O Sole Mio.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/42 "2012-01-29T13:29:07Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > If you ever see “The Outlaw,” the movie that Howard Hughes made to make Jane Russell famous, you’ll hear passages from Tchaikovsky’s 6th stolen note for note. And some of the music from the original Star Wars movie is very reminiscent of Tchaikovsky’s 4th. > > I forget who it was, but there’s a story that some composer who won an Oscar for his score said in his acceptance speech something along the lines of, “I’d like to thank Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff …” I kind of remember that, except that he said–without irony–“I’d like to thank my COLLEAGUES Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff …” He was never heard from again. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/43 "2012-01-29T17:40:58Z")
Here are a couple I haven’t seen mentioned yet, though they may not fall quite into the “pop/rock” category: The musical _Kismet_ had songs based on melodies by Borodin, such as ["Stranger In Paradise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_Paradise_(song))." An early Amy Grant song, [“Sing Your Praise To The Lord,”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIPRSzVHfCM) has an intro (though not the main melody of the song) taken from Bach’s _Well-Tempered Klavier_. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/44 "2012-01-29T18:47:15Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I kind of remember that, except that he said–without irony–“I’d like to thank my COLLEAGUES Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff …” He was never heard from again. Couldn’t find the exact quote, but it was Hans Zimmer, who won for his score for The Lion King in 1994. And he was, in fact, heard from again, though not by Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/45 "2012-01-29T22:14:57Z")
S Club 7 with “Natural” and Norma Ray with “Tous Les Maux D’Amour” (which “Natural” is just an English language version of) both use Gabriel Fauré’s “Pavane” as the basis for the song. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/46 "2012-01-29T22:35:20Z")
There are eight notes, plus accidentals. There will be some overlap. And if you are going to steal, steal from the best. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/47 "2012-01-29T22:38:34Z")
This thread is incomplete without a reference to [The Pachelbel Rant](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/48 "2012-01-29T22:40:08Z")
Done in post 7. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/49 "2012-01-29T22:45:46Z")
Well, now it’s twice as not-incomplete. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/50 "2012-01-29T22:49:33Z")
It does bear repeating. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/51 "2012-01-30T00:24:03Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > Grieg’s “In The Hall Of The Mountain King” gets [The Who treatment](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsccsEKkbk), with Keith Moon on spooky noises. May contain traces of amphetamines. But, it’s not nearly as terrific as [SRC’s version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9jn764Wh7g). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/52 "2012-01-30T00:31:12Z")
And, if we’re talking cover versions of classical pieces, how about the spectacular [Sabre Dance by Love Sculpture](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyvy9tORfSc)? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/53 "2012-01-30T03:54:41Z")
Radiohead’s “Exit Music: For a Film”, from _OK Computer_ (and that movie with Diane Lane and Richard Gere), is based on (but not exactly the same as) Chopin’s [Prelude in E minor](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0IpJmg3EWc). (ETA: The version in the film is just on piano, so the connection is even more obvious.) (ETA again: I think the ORIGINAL version was in a different film, that modern version of “Romeo and Juliet”.) ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/54 "2012-01-30T04:03:56Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > But, it’s not nearly as terrific as [SRC’s version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9jn764Wh7g). It seems like [everyone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIpsgd0Oq_4&feature=related) has a cover of ITHOTMK 😉 BLACKMORE! ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/55 "2012-01-30T11:17:53Z")
Dan Fogelberg’s _Same Old Lang Syne_ uses the 1812 Overture, slowed down, as it’s melody. [ > [@](#): > > The song is a narrative ballad told in the first person and tells the story of two long-ago lovers meeting by chance in a supermarket on Christmas Eve.[1] The melody phrase at the beginning of each verse is taken by Fogelberg from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. ]([Same Old Lang Syne - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_Old_Lang_Syne))I heard an interview with Fogelberg years ago where he said that he HATED the _1812 Overture_, but realized that slowed down it made a really good ballad. (Also, color me surprised that Fogelberg died in 2007. That one slipped by me.) ---
**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:** [January 30, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/56 "2012-01-30T11:25:32Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > Dan Fogelberg’s _Same Old Lang Syne_ uses the 1812 Overture, slowed down, as it’s melody. > [URL=“[Same Old Lang Syne - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_Old_Lang_Syne)”]I heard an interview with Fogelberg years ago where he said that he HATED the _1812 Overture_, but realized that slowed down it made a really good ballad. From what I understand, Tchaikovsky hated it too. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/57 "2012-01-30T11:26:21Z")
This is great: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gwvqdXR3XnI/maxresdefault.jpg "ADYA & GEISHA - CHERUBINOS ARIA Official Video") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwvqdXR3XnI) Adya & Geisha adapted from Mozart’s Cherubino’s Aria (from Marriage of Figaro) ---
**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:** [January 30, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/58 "2012-01-30T13:19:45Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > It seems like everyone has a cover of ITHOTMK 😉 Including [Erasure](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j-iC1ZCwz4) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Missinne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jeff\_Missinne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Missinne)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/59 "2013-03-07T06:14:35Z")
Before Elvis turned O Sole Mio into “It’s Now Or Never,” someone else (Perry Como, possibly?) recorded it as “There’s No Tomorrow.” His “Catch a Falling Star” and, believe or not, “Hot Diggety Dog, Ziggety Boom” were also based on classical themes. Likewise Della Reese’s “Don’t You Know” and Allan Sherman’s “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh.” ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973/60 "2013-03-07T06:38:33Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I just discovered that the melody of The Toys’ 1965 song [“A Lover Concerto”](http://youtu.be/FmJ1AqtTuyo) is from a Bach\* piece, [Minuet in G major](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on1DDSLdDOo)! > > What are some other examples? > > I’m sure there are several threads about this topic but I haven’t found them. > > - it [may not be](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Lover%27s_Concerto) by Bach. So you never saw Mr Holland’s Opus? In case you haven’t Alicia Witt becomes the governor > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > [Hook](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdz5kCaCRFM&ob=av2e), by Blues Traveller. > > It’s Pachebel’s Canon. Once you hear it you can’t unhear it. And they’ve never even tried to cover it up. Given the content of the song it’s hilarious. The more blatant rip-off was Graduation by Colleen Fitzpatrick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-lifting-from-classical-music/610973.md?page=4)