# Those tunes you recognize but don't know the name of **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 23, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008 "2023-06-23T20:26:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/1 "2023-06-23T20:26:13Z")
I see lots of YouTube videos about this, and I go pooh-pooh… with my amazing encyclopedic\*\* knowledge of all things musical I can identify and name just about any tune. But I did come across one from my childhood that I never knew the name of. If you want to give it a try, open the link but don’t look at the screen. [https://youtu.be/HtPi1j3fK\_Q](https://youtu.be/HtPi1j3fK_Q) The Dog Waltz as the video says. Well, how about that. And in 2/4 time. Did you know it? \*\* a few volumes may be missing ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/2 "2023-06-23T21:01:42Z")
[There’s even a Wikipedia page on it.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flohwalzer) Some of the names in other languages are pretty entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/3 "2023-06-24T01:56:45Z")
Never heard it. And as of twelve seconds ago, I can never say that again. Damn you, K364! . I was really expecting a well-known tune that no one knew by name\*. (Why couldn’t I look at the screen. That didn’t help, I mean, you revealed the name in the OP. \*Like the tune to _There’s a place in France,_ _Where the naked ladies dance…_ I learned the story behind that right here, a while ago. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/4 "2023-06-24T02:13:26Z")
When I was looking this up, I came across someone who called it the “Most annoying song ever” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/5 "2023-06-24T16:19:42Z")
Used to hear [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaC0vNLdLvY&ab_channel=ZEEGEE) in Bugs Bunny cartoons, didn’t know the title until I signed on at The Dope. It’s actually sorta kinda a double feature. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/6 "2023-06-24T18:31:07Z")
There’s a bit of background music I’ve noticed in many episodes of The Simpsons. I don’t know if it’s an actual composition, but it sounds old-fashioned enough for me to think it came from somewhere. The problem is trying to describe it. It sounds plucky and up-tempo and accompanies scenes of “sophisticated urban/suburban living” or even just somebody engaged in some kind of busy activity. I think it mostly consists of a string section. Instantly recognizable, confoundedly hard to describe. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/7 "2023-06-24T19:04:20Z")
“The Land of Chocolate”? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rG5RNFm_STE/maxresdefault.jpg "Alf Clausen - The Land Of Chocolate (1991)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG5RNFm_STE) (Which is a pastiche of “Happy-Go-Lively”) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xELDqIyrtNA/hqdefault.jpg "Laurie Johnson Happy Go Lively") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xELDqIyrtNA) ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/8 "2023-06-24T19:05:42Z")
Yes!!! Ha-ha, I’m actually laughing out loud right now. Thank you!!! 👏 👏 👏 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/9 "2023-06-24T19:07:55Z")
Everybody who’s anybody knows [the last few minutes of the William Tell Overture is The Lone Ranger theme,](https://youtu.be/MreNxJQoDb4?t=524) but there is a piece of music that always signaled “getting up in the morning,” or, “look at this pastoral setting.” The last time I remember hearing it on TV was a Hershey commercial where the ants were running off with this picnicking couple’s candy bars – the little bastards. Well, [that piece of music is _also_ from William Tell Overture, just a little earlier in the piece.](https://youtu.be/MreNxJQoDb4?t=368) There is also a bit in [the same track that I think I’ve heard in Bugs Bunny 'toons](https://youtu.be/MreNxJQoDb4?t=244) (maybe, “What’s Opera, Doc?”), but I won’t swear to it. A lot of mileage from one movement and Elaine Benes was probably right. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/10 "2023-06-24T19:11:15Z")
Cool! ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/11 "2023-06-24T19:11:44Z")
This music is often used for industry, machinery, or just general business. [Powerhouse - Raymond Scott](https://youtu.be/qaC0vNLdLvY) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/12 "2023-06-26T04:57:03Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > There is also a bit in [the same track that I think I’ve heard in Bugs Bunny 'toons](https://youtu.be/MreNxJQoDb4?t=244) (maybe, “What’s Opera, Doc?”), but I won’t swear to it. The stormy music in that cartoon is from Wagner’s _The Flying Dutchman_, and you can hear it in the overture. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezqen5-UxlQ&t=3s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezqen5-UxlQ&t=3s) Everything else is also Wagner adapted by Stalling, except for a few short connecting passages Stalling must’ve written himself. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/13 "2023-06-26T05:17:52Z")
And the part where a cartoon character rides a horse? That’s [The Light Cavalry](https://youtu.be/aF5nhMIyeqI?t=143) by Franz von Suppé Scene of University life? That’s [Gaudeamus Igitur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p79Eu-ucE0) Some tragic moment? That’s [Hearts And Flowers.](https://youtu.be/_TCIKfWiUSQ?t=24) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/14 "2023-06-26T05:21:22Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Used to hear [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaC0vNLdLvY&ab_channel=ZEEGEE) in Bugs Bunny cartoons, didn’t know the title until I signed on at The Dope. It’s actually sorta kinda a double feature. Carl Stalling borrowed a lot of motifs from Raymond Scott to use in the Warner Brothers cartoons. Here’s the music I always associate with Granny coming in to a room to check up on Tweety. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vhGplRW4O3w/hqdefault.jpg "1939 HITS ARCHIVE: In An Eighteenth Century Drawing Room - Raymond Scott Quintet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhGplRW4O3w) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/15 "2023-06-26T05:29:10Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > …but there is a piece of music that always signaled “getting up in the morning,” or, “look at this pastoral setting. How would you like to wake up to this version? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BavRrRNvz8g/hqdefault.jpg "Spike Jones William Tell Overture") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavRrRNvz8g&t=9s) For a little bonus Dope trivia, the narrator is Sigourney Weaver’s uncle. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/16 "2023-06-26T06:58:27Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > there is a piece of music that always signaled “getting up in the morning,” or, “look at this pastoral setting.” I knew what piece you were going for, but that same description (both parts) is also very common for Grieg’s [Morning Mood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Mood) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/17 "2023-06-26T12:47:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How would you like to wake up to this version? I’d rather not wake up to that album cover, if you don’t mind. 😀 > [@MrDibble](#): > > [Morning Mood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Mood) Whoa, I seriously mis-read that title. 😉 I think _The Simpsons_ use a snippet of that quite frequently, and ELO uses it at the beginning of their version of, “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” from _On the Third Day_. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/18 "2023-06-26T13:31:07Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Scene of University life? That’s [Gaudeamus Igitur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p79Eu-ucE0) Jordy Verrill knows the tune all too well. [Before](https://youtu.be/tN0ucCc8TfA?t=69) and [after](https://youtu.be/tN0ucCc8TfA?t=163). > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Some tragic moment? That’s [Hearts And Flowers.](https://youtu.be/_TCIKfWiUSQ?t=24) Aww, the penguin with the top hat and the bow tie is crying ice cubes. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/19 "2023-06-26T14:36:50Z")
I always loved the use of Beethoven’s sixth symphony in The Simpsons. “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside” was Beethoven’s title for the first movement. [https://youtu.be/B1kJhSMuV60?t=89](https://youtu.be/B1kJhSMuV60?t=89) ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008/20 "2023-06-26T16:47:59Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Used to hear [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaC0vNLdLvY&ab_channel=ZEEGEE) in Bugs Bunny cartoons, Ahh, lesson learned! I especially recognize the hustle and bustle part that begins at the 1:20 mark. Years later I noted how the Rush had a riff in their tune ‘La villa Strangiato’ that sounded just like that part. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Everybody who’s anybody knows [the last few minutes of the William Tell Overture is The Lone Ranger theme,](https://youtu.be/MreNxJQoDb4?t=524) but there is a piece of music that always signaled “getting up in the morning,” or, “look at this pastoral setting.” Another “getting up in the morning in a bucolic setting” was [peer gynt suite no.1, op.46: i. ‘morning’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzTQ9fjforY) I think I originally heard it on Looney Tunes cartoons and I think it was also one of the tunes played on the movie ‘Soylent Green’, in the death room to nature scenes of great splendor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-tunes-you-recognize-but-dont-know-the-name-of/986008.md?page=2)