# 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:** 3
**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, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/41 "2003-05-25T13:19:24Z")
And there is _quite_ a bit more to it (“TSZ”) than just the opening chords and the tympani. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/42 "2003-05-25T13:43:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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…” 😛 \*\* I remember hearing this in one sketch about the “Church police” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\*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) \*\* Here is a slightly better sounding version:[And did those feet](http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/a/a262.html) This hymn/poem provided the title for the movie _“Chariots of Fire”_, one of my all time favorites. It’s the hymn the congregation sings at the end of the memorial service, in the closing moments of the film. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/43 "2003-05-25T14:38:27Z")
How about the theme to _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_? Turns out it’s an Eagles tune, **Journey of the Sorcerer** , which I was happy to be able to get from the iTunes music store. In the book of _Hitchhiker’s_ radio scripts, Douglas Adams mentions that many people wrote to the BBC, wondering what that theme music was, and were surprised to learn that they already had it in their record collections. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/44 "2003-05-25T15:27:35Z")
Anyone who grew up watching old Warner Brothers cartoons is familiar with a whole repertoire of classical music, even if they don’t realize it. (How many people know the “early morning music” in those cartoons is from Grieg’s Peer Gynt, for example?) It’s been in a million commercials over the last five years, so just about everyone recognizes Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing,” even if they only know it as “that swing song with the drum solo.” Sticking to the same era, everyone recognizes Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” And most folks have heard “Mood Indigo” and “Take the A Train” by Duke Ellington in some commercial/TV show/movie or another. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/45 "2003-05-25T16:30:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew \* > \*\*It’s David Clayton Thomas, and as far as I know, BST never covered “Vehicle.” \*\* [Allmusic.com confirms it](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MISS70305241828&sql=H1355690) – BST never recorded “Vehicle”. The David Clayton Thomas sound-alike on “Vehicle” is a young Jim Peterik, who later fronted the '80s rock group Survivor. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/46 "2003-05-25T16:38:15Z")
_Jerusalem_ is practically a second National Anthem for many in England. It’s sung at the Last Night of the Proms, at political party annual conferences as well as at church. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/47 "2003-05-25T17:01:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wumpus \* > \*\*Sticking to the same era, everyone recognizes Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” And most folks have heard “Mood Indigo” and “Take the A Train” by Duke Ellington in some commercial/TV show/movie or another. \*\* Names of a bunch of instrumentals people have heard, but may not know the names of: “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu” - Domenico Modugno, better known as “Volare”. “Volare” later became the _de facto_ title of the song. “Theme from ‘A Summer Place’” - Percy Faith “Theme from 'Summer of '54” - Peter Nero “Fire on High” - ELO “I Robot” - [Dr. Evil air-quotes]The Alan Parsons Project[/Dr. Evil air-quotes] “Frankenstein” - Edgar Winter Group “La Grange” - ZZ Top (has some lyrics) “Bouree” - Jethro Tull “Rise” - Herb Alpert … Speaking of Ellington … you know that song “You Can Feel It All Over” by Stevie Wonder? It’s actually titled “Sir Duke”. How about Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up, Pt. 1”? I heard that song forever before I knew the title. The title appears in the song, but not until the end of the song, and it is sung fairly indistinctly on a backing vocal track. Here’s another good one I’m surprised hasn’t been mentioned yet – “Valotte” by Julian (not John) Lennon, heard frequently on light-rock stations: _Sitting on a pebble by the river playing guitar Wond’ring if we’re really ever gonna get that far Do you know there’s something wrong? 'Cause I’ve felt it all along_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/48 "2003-05-25T19:04:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Another one from around the same era was the Ides of March tune “Vehicle”. Almost everyone recognizes the song, but most everyone who hears the song a) doesn’t know the title, and b) thinks it’s Blood, Sweat and Tears – it’s a pretty close sound-alike: I’ve gotta take exception to this one. Anyone who’s ever been in a high scool or college marching band recognizes the tune of “Vehicle”, even if we don’t know the words. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/49 "2003-05-25T19:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > \*\*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) \*\* I knew that it was written for the movie – most people who know it’s a song are people who heard it in the movie first (gah! I’ve met a lot of people who thought the words came later!). That it was written by a 14-yr-old is news to me… Sounds like the kid had a real fun time in highschool. ---
**Author:** ![Rapunzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Rapunzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapunzel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/50 "2003-05-25T20:22:01Z")
Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light (people often think it’s called In Your Eyes) Kiki Dee - Amoureuse (not keen on the song but it fits this thread) Allman Bros - Jessica (known in the UK as ‘the music from that car programme’) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/51 "2003-05-25T20:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\*Names of a bunch of instrumentals people have heard, but may not know the names of: > > “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu” - Domenico Modugno, better known as “Volare”. “Volare” later became the _de facto_ title of the song.\*\* :smack: “Volare” is not an instrumental … I know, I know. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/52 "2003-05-25T20:45:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*I’ve gotta take exception to this one. Anyone who’s ever been in a high scool or college marching band recognizes the tune of “Vehicle”, even if we don’t know the words. \*\* That’s the point of the OP – people hear the song, either on an oldies station, classic rock radio, or in a marching band … so the song has high familiarity. But few know the name of the song. Marching band members presumably know from looking at their sheet music, but other people … I don’t know. I know I heard that song for years and didn’t know the name of it. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/53 "2003-05-25T20:47:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\*Names of a bunch of instrumentals people have heard, but may not know the names of: > > “Theme from 'Summer of '54” - Peter Nero > \*\* Damn! I’m on a roll! :smack: That would be “Summer of '42”, Bob. ---
**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, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/54 "2003-05-25T20:49:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Allman Bros - Jessica (known in the UK as ‘the music from that car programme’ What program(me)? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/55 "2003-05-25T22:12:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RobuSensei \* > \*\*How about the theme to _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_? Turns out it’s an Eagles tune, **Journey of the Sorcerer** , which I was happy to be able to get from the iTunes music store. > > In the book of _Hitchhiker’s_ radio scripts, Douglas Adams mentions that many people wrote to the BBC, wondering what that theme music was, and were surprised to learn that they already had it in their record collections. \*\* Thanks! I was meaning to start a thread to ask what this music was! ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/56 "2003-05-26T02:06:09Z")
That “circus music” is actually called _[Entry of the Gladiators](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/computergear/147.html)_, by Julius Fucik, which is also the most carefully-spelled name in history. The “Keystone Cops music” is probably the _[Sabre Dance](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/computergear/156.html)_, by Aram Khatchaturian, which is nearly impossible to spell ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/57 "2003-05-26T02:18:44Z")
Cheap Trick, “The Flame” (_Wherever you go . . ._) The Temptations (I think), “Can’t Help Myself” (_Sugar pie honey bunch . . ._) ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/58 "2003-05-26T03:45:50Z")
I always liked that song “Light of the Love That I Found”… Turns out it’s actually called [_Fool in the Rain_](http://www.angelfire.com/nm/zeppelin/f.html), by Led Zeppelin. I ain’t gonna take the time to do the research right now, but I gots a feeling there’s more than a few Zeppelin tunes that this OP applies to… Actually, of the top of my head, I know _D’yer Mak’er_ would qualify — “Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, you don’t have to go-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh”. Hell, most DJs don’t even pronounce the song title right. (Should sound like “Jamaica” - it’s a play on words!) And that one called _Immigrant Song_ 😕[sup] —Hmph. Bloody Vikings…[/sup] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > **It’s _Powerhouse_, by Raymond Scott, and believe it or not it was never intended for use in a cartoon.** Thanks loads for this info. If I’m thinking of the right music, f’r instance, it plays in that cartoon where all Porky’s chickens get caught up listening to “FRANKIE!” It plays at the beginning, when all the hens are being conveyor-belted through the egg factory, right? Heh, I’ve got a set of “Looney Tunes” sound effects for my OS, & this music plays whenever I manually run the vertical scroll bars up & down. Hilarious enough that I never get tired of it.🙂 Oh, and the Looney Tunes theme music is actually called _The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down_.😉 ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/59 "2003-05-26T04:03:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tygr \* > \*\* > Actually, of the top of my head, I know _D’yer Mak’er_ would qualify — “Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, you don’t have to go-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh”. Hell, most DJs don’t even pronounce the song title right. (Should sound like “Jamaica” - it’s a play on words!) > \*\* I came to this thread to post just that song, but **Tygr** beat me to it. _When I read the post that Tygr wrote/it made me mad mad mad_ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273/60 "2003-05-26T04:30:33Z")
I was quite surprised to learn that John Lennon’s “So this is Christmas” is actually named “Happy Christmas (war is over)”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-everyone-will-recognize-but-no-one-know-the-name-of/177273.md?page=4)