# Songs everyone will recognize, but no one know the name of. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273 "2003-05-24T20:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/21 "2003-05-25T02:59:13Z")
It took me forever to figure out that the Buffalo Springfield song I really liked was called “For What It’s Worth” - (Stop, hey, what’s that sound?) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/22 "2003-05-25T03:26:21Z")
Jerry Goldsmith’s Oscar-winning score to _The Omen_, especially its “Ave Satani” chorus, was very likely influenced by Carl Orff’s _Carmina Burana_, but none of the latter work is present. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/23 "2003-05-25T03:38:07Z")
That song by The Who that many people call “Teenage Wasteland” is really named [_Baba O’Riley_](http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?id=81508). While we’re here, does anybody know the name of the piano piece used in the chase scenes of The Keystone Kops movies? You know, _duntaladunt-duntaladunt-duntala-duntala-duntala-dunt_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/24 "2003-05-25T03:40:26Z")
Everyone has heard “The Entertainer,” but I don’t think a lot of people know the name - I didn’t until fairly recently. I forget the author - Scott Joplin, maybe? Is that the song you were thinking of, Fear Itself? Agh, how do I ask that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/25 "2003-05-25T03:41:35Z")
Oh, and another song nobody knows the name of is The Powerhouse, which appears in every cartoon where a character in a factory gets smushed and compressed into a little box (or anything of the sort). ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/26 "2003-05-25T03:41:59Z")
When my gee-tar is handy, I often play a few bars of **Alice’s Restaurant** (without lyrics) and challenge people to name that tune. Everyone recognizes it, but not a lot can name it until I start singing. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/27 "2003-05-25T04:15:42Z")
Barrytown: I needed to see VH1’s top 100 countdown to know that one! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/28 "2003-05-25T04:25:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \* > \*\*_Suicide Is Painless_. > > Yes, there are people who know that the theme music to M_A_S\*H is actually a song, but those who know (or heck, those who can sing it) seem to be a minority.\*\* I can sing it. I also feel the need to point out two things related to this. a) Even if its only existance was as the theme of MASH the TV series (a logical impossibility, though I’ll address that in my second point), it’s still, by definition, ‘actually a song’. b) It was written by Robert Altman’s then 14-year old son, Mike (and Johnny Mandel) FOR the movie which is why it was used as the theme of the TV series. (I include the note that Mike Mandel was only 14 when he wrote it for no reason other than it’s a fairly neat little fact. Most 14-year olds music/poetry about suicide ain’t this good, folks. :p) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/29 "2003-05-25T04:27:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > **Mike Mandel** ACK! Mike Altman! Damn brain! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/30 "2003-05-25T05:19:56Z")
Scott Joplin wrote “The Entertainer”, and the movie _The Sting_ made it famous, but it’s not chase scene music, and it doesn’t fit the rhythm pattern **Fear Itself** gives above. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/31 "2003-05-25T05:44:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Oh, and another song nobody knows the name of is The Powerhouse, which appears in every cartoon where a character in a factory gets smushed and compressed into a little box (or anything of the sort). \*\* I came into this thread specifically to post that. There’s no “the,” though. It’s _Powerhouse_, by Raymond Scott, and believe it or not it was never intended for use in a cartoon. He was an experimental musician who was trying to make real music that is evocative of a specific place or experience, and damn did he accomplish that - it’s a pity he’s not better-known. Several of his pieces have been used in cartoons from Looney Tunes on. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/32 "2003-05-25T05:44:38Z")
I didn’t think so, but I don’t know my Keystone Kops. Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/33 "2003-05-25T05:53:27Z")
Wow! Okay, this BARELY fits the topic… but if there are any Monty Python fans out there, I just learned something interesting. There’s a song they sing in a couple of sketches, I’d always wondered what it was. It’s in the Mattress sketch, for one. Well, as I was searching for something else (for the “Lyrics that Make You Cringe” thread), I found it! It’s called Jerusalem, and it’s by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It starts “And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the Holy Lamb of God on England’s pleasant pastures seen?” I thought it was either a hymn or an original song (because I though the first line was “And did those teeth…” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/34 "2003-05-25T06:34:21Z")
Alice’s Restaurant–the melody was used at the ‘8’ song on _Sesame Street_. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/35 "2003-05-25T07:08:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \*\*There’s Perpetuum Mobile by the Penguin Café Orchestra. A really great song that everyone’s heard but no-one knows the name of. \*\* Good Call! 🆒 This is exactly the sort of song I was thinking of when I started this thread. I have heard this song dozens of times yet have never known, or even given thought to, the title. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/36 "2003-05-25T07:26:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Not only does nobody know the real name of the song, everybody hears that line and goes “Huh huhuh, stoned. He’s talking about pot!” 😛 \*\* Actually, I always thought that he was singing about people getting hit with rocks. I thought that it was about remaining good-natured and upbeat when you are forced to go through life troubles and tribulations. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/37 "2003-05-25T09:47:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*Actually, I always thought that he was singing about people getting hit with rocks. I thought that it was about remaining good-natured and upbeat when you are forced to go through life troubles and tribulations. \*\* Personally, I think Dylan had both meanings in mind when he wrote the song. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/38 "2003-05-25T10:09:26Z")
I only found out recently that “The Benny Hill Music” is called “Yackety Sax.” Fear Itself, going by your spelling, I’m thinking that it’s the same classically-influenced intro that starts the band Extreme’s “Play With Me.” Does that help anyone identify it? ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/39 "2003-05-25T11:17:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Wow! Okay, this BARELY fits the topic… but if there are any Monty Python fans out there, I just learned something interesting. There’s a song they sing in a couple of sketches, I’d always wondered what it was. It’s in the Mattress sketch, for one. > Well, as I was searching for something else (for the “Lyrics that Make You Cringe” thread), I found it! It’s called Jerusalem, and it’s by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. > It starts “And did those feet in ancient time, > Walk upon England’s mountains green? > And was the Holy Lamb of God > on England’s pleasant pastures seen?” > > I thought it was either a hymn or an original song (because I though the first line was “And did those teeth…” 😛 \*\* Actually, it is originally a poem (ca 1804) by [William Blake](http://www.redflag.org.uk/frontline/six/06blake.html), melody added later (1916) by Charles Parry. ELP covered it on their album “Brain Salad Surgery”. William Blake - [Rather an](http://www.geocities.com/nisetar/blake.html) [interesting person](http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/1725/sw172520.htm). [Lyrics and really tinny melody](http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/n/anddidtf.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/40 "2003-05-25T11:54:14Z")
And do many realise that the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey is actually called “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, by Richard Strauss, and not “Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey” ?!?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273.md?page=3)