Songs that have "Escaped" their Musical Boundaries

[H2IZCOOL]

I'd been thinking of this as a list category a while ago, and then Adam's Insane List today reminded me.

These are songs that today have moved beyond the intention of the artist and writer and taken a new meaning - or at least a popularity in a way that wasn't intended. Confused? A couple examples will help.

Rock and Roll - Gary Glitter. Would Gary ever have thought that his little instrumental would be heard in hundreds of sports arenas by millions of people every time the home team scored a goal, hit a three-pointer, hit a home run, or scored a touchdown.

Na-Na-Hey-Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam. Could this group have thought that this little bubblegum ditty that's really saying "dump him; go with me" would become the chant for whenever a home team has made it obvious that they will win, or when the opponent's pitcher gets yanked.

We Will Rock You - Queen. This has also become a sports arena staple. The rhythmic clapping, together with the title line is often heard in many a stadium.

The Gambler - Kenny Rogers. How often in a poker game will someone quote the now trite line "you gotta know when to hold 'em..." Of course, this song hasn't strayed that far afield; it IS about poker.

--- and I don't even want to include the tons of TV commercials that twist the meaning of a song to shamelessly sell a product.

Any others? (other than commercials, that is)

[SAT-I need more room!!]

I love the topics everyone comes up with on here!

I guess I can't think of anything else, other than like you said, the countless commercials, like the Beach Boys songs used to sell stuff like Sunkist Orange drink.

Some comments on yours though-

Rock and Roll-my guess is Gary would have NEVER thought it! My guess is most of the glam artists cared very little for sports-other than soccer (football to them), which most English musicians seem to love.

And of course Steam's song became the song of the White Sox for a long time.

And only Pete will know this, but the audience chants that at Pro Wrestling matches when it is known a wrestler is leaving to go work for another promotion.

Cool post!

[kathyb]

Hmm...I don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, but as I was reading your post, I was thinking about tv shows that used established songs as their themes. "Happy Days", for example, used "Rock Around the Clock" as its theme for awhile. And, although, the theme wasn't sung by Andrew Gold during the credits, "The Golden Girls" used "Thank You For Being a Friend" as its theme. Also--Designing Women's theme song was "Georgia On My Mind", by Ray Charles.

And, in keeping with the songs you mentioned that are now associated with sports, our town has a hockey team, The Komets, and the arena that they play in is known as "The Jungle". So the team has adopted "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses as their theme song, and it's played whenever the team first steps onto the ice, and I believe, whenever they score a goal.

I guess that's all I can think of at the moment. Great topic!

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

SAT-Sissy's said:

I guess I can't think of anything else, other than like you said, the countless commercials, like the Beach Boys songs used to sell stuff like Sunkist Orange drink.

LOL--I used to think the soda was actually called Good Vibrations!

I have an example of this for you: A local sign-making company had a commercial on the radio using the Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs". The only part of the lyric heard in the ad was "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign," but I thought it was a really weird commercial, because if you listen to the whole song, they are complaining about there being TOO MANY signs, and here it was being used in an ad for a company that wants to make and sell MORE signs!

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

I can think of another one: One of my favorite movies, "Finding Nemo", has "Beyond the Sea" sung by Robbie Williams during the closing credits. The lyrics don't have anything to do with the plot of the movie--I guess since the movie is about fish in the sea, the producers wanted a song having to do with the sea. But I love the song, Robbie's version is good (although it gets a bit redundant near the end--"no more sailing, no more sailing," ad nauseum), and it's fun hearing it as the little characters swim by during the credits! My son and I both adore that movie!

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

kathyb said:

Hmm...I don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, but as I was reading your post, I was thinking about tv shows that used established songs as their themes. "Happy Days", for example, used "Rock Around the Clock" as its theme for awhile. And, although, the theme wasn't sung by Andrew Gold during the credits, "The Golden Girls" used "Thank You For Being a Friend" as its theme. Also--Designing Women's theme song was "Georgia On My Mind", by Ray Charles.


There was also some show that used "Runaway" and I think it was "Bosom Buddies" that used "My Life".

[beatles4ever]

One that springs immediatly to mind is the theme from "A Summer Place".That lovely piece has come to symbolize "making out".

[H2IZCOOL]

beatles4ever said:

One that springs immediatly to mind is the theme from "A Summer Place".That lovely piece has come to symbolize "making out".

Woo hoo! I'm glad it has SOME use!!



j/k