# The Omen theme - what's it really called? (Ozzy fans pls read) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807 "2003-07-11T20:32:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/1 "2003-07-11T20:32:50Z")
I’m trying to find out the actual name of that song used as the theme song for “The Omen” movie. While I did find out on IMDB that it was written by Jerry Goldsmith and titled “Ava Santini”, I seem to recall that it’s actually an interpretation of a genuine classical piece. If I’m right, what is it called? Ozzy Osbourne uses that song to open his concerts, and I think it’s different from the actual movie theme, so if any Ozzy fan knows what I’m talking about, then that’s what I’m talking about. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/2 "2003-07-11T20:34:31Z")
Carmina Burana – Carl Orff ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/3 "2003-07-11T20:42:09Z")
Whoa!!! Not even two minutes and I’ve got the answer. Thanks! Did I ever say how much I love this place? ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/4 "2003-07-11T22:53:15Z")
The actual name of the song is “O Fortuna” - which is the opening (and closing) piece in Orff’s Carmina Burana. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/5 "2003-07-12T04:29:13Z")
From: [The Omen](http://scoresounds.tripod.com/omen.html): > [@](#): > > Of course, there have been many comparisons made between the opening track (actually the film’s end credits) “Ave Satani” and Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana. As just about every other soundtrack reviewer has stated on this topic up to this point, the track from The Omen sounds _nothing_ like Orff’s work. Just because the two pieces use a chorus in Latin, people seem to think that they are alike, but they are not. The musical styles are completely and utterly different, and I don’t understand why anybody sees a resemblance at all. I have to agree. I don’t see _any_ resemblance beyond the fact that both use a Latin chorus. Jerry Goldsmith has said (no citation, sorry) that it is _not_ a reinterpretation of _O Fortuna_. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/6 "2003-07-12T13:56:45Z")
The song from the opening credits of **The Omen** is called “Ave Satani” (Check IMDB, people) and has NO resemblance to “O Fortuna” which has been used in many movie soundtracks, most notably in **Excalibur** and the opening credits of **Jackass:The Movie**. If I had the soundtrack handy, I could do my own translation, but one Web site I checked claimed the lyrics go “Blood we drink/Flesh we eat/Raise the body of Satan/Hail the anti-Christ/Hail Satan!” ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/7 "2003-07-12T19:28:59Z")
I’m a big (fanatic, really) Jerry Goldsmith fan. I have almost all his scores, read up about him, etc. etc. (But I’m not a stalker, OK? 😉 ) I’ve never heard that “Ave Satani” was inspired by “O Fortuna”. It doesn’t really sound anything like “O Fortuna”. I have to go with MikeTurk and gobear on this one. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/8 "2003-07-12T19:32:12Z")
From the link MikeTurk provided: > [@](#): > > BTW, I haven’t heard the score to _The Final Conflict_, the last score in the trilogy, but I’m going to be getting it soon and I’ve heard that it’s better than this. Oh, it is. It _is_. _The Final Conflict_ is fabulous. Funny, because it was (if memory serves) a truly sucky movie. But the score was great. (By the way, Goldsmith got his one and only Oscar for “The Omen”. He keeps on getting nominated, but he doesn’t seem to win very much. I don’t understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-omen-theme-whats-it-really-called-ozzy-fans-pls-read/187807/9 "2003-07-12T19:36:44Z")
Okay. I’ll happily concede that I am relying on a memory of both the Orff work and the Omen soundtrack. All I can add is that I used Carmina Burana to demonstrate stereo gear in my younger days, and the sound of the music in Omen made me see much more similarity than difference as noted in **MikeTurk** ’s link. Looks like that soundtrack CD might be the way to resolve the issue.