# What is the "break out the violins" song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079 "2007-10-17T20:10:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wwworldclique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bcef8e/32.png) [@wwworldclique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wwworldclique)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/1 "2007-10-17T20:10:34Z")
Okay, I’ve been searching for hours but can’t seem to turn up any results. What’s the name of that song that becomes sarcastically played on a show or in a movie whenever someone tells a sob story? Sometimes it becomes a substitute for the phrase, “Break out the violins.” (Ironically, the song sounds like piano music from the silent film era.) It’s one of those pieces that is so famous and yet is never attributed to anyone, so as much as you know it you have no idea who wrote it or when. Thanks! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/2 "2007-10-17T20:13:57Z")
[Hearts and Flowers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_and_Flowers)? ---
**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:** [October 17, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/3 "2007-10-17T20:39:37Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] [Hearts and Flowers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_and_Flowers)? [/QUOTE] How un-wiki-like not to provide a [link to a midi file](http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2002-1/thismonth/featurea.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/4 "2007-10-17T21:34:58Z")
How about one of these? The Swan [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qfiJhXpwJA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qfiJhXpwJA) Chausson Poeme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpo3hp1mzrg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpo3hp1mzrg) (about 1:10 in) Valse Sentimentale [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErgFOQ1uwCY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErgFOQ1uwCY) Erbarme Dich [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QqZEW4Js8c](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QqZEW4Js8c) ---
**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:** [October 18, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/5 "2007-10-18T00:01:18Z")
How about [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScSCILXXLnM) starting at the 2:00 mark. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/6 "2007-10-18T03:21:04Z")
…or more likely, [this one](http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fk2kfD5ZKls) starting at 5:00 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/7 "2007-10-18T08:22:44Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] How un-wiki-like not to provide a [link to a midi file](http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2002-1/thismonth/featurea.asp) [/QUOTE] I think this is what the OP is referring to, but this midi version almost obliterates the melody that the violin usually plays. Listen to the melody that the right hand is playing, then have it played, slower, on a violin. ---
**Author:** ![wwworldclique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bcef8e/32.png) [@wwworldclique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wwworldclique)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-break-out-the-violins-song/423079/8 "2007-10-18T13:08:12Z")
OMG, thank you so much, guys-- for the Wiki and un-Wiki link! 😉 You are the best! It was definitely Hearts and Flowers! It kind of amazes me how this is one of those songs that very few people know the title or origin of yet it’s become a standard. It’s kind of like the music that we play for graduation and other important ceremonies. You take it for granted that they’re just “graduation/ wedding music” when they were actually pieces in their own right written for other purposes and different occasions. At any rate, thanks once again!