# What is the tetris intro song based on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143 "2005-02-15T03:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![paranoia-dude98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@paranoia-dude98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paranoia-dude98)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/1 "2005-02-15T03:33:34Z")
Hello Everyone, I don’t want to waste space introducing myself, but I think I should ask this question before I email Cecil. Anyhow. I have heard the Tetris song that everyone knows, (you know that one…yes, the one you get stuck in your head forever) is based on a classical song. I would very much like to know what it is because I have been searching forever for it. That is my question. I hope for an answer! ---
**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:** [February 15, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/2 "2005-02-15T03:37:53Z")
There are several versions of “Tetris.” Is either of these the tune you’re looking for? [http://www.mortalwombat.com/Audio/russian.mid](http://www.mortalwombat.com/Audio/russian.mid) [http://www.mortalwombat.com/Audio/russian\_2.mid](http://www.mortalwombat.com/Audio/russian_2.mid) ---
**Author:** ![paranoia-dude98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@paranoia-dude98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paranoia-dude98)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/3 "2005-02-15T03:41:33Z")
It is the second one. no doubt. what is the song called? ---
**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:** [February 15, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/4 "2005-02-15T03:47:01Z")
The second song linked above is an old Russian folk song called “Korobushka” (“The Peddler”). ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/5 "2005-02-15T03:50:07Z")
i don’t have my speakers hooked up, so i can’t listen to the tune via the link, but the nintendo version of tetrus we had played the dance of the sugar plum fairy from the nutcracker by tchaikovsky… lh ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/6 "2005-02-15T04:17:23Z")
I haven’t heard these songs in years! They really bring back memories of trying to beat my dad’s high score in the original GameBoy’s Tetris… Here’s another one. [http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-22134/nmm/tetrisc.mid](http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-22134/nmm/tetrisc.mid) ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/7 "2005-02-15T10:02:42Z")
The first russian song was the stalin theme from Civ 1 though. Russian 2 is close but not exactly the right theme for tetris. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/8 "2005-02-15T16:15:22Z")
I believe it is called, “Korobeiniki”. A midi of it can be found here: [http://dirk.meineke.free.fr/popular/nn\_guess\_me.mid](http://dirk.meineke.free.fr/popular/nn_guess_me.mid) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/9 "2005-02-15T18:06:35Z")
I always played Tetris with the music off. 😃 But yeah, I was thinking the Nutcracker too. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/10 "2005-02-15T18:35:05Z")
good afternoon, speakers are back on. the tetris game we had on the nintendo we bought for our kids years ago didn’t play any of the four tunes linked to in this thread it played [the dance of the sugar plum fairy](http://www.geerts.com/midi.htm) from the nutcracker ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/11 "2005-02-15T22:45:52Z")
I think tetris has the distinction of being on the most “platforms” over any other game… I mean, its on the Regular NES, SNES, Game Boy (And its Numerous Variants), N64, Virtual Boy, Game Cube, Xbox, Playstation, Playstation 2, Cell Phones, Calculators (ti-83 - ti-89), Some TV’s have tetris built in (with other games as well). Its on hand helds (Soley Dedicated to Tetris), wrist watches, computers. Then, not to mention you have Tetris 2, Tetrisphere, Tetris Worlds, Wordtris, Faces. I’m Just glad Alexey can still got money of off it, after the USSR got its hands out of the picture (one way or the other). -Tetris is covered pretty heavily in “Game Over” By David Sheff. A Documentary/History on Nintendo. I was always partial to Nintendo (CLASSIC NES)" Music C " myself. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/12 "2005-02-15T23:07:14Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > I was always partial to Nintendo (CLASSIC NES)" Music C " myself. I prefer Music B myself. Music C is beautiful music, but it’s just not right for a fast game like Tetris. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/13 "2005-02-16T02:17:37Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Some TV’s have tetris built in (with other games as well) I’ve never heard of such a thing. Which models? ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/14 "2005-02-16T10:18:01Z")
After about 5 minutes or so of searching, this is all I could find online; [http://www.dalcoworld.com/index.php?mod=product&id\_prd=169](http://www.dalcoworld.com/index.php?mod=product&id_prd=169) I see that, that is across the pond. The Tv I saw had about 30 games and was marketed towards kids (Casing was made up to be an animal, or primary colors) and possibly could have been a portable set specifically designed for minivans. The games aren’t anything to write home about. But then again, You _could_ play Tetris on the old Atari 2600’s and lesser consoles. In any case, these sets are not made by well known brands. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/15 "2005-02-16T10:21:45Z")
Well take that back… here is a Toshiba Model; [http://www.toshiba.com.sg/\_\_48256BAC0062814D.nsf/webDocuments/TSPS-5X7EDD](http://www.toshiba.com.sg/__48256BAC0062814D.nsf/webDocuments/TSPS-5X7EDD) They mention the games as “Hitting” “Dice” and “Slots”. Again, not the model I saw at my Local Sam’s Club. (Could have been a one time only situation) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tetris-intro-song-based-on/290143/16 "2005-02-16T11:09:53Z")
[Here is a rather obsessive history of Tetris.](http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/special/tetrishist.html) It was ported to a lot more platforms than most games of the era, and it even managed to jump the Iron Curtain. It’s also become one of the main video game motifs, spawning clones and spinoffs on systems as diverse as wristwatches and Linux machines. [Hell, the Beeb has even interviewed someone who made a documentary about the video game.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/tetris.shtml) [This site claims to have the original version of the game.](http://www.kottke.org/02/05/history-of-tetris) [And, of course, we have the obsessive fan site.](http://www.arkmay.com/tetris/choices.html) No cult classic can be without obsessed fans.