# What songs have appeared in the most movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314 "2006-06-11T16:41:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/1 "2006-06-11T16:41:40Z")
I was just watching “Sahara” last night, and “Sweet Home Alabama” is featured on the soundtrack. It occurred to me that “Sweet Home Alabama” has to win some kind of award for being featured in the greatest number of movies… or does it? Does anyone have stats on this? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/2 "2006-06-11T20:05:30Z")
_Gaudeamus Igitur_ is frequently used in any movie with an academic setting, and _O Fortuna_ for any supernatural event. They must be pretty close to the top. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/3 "2006-06-11T20:21:53Z")
You’re both wrong. It’s that James Brown song. The one that goes \*“Wah! I feel good / I knew that I would…” Another one has to be the one that goes _“Bow bow… ooooooh, yeeeeeeah… Chickah chickaaaaaahhh!”_ What was that called? I think it was the unofficial theme song of the 1980’s. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/4 "2006-06-11T20:24:17Z")
Tom Petty’s **“American Girl”** shows up in _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_ and _Silence of the Lambs_ and _Chasing Liberty_. A cover version was in the film _Sugar and Spice_. Smashmouth’s **“All-Star”** shows up in _Shrek_, _Digimon: the Movie_, and _Mystery Men_. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/5 "2006-06-11T20:26:55Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Another one has to be the one that goes _“Bow bow… ooooooh, yeeeeeeah… Chickah chickaaaaaahhh!”_ What was that called? I think it was the unofficial theme song of the 1980’s. “Oh Yeah” by Yello ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/6 "2006-06-11T20:48:11Z")
Oh wait. How about **“Respect”** by Aretha Franklin which shows up in: Forrest Gump Bridget Jones’s Diary Akeelah And The Bee Proud Family Blues Brothers 2000 Platoon (original Otis Redding version) Ella Enchanted (cover version) Dangerous Minds (sampled) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/7 "2006-06-11T21:17:35Z")
Several years ago, I read an article which definitively stated that the two most used songs are “I Feel Good” by James Brown and “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers. Google didn’t turn up the cite, and things may have changed in the meantime, but those two songs are definitely up there. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/8 "2006-06-11T21:53:15Z")
It has to be a classical piece: they were used over and over again, since you didn’t have to pay the writer anything. The William Tell Overture shows up in dozens of movies and TV shows, even today (e.g., “Two and a Half Men”). If you count shorts, the number of WB cartoons that used sections of it (“storm” and “dawn”) are in the dozens. Carl Stalling as WB also was fond of von Suppe’s “Poet and Peasant Overture” (for storms) and “Light Cavalry Overture” (for anything involving riding a horse). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/9 "2006-06-11T22:24:18Z")
I woulda guessed Amazing Grace. It is out of copyright and it is moving when played well. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/10 "2006-06-11T22:34:12Z")
Peter Gabriel’s _Salisbury Hill_ seems to show up all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/11 "2006-06-11T22:41:46Z")
- The Impressions - My girl\* is well past over-used. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/12 "2006-06-12T01:53:34Z")
I figure it would be music played during ritual events depicted in films. - For birthday scenes: _Happy Birthday to You_ - For wedding scenes: Wagner’s _Bridal Chorus_ (although usually not sung) - For graduation scenes: Elgar’s _Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1_ ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/13 "2006-06-12T04:38:26Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Peter Gabriel’s Salisbury Hill seems to show up all over the place. Solsbury steak on the mind? 😉 (The song is _Solsbury Hill_.) ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/14 "2006-06-12T06:14:51Z")
I believe it is now a law that MOONLIGHT SERENADE be played in any World War II film. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/15 "2006-06-12T08:56:05Z")
I am not the OP, so y’know, _grain of salt_… It seems to me that it is kind of cheating to use Classical music, traditional celebration music, and other music that is out of copyright. Along the lines of _Sweet Homa Alabama_, it definitely seems to me that the OP was thinking of modern music (ie, in the last century/still in copyright), as it’s more unusual for such songs to pop up in multiple movies, whereas it is **very** commonplace for pieces like what you guys are mentioning to pop up in movies, tv, etc. Especially if you include old WB cartoons; they’re rife with Classical music. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/16 "2006-06-12T09:06:15Z")
D’oh! :smack: _Sweet Home Alabama_, I mean. 😛 > [@spoke-](#): > > \ > > Smashmouth’s **“All-Star”** shows up in _Shrek_, _Digimon: the Movie_, and _Mystery Men_. Man, _Digimon_ had kind of a bizarre soundtrack! I can’t remember off the top of my head, but it had a bunch of pop and alt-rock hit songs from the late '90’s, which is kinda weird for a movie based on a kid’s show brought over from Japan that was explicitly made to push product not available in the US. Then the back half of the movie’s soundtrack is the complete soundtrack of the TV series first two seasons (some of the songs are there as hidden tracks)! :dubious: Yeah, just a little odd. PS. Yes, I was a **HUGE** _Digimon_ fan; Pokemon were way cooler as far as monster-design goes, but _Digimon_ had a dramatic, ongoing story that was very well-written; at least the first season was (never liked the second’s continuation). And the spin-off series _Digimon Tamers_, which was simply marketed as the third season here in America, was probably the best “kids collect monsters/robots/cards/whatever and fight them!” style anime ever made! _Medabots_ kinda doesn’t count as it’s largely a (masterful) parody of the other shows. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/17 "2006-06-12T09:38:30Z")
> [@H3Knuckles](#): > > a kid’s show brought over from Japan that was explicitly made to push product not available in the US. Actually, the Digimons were available in the US, briefly, about a year before the show came out, and, again, briefly there were new variants (based on the digivices) put out - during season 2, at least, I don’t know about the other seasons, off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/18 "2006-06-12T09:42:34Z")
There is a programme on Australian TV called 20 to 1 which goes through 20 of some thing - stuffups, funny on air moments etc. One week was One Hit Wonders and one was Spirit In The Sky. They mentioned that it has featured in 30 film soundtracks. ---
**Author:** ![B\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@B\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B_Black)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/19 "2006-06-12T11:24:26Z")
Slightly off topic, but i remember reading (no cite sorry) that Moby’s album “Play” is the only ever album to have every song used in movies. (that is different movies). ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314/20 "2006-06-12T16:27:46Z")
> [@H3Knuckles](#): > > Man, _Digimon_ had kind of a bizarre soundtrack! I can’t remember off the top of my head, but it had a bunch of pop and alt-rock hit songs from the late '90’s, which is kinda weird for a movie based on a kid’s show brought over from Japan that was explicitly made to push product not available in the US. > > Then the back half of the movie’s soundtrack is the complete soundtrack of the TV series first two seasons (some of the songs are there as hidden tracks)! :dubious: I remember reading in some reviews of the film that there was a prologue attached to it featuring the characters from a Canadian kids’ show called _Angela Anaconda_ which happened to be running on the Family Channel at the time, which was owned by Fox (the film’s distributor) at the time. So what with soundtrack and prologue, there must have been something bizarre going on at Fox. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-have-appeared-in-the-most-movies/360314.md?page=2)