# Pop songs with the best/most interesting orchestration **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506 "2011-04-23T21:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/21 "2011-04-24T12:11:16Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > You might want to check this out: (though, IMO, it’s not one of their better renditions) > [http://fororchestra.com/2009/12/21/for-orchestra-24-lady-gaga-bad-romance/](http://fororchestra.com/2009/12/21/for-orchestra-24-lady-gaga-bad-romance/) Bleh, was that a real orchestra? I assume it’s just a midi file based on the tinny sound, the stuff the guy wrote about how he composed it and the fact that those entire songs load in a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/22 "2011-04-24T12:38:04Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > A bit tangential to the OP, but it’s too cool to not post here: > [http://fororchestra.com/](http://fororchestra.com/) > Orchestral renditions of many good, and some not so good, pop songs. They even manage to make internet memes like Rebecca Black’s “Friday” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” listenable! Thanks for that. The first thing I listened to was **AC/DC** ’s\* You shook Me All Night Long\*. What a blast. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/23 "2011-04-24T13:02:03Z")
At that link check out [Sweet Child O Mine](http://fororchestra.com/tag/guns-n-roses-song/). Still rocks with dozens of different instruments. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/24 "2011-04-24T13:47:04Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Bleh, was that a real orchestra? I assume it’s just a midi file based on the tinny sound, the stuff the guy wrote about how he composed it and the fact that those entire songs load in a few seconds. No, not a real orchestra. But I warned you that that wasn’t a good example of the best work - not even close. It may take a few seconds to load, but I assure you, it takes considerably longer to create, and a real musician to compose. ---
**Author:** ![deadindays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@deadindays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadindays)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/25 "2011-04-24T13:54:36Z")
XTC’s Apple Venus 1 and Skylarking albums ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/26 "2011-04-25T05:46:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Anything off _Pet Sounds_ qualifies here. In my opinion, it’s the most beautifully orchestrated pop album ever. Exactly what I was going to post. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/27 "2011-04-25T06:13:26Z")
I always liked the accompaniment to Lulu’s _To Sir with love_. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/28 "2011-04-25T06:43:54Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Although this project was Eddie Rayner’s idea not Neil Finn, you might also like [Enzso](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzso), which was the music of Split Enz orchestrated and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. …ha! I was just going to mention this…“I See Red” is my favourite of the first album but I can’t find it online: here are another couple, “Message to my Girl” (my fav Split Enz song), and Stuff n’ Nonsense… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6-6Ta_8T7QM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGH8gOihPMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDGM77tBA3nG4kd5Dw0N8ddzzMnZg "Split Enz ENZSO 'Message to my Girl'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-6Ta_8T7QM) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0ucDD_nVEuE/hqdefault.jpg "Split Enz ENZSO 'Stuff N' Nonsense'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ucDD_nVEuE) ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/29 "2011-04-25T06:44:16Z")
I don’t normally enjoy Coldplay, but I think Viva la Vida is a neato song with all the instrumentation and whatnot. The version they did at the Grammy’s a few years back kinda gave me chills. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/30 "2011-04-25T07:26:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Many good selections have been mentioned. I’ll add “[Conquistador](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F945LQG6fuA&feature=related)” by Procol Harum. Damn, forgot that one. I agree totally. I was raised on 70s music even though I grew up in the 90s because it was what my dad played. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/31 "2011-04-25T09:41:35Z")
I’ve always loved the orchestration in Santana’s\* [Every Step Of The Way](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne-mg4wGmn0)\* from Caravanserai. It is so integral to the music; it sounds like a separate single instrument. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/32 "2011-04-25T09:50:51Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Although this project was Eddie Rayner’s idea not Neil Finn, you might also like [Enzso](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzso), which was the music of Split Enz orchestrated and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …ha! I was just going to mention this…“I See Red” is my favourite… Wow! I also was going to mention this, and _I See Red_ is my favourite too. Beautiful orchestration. ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/33 "2011-04-25T09:51:34Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Although this project was Eddie Rayner’s idea not Neil Finn, you might also like [Enzso](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzso), which was the music of Split Enz orchestrated and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. I like ENZSO as well, but Crowded House’s/Neil Finn’s songs are lush enough on their own, IMHO. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/34 "2011-04-25T22:51:05Z")
[Shatter](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Zz7BX3tsQ) - Shelleyan Orphan ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/35 "2011-04-25T23:15:42Z")
Back in the 60s, almost every song seemed to have added strings or “sweetener” as it was called. A lot of rock and folk hits do and it’s mostly forgotten about, even though it made the songs sound much better than the groups ever achieved playing them live. One of my absolute favorites is Chad & Jeremy’s [A Summer Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvD0_aeAf2E). The orchestration doesn’t drown out the voices and the horns are fine. Best, there are two passages where the violins play a theme that is handed off to the violas which is then handed off to the cellos that’s chilling in its perfection. I’m going to throw in one that nobody else in the universe remembers and I can’t even find a reference to it. Michael Kamen, just after leaving The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra a “rock ballet” he’d written. I thought at the time it was the best merging of rock and classical I’d ever heard. It wasn’t recorded and I don’t know if he ever did it again. That was almost 40 years ago, so I haven’t any idea how well it would hold up if I heard it today. But losing an important piece like that should never have happened. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/36 "2011-04-26T00:06:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > One of my absolute favorites is Chad & Jeremy’s [A Summer Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvD0_aeAf2E) Mine too. It’s been in my iTunes from the beginning and now it’s one of my music loving three year old granddaughter’s too… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/37 "2011-04-26T10:53:37Z")
“Automatic For The People” by R.E.M. is one of my all-time favorite albums, and I especially like the orchestral arrangements on “Drive”, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight”, “Everybody Hurts”, and “Nightswimming”, which were done by John Paul Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/38 "2011-04-26T11:13:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Wow! I also was going to mention this, and _I See Red_ is my favourite too. Beautiful orchestration. …well, great minds and all that! 😉 But it truly is a magnificent version of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/39 "2011-04-26T14:39:45Z")
[Lady In Satin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_in_Satin) - Billie Holliday. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506/40 "2011-04-26T14:47:57Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > There are a number of songs of theirs where Benny & Bjorn put together some really lovely arrangements. Since none of them can read or write music (it beats me how you can avoid it in their business) the credit has to go to others. The names Rutger Gunnarsson and Anders Eljas come to mind (couldn’t find anything about them in English). [Michael B Tretow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_B._Tretow) was also very much involved in creating the ABBA sound. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-the-best-most-interesting-orchestration/579506.md?page=3)