# Well-known songs that many people have never heard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514 "2014-02-17T02:13:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/41 "2014-02-18T16:50:41Z")
I’m in my 40s and only heard “We Shall Overcome” last year. For at least 30 years I’d been aware of it’s existence, know of it’s importance, known the circumstances of many famous performances, known many of the lyrics from having seen them written out. However I’d never actually heard it except for a couple seconds here and there. I finally heard it performed last year. I mentioned this at the time on some forum (can’t remember if it was SD) and many people had the same experience as I did. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/42 "2014-02-18T16:52:29Z")
> [@K364](#): > > [La Marseillaise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g) > > Most of us are only familiar with the opening line… which was quoted by the Beatles at the start of “All You Need Is Love” I bet a lot of people know it from Casablanca, though. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/43 "2014-02-18T17:00:13Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Obvious examples being the theme from the Lone Ranger taken from the William Tell Overture. I bet a lot of people have heard the Pastoral (“Call to the Cows”) and Finale (“March Of The Swiss Soldiers”) from the William Tell Overture and don’t realize they’re from the same piece. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/44 "2014-02-18T17:05:52Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I bet a lot of people know it from Casablanca, though. I learned it in French in high school; I always assumed at least a few other people might have done the same. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/45 "2014-02-18T17:55:20Z")
While we’re on music people know mostly from cartoons, you could add a lot of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. I don’t think there’s any G&S song I’ve ever heard that I didn’t hear first in some sort of parodic context. And it wasn’t until just this year that I learned that “Turkey in the Straw” has actual lyrics of its own-- I always thought it was just a fiddle tune. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/46 "2014-02-18T18:01:06Z")
One that I’ll bet a lot of people are familiar with the melody of, but don’t know the song or its name)is one I’ve brought up several times on this Board. It’s the “old style college music” you always seem to hear when they show you the ivy-covered buildings of Oxford or Harvard. The song is _Gaudeamus Igitur_, and I first learned what it was by hearing a Classical Society singing it when we were all huddled inside a Roman monument. The lyrics and the music were in the back of my Latin book, but I’d never made the association: > **[Gaudeamus igitur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudeamus_igitur)** > > "De Brevitate Vitae" (Latin for "On the Shortness of Life"), more commonly known as "Gaudeamus igitur" ("So Let Us Rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university graduation ceremonies. Despite its use as a formal graduation hymn, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life.\[citation needed\] The song is thought to originate in a Latin manuscript from 1287. It is in the traditio... [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WfGXYkfLJ4s/hqdefault.jpg "Gaudeamus Igitur - Mario Lanza") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGXYkfLJ4s) ---
**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:** [February 18, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/47 "2014-02-18T19:50:14Z")
Huh, I’ve never noticed that used on-screen, but I was familiar with it from playing it in band at graduations. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/48 "2014-02-18T22:06:59Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Besides the misguided use of the Springsteen song, a blue jean company used a clip from “Fortunate Son” and tried to make it all patriotic. It was "Some folks are born to wave the flag, Ooh, they’re red, white and blue. " Of course, no other lines from that song were used. Similar, there is a current insurance company commercial that uses the old (1986) Human League song “Human”, but only used the one line “I’m only human, born to make mistakes.” The song is about a couple that both cheated on each other. (Can you get insurance for that?) I like the song, but I’m old, too. Does it still get airplay? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/49 "2014-02-18T22:20:19Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > This is a bit off-topic, but in terms of depressing songs, I nominate two Irish folk songs: [“The Green Fields of France”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntt3wy-L8Ok) and [“Kilkelly”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N76kAivCb20). Kilkelly was actually written from a real series of letters, and it can honestly bring me close to tears. The Green Fields Of France, originally entitled No Man’s Land was written by Eric Bogle, a Scottish-Australian folk singer, in the 1970s. It has entered the canon of Irish folk as it is an astoundingly beautiful song but credit where it’s due. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/50 "2014-02-18T23:28:42Z")
Eric Bogle also wrote **‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’**. Instead of listening to the Dubliners singing it, find a YouTube clip of Boges doing his stuff. Oh, and keep a box of tissues by your side. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/51 "2014-02-18T23:42:36Z")
I think many people understand the cultural significance of _Strange Fruit_, but haven’t actually heard the song. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/52 "2014-02-18T23:55:41Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I bet a lot of people have heard the Pastoral (“Call to the Cows”) and Finale (“March Of The Swiss Soldiers”) from the William Tell Overture and don’t realize they’re from the same piece. I can honestly say I’ve never heard those titles, although it’s possible I’d recognize the music. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/53 "2014-02-18T23:57:48Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > I think many people understand the cultural significance of _Strange Fruit_, but haven’t actually heard the song. Actually, going in the opposite direction, being an American and only 10 when the song first came out, for years I didn’t realize that **U2** ’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” was a reference to anything. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/54 "2014-02-19T00:35:04Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > And you can’t mention _Bells_ without its forever-welded (at least in my mind) companion > _White Bird_ by It’s a Beautiful Day. “White bird must fly, or she will die…” Just out of curiosity – in what sense are these songs companions? ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/55 "2014-02-19T02:56:30Z")
Sorry if this is a highjack from the original topic, but people are going on as if _The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_ as the only song out there. 'Tis a great, poignant song. However, to cap off the sorrows, listen to _Barrett’s Privateers_: [Stan Rogers - Barrett's Privateers - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Ufe0jF-AE) ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/56 "2014-02-19T04:10:56Z")
Elgar’s _Pomp and Circumstance_ is a good example. People think they know it from hearing it at graduation ceremonies, but the part they know is just one section of the first of six marches. Tchaikovsky’s _1812 Overture_ is another one … the part that everyone knows is the very last bit, with the cannons. There’s a LOT of music before that. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/57 "2014-02-19T04:37:57Z")
In grade school when someone had done something wrong and was going to catch heck for it we had a little line of “Dum-dum-de-dums” we’d intone. It wasn’t until I started piano lessons that I found out the song was Chopin’s _Funeral March._ ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/58 "2014-02-19T04:54:20Z")
> [@steveroo](#): > > Elgar’s _Pomp and Circumstance_ is a good example. People think they know it from hearing it at graduation ceremonies, but the part they know is just one section of the first of six marches. Long before graduation I only knew it as Macho Man Randy Savage’s intro music. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/59 "2014-02-19T06:40:35Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I bet a lot of people have heard the Pastoral (“Call to the Cows”) and Finale (“March Of The Swiss Soldiers”) from the William Tell Overture and don’t realize they’re from the same piece. “Call to the Cows”? So Spike Jones’ rendition with cowbells is appropriate! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavRrRNvz8g#t=16](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavRrRNvz8g#t=16) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/60 "2014-02-19T07:41:13Z")
Many people, at least of my generation, only knew “The Colonel Bogey March” as "that tune they whistle in _The Bridge On The River Kwai_ - if even that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514.md?page=4)