Hey what’s that song from? Ask MetaFilter commenters named 52 different tunes, mostly classical and big-band, that you’ll recognise instantly but might have trouble naming. And we assembled them into a Spotify playlist.
Screenshot: Bugs Bunny at the Symphony
We’ve also included songs from here and here.
Tunes such as “Spanish Flea” and “Gymnopédie No. 1” pop up in soundtracks, hold music, cartoons and YouTube videos. They’re known more for the moods they signify than for the original composition. “Entry of the Gladiators” is an ironic “send in the clowns” soundtrack for overblown pomp; the “Morning Mood” movement of “Peer Gynt Suite No. 1” means waking up when birds are chirping and the sun is shining; “Happy-Go-Lively” means it’s the ’50s and we’re shopping.
Many of these connections were established in the years of Spike Jones and Looney Tunes, when entertainers could make a joke out of setting up expectations with a clichéd bit of classical music, then subverting them with silly characters. Others were one-hit wonders that landed in commercials or became famous hip-hop samples. Now it’s hard to hear certain tunes without thinking of Bugs Bunny singing along, or some Ford truck rolling through hills, or the summer of ’93. So load up the playlist and get ready to remember every piece of pop culture ever.
What songs does everyone recognise, but not know? [Ask MetaFilter]
Comments
2 responses to “Here’s A Playlist Of Songs You Know But Can’t Name”
The four seasons is in there and if people don’t know the name of that wonderful piece of music then they should be burned to death slowly
I went through this list and reckoned I could identify about half of them from the opening two bars.
It’s somewhat amusing the connotations the Grieg “Morning Mood” piece has given that it’s the setting for a scene in the Peer Gynt play where the hero is in a tree in the desert fighting off monkeys.