Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi. If you’ve ever watched a Peanuts cartoon, you’ve heard it, but have you ever listened to the whole thing?
Born in the USA. Or Fortunate Son. Any of those songs politicians steal, and you know they’ve never read the lyrics.
Not as big of a deal these days, but for the first 10-20 years after it was released Every Breath You Take by The Police was framed as a romantic ballad. I remember listening to the lyrics and then hearing people talk about how it was so romantic, and being pretty horrified by this.
These days it’s rightly known as ‘the stalker song’.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by REM
I learned this one for karaoke and it’s a beast of a song. Most people just know the chorus!
Songs like this and ‘we didn’t start the fire’ become a lot less impressive when you realize that for many rappers, lyrically dense songs like this are the norm. I honestly don’t understand how Nas performs w/o a teleprompter (and Adderall).
Same thing applies to We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel.
Blurred Lines. Basically a song about rape. I highly recommend Weird Al’s parody of it, Word Crimes.
Happy Go Lively by Laurie Johnson. Used in Ren and Stimpy then Spongebob Squarepants.
Lujon by Henry Mancini. Used in Big Lebowski and Magic City, kinda.
These are great ones.
My kids were surprised when I put on Yes - Roundabout in the car not long ago. Of course they recognized the intro.
Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. It’s a profound sonic journey that redefined studio production.
Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind
“Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break.” - Yet the verse they cut for the radio edit had the word “panties” in it. American Priorities…
Depending on your taste in cartoons, you may recognize Powerhouse, especially this segment.
I vote for any of those songs by bands like The Fray, Counting Crows, Train, Snow Patrol, etc. that were popular on soft rock radio in the 2000s and somehow still play every time you’re waiting in line at the pharmacy or Barnes and Noble.
I do. I love this album and listen to it all year long. It’s association with Peanuts or Christmas is incidental to its standalone greatness for jazz fans.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is such a classic jazz album it’s surprising John Coletraine isn’t on it.
Opus number 1, the call hold song.
I always think of it as the Cisco music since it’s the default on their PBX systems. Someone remixed it.
All Rise! 009 Soundsystem Dreamscape
“Entry of the Gladiators”, well-known only for its original intended purpose – as military march music. Nothing else.
