# That depressing funeral march you hear in movies and TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230 "2013-03-29T01:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/1 "2013-03-29T01:25:24Z")
Ok, I’ll admit my ignorance!😃 Who was the composer/author/source for that funeral tune one has heard so often on TV and in movies. I’ve even heard it in cartoons. It’s slow and depressing and sterotypical of death and funerals. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/2 "2013-03-29T01:28:53Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/3 "2013-03-29T01:33:07Z")
I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize that music, it’s not the one I mean. I wish I could make a musical notation of how it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/4 "2013-03-29T01:34:01Z")
Frederic Chopin: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kyFyAqLtHq8/hqdefault.jpg "Classical - Chopin - Funeral March") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFyAqLtHq8) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/5 "2013-03-29T01:41:15Z")
That’s it! Thank you so much! I don’t know why I started thinking about this, but when I have these ideas I know where to turn. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/6 "2013-03-29T01:44:43Z")
I knew Liszt wrote one too, but after listening to it I realized it wasn’t the one you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![NotBob13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@NotBob13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotBob13)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/7 "2013-03-29T02:54:49Z")
Is it Chopin’s Funeral March? It was the first sugestion from gooling looney tunes funeral. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kyFyAqLtHq8/hqdefault.jpg "Classical - Chopin - Funeral March") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFyAqLtHq8) Or a slowed down version of “The Worms Crawl In?” also called “The Hearse Song” Ninja-ed, curses! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/8 "2013-03-29T03:20:37Z")
Pray for the dead and the dead will pray for you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/9 "2013-03-29T18:43:08Z")
What makes it a march? It sure seems more like a dirge to me. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/10 "2013-03-29T18:49:51Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Pray for the dead and the dead will pray for you. 🙂 I have that same lyric go through my head every time I hear this. Where did it come from? I’m certain that Chopin didn’t write lyrics for it. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/11 "2013-03-29T18:52:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I knew Liszt wrote one too, but after listening to it I realized it wasn’t the one you wanted. [So did Beethoven](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJj9EydBM5g), and [so did Mahler](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVsLCzSK7Rs) (if you count orchestrating “Frere Jacques” as a funeral march). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/12 "2013-03-29T19:02:06Z")
[Granny,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps7XMKr4xac#t=2m07s) [Tweety,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps7XMKr4xac#t=2m21s), and [Sylvester](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps7XMKr4xac#t=6m37s) do it in this cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/13 "2013-03-29T19:02:33Z")
[The best one.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_XOVh-cDtk) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/14 "2013-03-29T19:24:06Z")
The obligatory Monty Python link: [Monty Python - Undertaker's Film - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=c0MC_4c-zbY#t=92s) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/15 "2013-03-29T20:50:16Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Pray for the dead and the dead will pray for you. 🙂 Simply because they have nothing else to do. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/16 "2013-03-29T21:13:56Z")
[Here’s another funeral march](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH7nXgzKpM0), but I wouldn’t describe it as slow and depressing. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/17 "2013-03-29T21:38:08Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > [Here’s another funeral march](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH7nXgzKpM0), but I wouldn’t describe it as slow and depressing. That was used as the theme for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/18 "2013-03-29T22:09:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > so did Mahler (if you count orchestrating “Frere Jacques” as a funeral march). The painting in that YouTube clip is of the funeral of Charles XII of Sweden, whose enemies had captured his wardrobe and melted the buttons into bullets; one of which [took out Charles](http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/09/the-blazing-career-and-mysterious-death-of-the-swedish-meteor/) Since you guys already grabbed the Gounod link, here’s [Purcel’s funeral march for Queen Mary](http://youtu.be/xWRcx9LHBJU), which you’ll recognize from A Clockwork Orange. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/19 "2013-03-29T22:33:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [So did Beethoven](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJj9EydBM5g), and [so did Mahler](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVsLCzSK7Rs) (if you count orchestrating “Frere Jacques” as a funeral march). Yes, but Liszt’s was the first one that came to mind and the one I originally posted. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230/20 "2013-03-29T23:09:00Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [The best one.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_XOVh-cDtk) RIP Paul Bearer [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-depressing-funeral-march-you-hear-in-movies-and-tv/654230.md?page=2)