# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/61 "2014-02-19T08:03:29Z")
> [@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. Both _Green Fields of France_ (aka No Man’s Land) and _The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_ were written by Eric Bogle. Sometimes I prefer his versions, sometimes I prefer John McDermitt’s covers. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/62 "2014-02-19T13:37:56Z")
Did you know “The Stars and Stripes Forever” has [lyrics](http://www.usa-flag-site.org/song-lyrics/stars-and-stripes-forever.shtml)? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/63 "2014-02-19T15:55:01Z")
classical music would have many instances just due to its nature. it’s long and unless you have time and like the stuff you wouldn’t have heard it. because of it being less known it popular culture and it is written to produce a feeling then bits were widely used. it appears in old time radio, cartoons, movies and tv. light classical (light orchestral) is very ripe for the picking. Leroy Anderson composed this type of music and his The Syncopated Clock and The Typewriter have been used in lots of places. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/64 "2014-02-19T16:20:51Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > classical music would have many instances just due to its nature. it’s long and unless you have time and like the stuff you wouldn’t have heard it. > > because of it being less known it popular culture and it is written to produce a feeling then bits were widely used. it appears in old time radio, cartoons, movies and tv. > > light classical (light orchestral) is very ripe for the picking. Leroy Anderson composed this type of music and his The Syncopated Clock and The Typewriter have been used in lots of places. Aaron Copland’s music is all over the place…most ubiquitous are excerpts from his works _Fanfare from the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo_. It’s used at inaugurations, political conventions and rallies, background musics for advertisements (Archer Daniel Midland?), western film scores, Sports events… It’s the quintessential American “feel-good” music, which is ironic since Copland was on the FBI watch list for his communist affiliations and was a closeted homosexual, which really made me chuckle when Glenn Beck used _Fanfare_ at one of his right wing rallies to “restore honor” in 2010. Similar to Copland’s music is the theme for “The Magnificent Seven” movie in 1960, by Elmer Bernstein and used as the Marlboro Man commercials. Actually, just reread the OP, and these are more Songs that everyone has heard but don’t realize it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/65 "2014-02-19T16:24:07Z")
Pretty much any tune Leroy Anderson wrote for the Boston Pops is so familiar that nobody knows what it’s even named, except maybe for “Sleigh Ride”. “Belle of the Ball”, “Syncopated Clock”, “The Typewriter,” “Bugler’s Holiday,” “A Trumpeter’s Lullaby”, “Blue Tango” - trust me, you’ve heard them all. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/66 "2014-02-19T16:50:40Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Did you know “The Stars and Stripes Forever” has [lyrics](http://www.usa-flag-site.org/song-lyrics/stars-and-stripes-forever.shtml)? So does the theme from [MASH](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gO7uemm6Yo). It was used at least twice in the movie, at the beginning and during Painless’ suicide scene. I don’t know if they sang the whole thing though. It’s official title is "Theme from MASH (Suicide is Painless). ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/67 "2014-02-19T16:56:21Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Did you know “The Stars and Stripes Forever” has [lyrics](http://www.usa-flag-site.org/song-lyrics/stars-and-stripes-forever.shtml)? Funny but when I clicked on the link, I was expecting the version by Mitch Miller, which delighted me as 6 year old. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uedyba2UWv0/maxresdefault.jpg "Be Kind to Your Web footed Friends Mitch Miller") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uedyba2UWv0) ---
**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:** [February 19, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/68 "2014-02-19T18:51:45Z")
Many people have heard bits and pieces of Raymond Scott’s [Powerhouse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaC0vNLdLvY) in Warner Brothers cartoons without knowing that it’s a complete composition. Some of Scott’s other works that have been excerpted in movies and cartoons include [The Toy Trumpet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGitKtOp3sc), [War Dance for Wooden Indians](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfCNOtaH8w) and [Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVBYDZrQqyM). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/69 "2014-02-19T19:36:21Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Did you know “The Stars and Stripes Forever” has [lyrics](http://www.usa-flag-site.org/song-lyrics/stars-and-stripes-forever.shtml)? I once heard Hal Linden and Michelle Lee sing it, and it was really cool. I could not find it on YouTube. These two were the best I could find: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MbzwW9GK0NY/hqdefault.jpg "The Stars and Stripes Forever -- One Man Barbershop Quartet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbzwW9GK0NY) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kglWth784uU/hqdefault.jpg "Acoustix, Stars and Stripes Forever") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglWth784uU) ---
**Author:** ![pojimba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@pojimba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pojimba)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/70 "2014-02-19T22:13:48Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Both _Green Fields of France_ (aka No Man’s Land) and _The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_ were written by Eric Bogle. Sometimes I prefer his versions, sometimes I prefer John McDermitt’s covers. IMHO Liam Clancy performs the most intense version of both of these. ---
**Author:** ![OtherJC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b5e925/32.png) [@OtherJC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtherJC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/71 "2016-03-20T15:17:09Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I once heard Hal Linden and Michelle Lee sing it, and it was really cool. I could not find it on YouTube. These two were the best I could find: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbzwW9GK0NY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbzwW9GK0NY) > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglWth784uU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglWth784uU) The lyrics were written by Sheldon (Fiddler On The Roof) Harnick and it was performed in a 1982 TV special - I Love Liberty - produced by Norman (All In The Family) Lear. I worked on the show and wrote the orchestra accompaniment. I’d all-but-forgotten about that gig. Thanks for reminding me. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/72 "2016-03-20T15:45:31Z")
Andy Griffith tv show whistling song has lyrics, it’s called The Old Fishing Hole. That old timey hammered dulcimer or mandolin music, I think it used to be played at the start of the Victory Garden on PBS, is called The Arkansas Traveller. Everyone has heard it! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/73 "2016-03-20T15:55:17Z")
I must make mention of ‘light industrial music’, akin to the happy-busy ‘Holiday On Strings’ plinky plinky. ‘Music for TV Dinners’ is a compilation of the scraps of music heard on old educational films back in school, tv commercials from long ago, you know it when you hear it! Conjures up images of 50’s housewives pushing a cart through the A&P, shopping for the perfect roast for when Bob’s boss comes to dinner… ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/74 "2016-03-20T17:04:04Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > "Waltzing Matilda"was known to everyone during World War II; I think some thought it was the Australian National Anthem. Played to welcome Australian servicemen on a > TV show, etc. I used to know all the slang meanings. [Interesting example of writers, etc. using allusions that are missed by the following generations.] Completely honest: I thought it WAS the Australian National Anthem until a couple of years back, when in a Reddit thread about who has the coolest National Anthem I learned that the real anthem is [Advance Australia Fair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rErvPnd-2E). which I’d never heard until then. If anyone is interested, the consensus in that thread was that the coolest National Anthem was [the South African one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhUMsqei7kM), but that’s neither here nor there. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/75 "2016-03-22T19:34:34Z")
> [@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” Also, borrowed by Tchaikovsky for the “1812 Overture”. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/76 "2016-03-22T19:55:20Z")
As someone once observed on another thread, most people don’t really know _Take Me Out to the Ball Game_. The part that is invariably played is only the chorus. You rarely hear the verses. > **[Take Me Out to the Ball Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Out_to_the_Ball_Game)** > > "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song. The song's chorus is traditionally sung as part of the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game. Fans are generally encouraged to sing along, and at some ballparks, the words "home team" are replaced with the team name. > Jack Norworth, while riding a su... Another one we spoke about recently was Mouret’s Rindeau, the opening section of which was used for years as the theme for _Masterpiece Theater_ on PBS. Now that they’ve shortened it to _Masterpiece_, they’ve abbreviated the _Rondeau_ even further. But they never played the whole thing > **[Suite of Symphonies for brass, strings and timpani No. 1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanfare-Rondeau)** > > The Suite of Symphonies for brass, strings & timpani No. 1 (Suite De Symphonies, Première Suite de Symphonies) is a composition by Jean-Joseph Mouret. The first movement of this piece, the rondeau, is widely known and commonly used in weddings, and notably on the PBS program Masterpiece. Mouret composed this piece in 1729, while being the director for the Concert Spirituel, which was one of the first concert series known in existence. > This piece is a four-movement work that consists of the Rond... This jisn’t really the whole thing, either: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WZQG-DZy7uY/hqdefault.jpg "Jean-Joseph Mouret: Rondeau from "Sinfonie de Fanfares"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQG-DZy7uY) ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/77 "2016-03-22T20:57:02Z")
Beethoven’s 5th symphony, Beethoven’s 9th symphony, Beethoven’s 14th Piano Sonata ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/78 "2016-03-23T00:16:25Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > 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. > [@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. Many of old liberal do consider those songs patriotic. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514/79 "2016-03-23T12:18:33Z")
A lot of popular TV show themes are kown by their instrumental-only version, but have lyrics if you look them up. [I Love Lucy](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/ilovelucylyrics.html), [Bonanza](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/bonanzalyrics.html), [The Andy Griffith Show](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/theandygriffithshowlyrics.html) and [Star Trek](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/startreklyrics.html) (There’s a [sleazy story](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/trek.asp) behind this one; don’t read it if you love Gene Roddenberry). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-songs-that-many-people-have-never-heard/681514.md?page=3)