# WTF moments in Muzak **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673 "2010-03-08T00:37:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/1 "2010-03-08T00:37:21Z")
Walked into the supermarket this afternoon to be greeted with a string-drenched rendition of … “Amazing Grace.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/2 "2010-03-08T00:55:08Z")
I was listening to a random string of songs from my Zune, at work, and someone asked me “Why does that song sound so familiar?” I had to stop and think about it. It was monks singing ‘Comfortably Numb’. Sounded great! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/3 "2010-03-08T00:56:56Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I was listening to a random string of songs from my Zune, at work, and someone asked me “Why does that song sound so familiar?” > > I had to stop and think about it. > > It was monks singing ‘Comfortably Numb’. > > Sounded great! 😃 Further information on this is immediately requested, doubly so if it’s available on Zune Pass. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/4 "2010-03-08T01:22:28Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Further information on this is immediately requested, doubly so if it’s available on Zune Pass. Hrm, well I have an older Zune, so I just use it as an mp3 player for work, but… I can email it to you if you like 😃 It’s off the Masters of Chant, Volume 5, I think. The 'band’s name is simply Gregorian, I believe. They do other Floyd, as well as a lot of other things which I love for their contrasts. Monks singing Metallica? Bring it on! I love 'em 🙂 Second link is more of their work on Youtube. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Omv3ozIT4jM/hqdefault.jpg "Gregorian- Comfortably Numb") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omv3ozIT4jM) [http://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=gregorian+masters+of+chant&search\_type=&aq=9&oq=Gregorian](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gregorian+masters+of+chant&search_type=&aq=9&oq=Gregorian) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/5 "2010-03-08T01:31:57Z")
When I lived in Japan, where the Muzak is if anything even worse than in the US, I heard Muzak versions of all of the following while at the grocery store: The Guess Who’s “American Woman” Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and weirdest of all… Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA” in JAPAN! I was actually standing at the sushi cooler at that moment, thinking “What is this song? It’s familiar somehow. Da da da da da da da…HARPER VALLEY PTA! What the heck?” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/6 "2010-03-08T01:35:05Z")
Heck, I walked into Walgreens the other day and I heard the original [Telstar](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ybCjf6ras)! I was floored! I mentioned it to the HS girl clerk and she said earlier they played _Purple People Eater_. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/7 "2010-03-08T02:32:46Z")
Not Muzak, but the NPR station I listen to in the mornings sometimes has string-quartet-like versions of pop songs as the “incidental music” between the local announcements and the NPR news stories. I’ve heard stuff that sounds vaguely familiar and will later realize it was Rush, or Wilco, or U2. It’s weird because the music will get stuck in my head if I can’t figure it out right away, because I _know_ I know it but can’t put my finger on it, and sometimes it can take me a few hours to figure it out. (Also, I’m sure it’s the local station doing it, because if I try to look it up on the NPR website, where they DO list the incidental music between stories, it’s not listed.) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/8 "2010-03-08T05:01:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Not Muzak, but the NPR station I listen to in the mornings sometimes has string-quartet-like versions of pop songs as the “incidental music” between the local announcements and the NPR news stories. I’ve heard stuff that sounds vaguely familiar and will later realize it was Rush, or Wilco, or U2. It’s weird because the music will get stuck in my head if I can’t figure it out right away, because I _know_ I know it but can’t put my finger on it, and sometimes it can take me a few hours to figure it out. > > (Also, I’m sure it’s the local station doing it, because if I try to look it up on the NPR website, where they DO list the incidental music between stories, it’s not listed.) Yep…usually, if I figure it out right away, I realize that it’s tied in to whatever they’re talking about around that time, or a commentary on it. Neat. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/9 "2010-03-08T07:04:48Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I was listening to a random string of songs from my Zune, at work, and someone asked me “Why does that song sound so familiar?” > > I had to stop and think about it. > > It was monks singing ‘Comfortably Numb’. > > Sounded great! 😃 If Johnny Cash can do “Hurt” and “Personal Jesus” then Gregorian Monks doing a rock opera song seems a natural progression. ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/10 "2010-03-08T10:35:48Z")
I last had my muff waxed to _Lady in Red_ for panpipes. Not right. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/11 "2010-03-08T10:54:45Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > I last had my muff waxed to _Lady in Red_ for panpipes. > > Not right. dibs on the band name “muff waxed”. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/12 "2010-03-08T18:27:00Z")
I never heard it myself but I once read an interview with one of the creators of Muzak who claimed they one featured a version of Frank Zappa’s “Peaches En Regalia.” ---
**Author:** ![Typo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Typo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/13 "2010-03-08T20:52:15Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I was listening to a random string of songs from my Zune, at work, and someone asked me “Why does that song sound so familiar?” > > I had to stop and think about it. > > It was monks singing ‘Comfortably Numb’. > > Sounded great! 😃 I checked out the links - I gotta admit, I think that was pretty awesome! 😃 I especially like the “Nothing Else Matters.” ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/14 "2010-03-09T06:02:11Z")
Many years ago, my parents used to meet for lunch in a local Chinese restaurant which, of course, had what sounded like Asian/Chinese music playing in the background. Which is to say, it wasn’t being played on instruments most Westerners would recognize. Imagine their surprise one day when they identified the almost recognizable tune they were hearing as _Blue Spanish Eyes_. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/15 "2010-03-09T06:15:57Z")
The hold music for the Orleans Hotel Room Service in Las Vegas is a Muzak version of Never Gunna Give You Up. That’s right: they Muzak Rick Roll you. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/16 "2010-03-09T13:50:51Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I was listening to a random string of songs from my Zune, at work, and someone asked me “Why does that song sound so familiar?” > > I had to stop and think about it. > > It was monks singing ‘Comfortably Numb’. I have the Austin Lounge Lizards doing a bluegrass version of “Brain Damage”. _The lunatics are on the grass…_ Works nicely. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/17 "2010-03-09T14:09:08Z")
In an elavator one day and it suddenly dawns on me - the music is a slow, soft _Jumping Jack Flash._ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/18 "2010-03-09T14:10:56Z")
I’ve heard Johnny Mathis’s one-man version of the Hallelujah Chorus. I never, ever want to hear it again. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/19 "2010-03-09T21:40:37Z")
At work we get “The Ballad of John & Yoko” on strings & tinkly piano. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673/20 "2010-03-09T21:43:56Z")
At a Chinese buffet one lunch time, I heard a tune that baffled me. Then I realized that it was “Riverdance” scored for guqin, huqin and zhu. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-moments-in-muzak/531673.md?page=2)