Cinematic Scores & Motifs
John Williams utilized this specific, rarely showcased woodwind instrument to play the haunting, lonely opening theme motif for 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope
French horn (Accept: English horn / Oboe)
The historic theme for the 1985 NES Super Mario Bros., officially titled "Ground Theme," was deliberately written in this musical time signature to match Mario's running cadence
4/4 time
The intense, organ-heavy title theme for The Phantom of the Opera famously features a steady, descending chromatic scale that was the subject of a plagiarism lawsuit by this legendary Pink Floyd rocker
Roger Waters
The 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series theme song was at the center of a major international copyright lawsuit claiming it copied the theme of a 1980s police drama from this European country.
Hungary (The show was Linda)
The critically acclaimed, haunting theme song for HBO's Succession relies on a classical piano melody intentionally played on an instrument that was physically altered to sound this way
out of tune (Accept: Detuned / warped)
The iconic, whistling theme song for the 1966 Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was intentionally composed to mimic the sound of this specific wild animal
coyote
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the epic, multi-part final boss theme "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII features a live choir chanting lyrics entirely in this dead language
Latin
The emotional theme ballad "On My Own" from Les Misérables was originally written for a completely different French musical project about this historic 1789 political uprising
French Revolution
The bizarre, avant-garde theme song for Cartoon Network's Ed, Edd n Eddy consists of an upbeat jazz track featuring a prominent solo instrument played by the show's creator, Danny Antonucci, executing this vocal-adjacent action
whistling
The upbeat, whistling theme song for the 1960s classic The Andy Griffith Show was originally recorded and performed by the show's composer, Earle Hagen, using only his mouth and this body part for percussion
his fingers (Accept: Finger snapping)
Hans Zimmer's booming, brassy theme for 2010’s Inception is actually an incredibly slowed-down, altered version of this classic 1940 French love song by Édith Piaf
Non, je ne regrette rien
This is the official, celestial track name of the sweeping, orchestral main menu theme song for 2007's Super Mario Galaxy, composed by Mahito Yokota
"Overture"
In Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, the terrifying opening theme motif "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" directly incorporates the melody of this medieval 13th-century Latin Gregorian chant about judgment day
"Dies Irae"
The alternative rock band They Might Be Giants pulled double duty on television in the 2000s, writing the theme songs for both Fox's Malcolm in the Middle and this popular Disney Playhouse cartoon
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
The moody, atmospheric theme song for The Sopranos, titled "Woke Up This Morning," was written and performed by this obscure British electronic-rock band
Alabama 3 (Accept: A3)
Though famous for his sweeping orchestral works, composer Danny Elfman utilized a frantic, high-pitched vocal chorus singing non-words to anchor the theme for this 1993 Tim Burton stop-motion movie
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The haunting choral theme song for 2011's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, titled "Sons of Skyrim," features a choir singing in a completely fictional, constructed language spoken by these creatures
Dragons (Accept: Dovahzul)
The iconic, instrumental overture theme for Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton deliberately uses this specific, percussive sound effect to mimic the loading and cocking of a vintage flintlock pistol
gun click (Accept: A pistol cocking sound)
The high-energy, horn-heavy theme song for the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons holds the unique historic distinction of being the very first TV theme song to be commercially broadcast in this technical format
discrete stereo (Accept: Stereo / stereophonic sound)
This is the name of the 1978 soft-rock song written and recorded by musician Andrew Gold, which was later covered by Cynthia Fee for the show's theme
Thank You for Being a Friend
This is the exact name of the 1970 experimental, electronic Moog synthesizer track by Gershon Kingsley that was later covered to become the viral theme song for the Crazy Frog media franchise
Popcorn
Christopher Tin made gaming history in 2011 when "Baba Yetu," the majestic Swahili-lyric theme song composed for this 2005 strategy game, became the first video game track to win a Grammy Award
Civilization IV
The tragic, standard-defining 1927 musical Show Boat features an anchoring, somber theme song titled this, which serves as a musical metaphor for the uncaring, continuous passage of time
"Ol' Man River"
The gritty, jazz-fusion instrumental theme song for the legendary 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop, composed by Yoko Kanno and performed by the Seatbelts, goes by this explosive, single-word title
"Tank!"
The experimental theme song for Fox's medical drama House, famous for its pulsating heartbeat bassline, is actually an instrumental mix of the 1998 trip-hop track "Teardrop" by this British collective.
Massive Attack