What do you guys think? Music, movies, TV what song in one version or another seems to be in a lot of things? I nominate Blister in the Sun. One of those songs that almost everyone has heard but doesn’t know where.
If “O Fortuna” counts as a song, I nominate it.
I call for a moratorium on “What a Wonderful World.”
Happy Birthday To You!
That song is pretty much the opposite of what the OP is looking for, due to the copywrite holders wanting so much money for its use.
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” may be in the running. Also, Pachelbel’s “Canon”.
Respect by Aretha Franklin.
At least half of the Forrest Gump Sountrack.
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
In 30’s-50’s cartoons, it would be damn hard to not hear “Powerhouse” in almost every other episode.
Oh, speaking of cartoons, there’s Grieg’s Morning Mood, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture, and Mysterioso Pizzicato.
“Amazing Grace” gets played in an awful lot of funeral scenes. Apparently they even play in for Vulcan funerals on the Enterprise. 
And the William Tell Overture.
Not just the finale (which belongs on this list), but the “storm” and “dawn” sections (the latter has even been used as recently as in Two and a Half Men).
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture
Pomp and Circumstance by Elgar
Of semi-recent songs (last 10 years), “All Star” by Smash Mouth sure gets/got a lot of play on movies and TV.
A few years ago, I saw a little magazine blurb that compared the number of uses of “Bad to the Bone” and “I Feel Good” in movies. IIRC, they were neck-and-neck. Sorry about not having a cite, but yeah, those two appear an awful lot.
Oh, and a more recent song–“Hey Ya” has been really overused lately.
“I feel good” is certainly used a lot in previews. There are some songs that are just used over and over again for movie trailers. I feel like every SINGLE trailer for an “epic” historical movie uses the exact same Choir music - the choir usually comes in when there’s a really long overhead shot of a huge battle sequence. When will they quit with these goddamn cliches?
I’ll see your “Blister in the Sun” and raise you “Lust for Life.”
Jim Osterberg isn’t hurting for cash, that’s for sure.
“Won’t Get Fooled Again”…heck, even the President uses it!
“Chukka-chukka…Ooooh yeah…” What the hell is that song called, and who is responsible for it? There was evidently a law that it had to be in every movie in the mid-late 80’s.