# Songs which should never be played in a movie,TV show or commercial ever again **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826 "2008-02-01T05:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/21 "2008-02-01T19:35:24Z")
I know the only reason this hasn’t been mentioned is that it’s so obvious that it doesn’t need to be mentioned. “All Star” by Smashmouth. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/22 "2008-02-01T19:37:59Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262] I don’t know the name of the song or the artist, but that “Ohhh Yeah” song (“oh yeah” sung over and over in a deep, deep voice). I think I heard it first in the movie “The Secret of My Success”, and then it started showing up in any commercial plugging some decadently rich/sweet item (chocolate, etc.) [/QUOTE] It’s in the movie you mentioned but I think Ferris Beuller’s Day Off made it famous. > [@Beadalin](#): > > Lust for Life. Just stop it already. Considering what the song is actually about, I have never seen an appropriate use of it. Not even in Trainspotting? Let me add Boom - P.O.D. Well holy freakin shit!! You MUST be X-TREME to the MAX!!! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/23 "2008-02-01T19:40:59Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] What is that Christmas song…“Carol of the Bells” or something?? That one should be banished also, every retailer makes up their own product-shilling lyrics for it beginning in late October…it is evil. [/QUOTE] Well, [in certain incarnations, yes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ftld7Ohojg)… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/24 "2008-02-01T19:41:55Z")
Mr. Blue Sky by ELO. Good song but way overused. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/25 "2008-02-01T19:49:10Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Not even in Trainspotting? Oh, right. OK, that would be the one instance so far. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/26 "2008-02-01T20:10:31Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] Let me add Boom - P.O.D. Well holy freakin shit!! You MUST be X-TREME to the MAX!!! [/QUOTE] I had no idea what this was, so I looked for it on Youtube. The video is hilarious: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1Ga\_ZBhnc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1Ga_ZBhnc) Looks like P.O.D agrees with you. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/27 "2008-02-02T00:29:01Z")
The United Airlines jingle, by some jingle writer named George Gershwin. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/28 "2008-02-02T00:46:40Z")
Good grief - Erik Satie’s frigging [Gymnopédie No. 1.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al5U1WJ48rM) ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/29 "2008-02-02T00:52:32Z")
How are we twenty posts into this and no one’s mentioned _Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)_ by **Green Day**? Beautiful, heartbreakingly bittersweet song about all good things coming to an end (with bonus lovely violin solo) and I WILL KILL SOMEONE if it’s on one more final episode, montage, or retrospective. Does anyone else think it’s ironic that this song is **Green Day** ’s most widely known song? Everyone has heard this song, on TV or at their ten-year-old’s elementary school graduation, and even people who can’t stand **Green Day** can recognize it, if not place it? I think **Green Day** will be remembered, in the long run, for this song, which is completely at odds with everything else they do. Oh, and don’t get me started on how _Sing, Sing, Sing_ is now the “Chips Ahoy” song or, god forbid, the William Tell Overture is now the Lone Ranger theme. At least the thief has good taste. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/30 "2008-02-02T02:01:34Z")
Most things by [Randy Edelman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Edelman#Scores_reused_elsewhere). If I hear the bit from Dragonheart used in one more film trailer I’m building a time machine to stop him from ever writing that score. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/31 "2008-02-02T03:45:12Z")
There was a song, [“Viens, Mallika, les liens en fleurs”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=afPfzGfZwsA) from a French opera which nobobdy ever staged because its story was too similar to _Madama Butterfly_, so it wasn’t spoiled by overplaying until about twenty years ago. “Nessun Dorma” had that same fate. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/32 "2008-02-02T04:10:03Z")
[QUOTE=Peak Banana] Good grief - Erik Satie’s frigging [Gymnopédie No. 1.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al5U1WJ48rM) [/QUOTE] It reminds me of Benny Hill. They played it as background music whenever there was a sketch set in a park. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/33 "2008-02-02T04:58:04Z")
“Bodies” by nu-metal schlock purveyors Drowning Pool, used in countless action movie trailers and wrestling promos. It sucked then, and it still sucks. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/34 "2008-02-02T05:12:35Z")
[QUOTE=CaerieD] Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.” I swear to God, that song has been used in every film trailer ever. I think some mad scientist traveled back in time just to insert it in the trailers for films that came out before it. [/QUOTE] The problem is that they’re often actually playing Vanilla Ice’s _Ice Ice Baby_ for any movie that has some kind of wintery motif in it. So it has double the likelihood of making an appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/35 "2008-02-02T06:10:20Z")
There was a good ten year stretch where the trailer for any horror movie would play a piece from the soundtrack to **Bram Stoker’s Dracula**. Among other things, it just seems wrong to use another movie’s music to hype your own. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/36 "2008-02-02T07:25:04Z")
Commercially available music I have no problem with. However, there are some stock music cues that are rather overused that annoy me whenever I hear them in advertising. One is a piece titled _Bartmania_ which is meant to mimic _The Simpsons_ theme which is often used in advertising for children to create a mood of insanity. (I was surprised when this was actually used in an ad for a licensed Simpsons product, the Homer Simpson Operation game). The other, which I haven’t been able to find the title of, is meant to mimic the theme to _Leave It To Beaver_ and is always used in advertising in an ironic fashion, as if to say, “This ain’t _Leave it to Beaver_.” It was used in this fashion in ads for _The War At Home_. The only occasion I’ve heard it in which it _was_ used for a “cheesy 1950s tripe” mood (but still in an ironic fashion) was the DVD menu for _Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mr. B’s Lost Shorts_. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/37 "2008-02-04T13:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] “Bodies” by nu-metal schlock purveyors Drowning Pool, used in countless action movie trailers and wrestling promos. It sucked then, and it still sucks. [/QUOTE] They even use it for the new Rambo trailer. As if Rambo doesn’t already have his own awesome theme music. On the other end of the spectrem, it sounds like directors liked the use of Sia’s Breath Me in the finale of Six Feet Under so much that it has become the “heartwrenching episode/movie” song. You know, for when Coldplay or The Fray aren’t schmaltzy enough. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/38 "2008-02-04T14:18:04Z")
[QUOTE=bufftabby] Europe, “The Final Countdown”-This should never again be used for anything non-GOB-related. Scorpions, “Rock You Like a Hurricane”-Enough. Just…Enough. [/QUOTE] “The Final Countdown” is also for Detroit Pistons player [introductions](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq6LkX1HRaY) . Note the date. They stopped using the song for a while until Joe Dumars became the guy in charge in the front office. The first thing he did was to bring it back. (A [newer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SmkybkE_vk&feature=related) introduction with the best announcer in the game today. It’s after the Kid Rock song, by the way.) ([Newer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8STJtZarEnk&feature=related) yet). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/39 "2008-02-04T14:33:35Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] “Salisbury Hill” Peter Gabriel [/QUOTE] That’s Solsbury Hill (near Bath), not Salisbury, which is in Wiltshire and has no hills because it’s on a plain. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826/40 "2008-02-04T14:46:32Z")
“Ode to Joy”. It’s used in commercials, tv shows, movies, movie trailers. When I saw it used for the last Die Hard movie, I lost it. Just because you can use it for free doesn’t mean you should. It’s never used in the intended context, it’s often used during heavy duty action scenes. I’m pretty sure Beethoven wasn’t picturing Bruce Willis dodging exploding semi-trucks and helicopters. I guess it doesn’t help that I use it for my telephone ringtone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-should-never-be-played-in-a-movie-tv-show-or-commercial-ever-again/435826.md?page=3)