The Smiley Smile Message Board

Robin Thicke - When I Get You Alone (Beethoven's 5th)
Leftover Crack - Crack City Rockers (Pachelbel's Canon)
Captain Jack - Dream a Dream (In the Hall of the Mountain King)

I thought "Bittersweet Symphony" was quite nice...

...eh, I won't fight that, if by classical, you mean performed by an orchestra.

"A Lover's Concerto" is a good example of what I consider a modern lyrcized version of classical.

Yeah but that was an orchestral version of 'The Last Time' by Jagger and Richards, which is why they (or more likely Allen Klein - is he still alive?) gets all the royalties to the song. Not really classical....(although for some kids these days it might as well be...)

Eric Carmen's "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is from a  Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2.

Does "Because" by the Beatles count? If what I've heard is true (and it sounds like it), it's Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in reverse.

Can I put in SRC's Morning Mood--Grieg Peer Gynt Suite " Morning"?

Nick, you win. Worst/best avatar ever.

What you've heard is an urban legend: http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/because.htm

Does that garner me 4 couchez?

Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, Monsieur Nick.

Word.


By the way it's the worst.  Nothing beats Elvis in my book.  Later.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Procol Harum: some say it isn't based on any one particular J.S. Bach composition, but it is very similar to, for example, "Air On The G String" and "Sleepers Awake".

It's All By Myself by Eric Carmen, not Never Gonna Fall In Love Again, that was based on Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto.

All You Need Is Love, The Beatles: contains strains of "Greensleeves" and the French national anthem.  ("Marseillaise")

American Tune, Paul Simon: a Bach chorale, "Fervent Is My Longing" (???)

Chest Fever, The Band: J.S. Bach's "Fugue in D Minor", in the intro.

Hello Muddah Hello Faddah, Allan Sherman: Ponchielli's "Dance Of The Hours".

Hook, Blues Traveler: Pachelbel's "Canon In D".

If, Bread: highly reminiscent of Beethoven's "Pathetique", 2nd Movement (Adagio).

Lady Lynda, The Beach Boys: J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring".

Same Old Lang Syne, Dan Fogelberg: Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture."
   

Actually, we may both be right. You're talking "Piano Concerto 2," I'm talking "Symphony No. 2." Two different compositions. I'm positive beyond question that "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" is from the symphony, I have it, the melody is identical, note for note, with the begining of the third movement. But maybe he also took "All By Myself" from the piano concerto. I haven't heard that. Kind of disappointing if he did, though. Once is enough. Carmen's written some great stuff, and I love the Raspberries, but he outright stole this melody. He didn't change a note. I'd hate to think all his biggest solo hits came straight out of someone else's pocket.

He admitted to stealing even from himself for "All By Myself" - from the Raspberries' "Let's Pretend".

The riff from "Night Of Fear" by The Move uses '1812 Overture'.

You are correct, Chance. Carmen claimed to pinch both of those melodies from Rachmoninov, but your statement about "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is right on. And it is quite obvious from a listen to Symphony #2, which is gorgeous all the way through, that you are exactly right.

Interesting thanks for the link.

Actually, the link says that it's partially true just not in the literal sense of playing the Sonata note-for-note backward.

Rather, John heard Yoko playing the Beethoven and asked her to reverse it. She adopted the strategy and used her classically-trained-musician smarts to create a smooth flowing piece inspired by, but not slavishly following, the reversed chords while retaining the original composition unreversed for the melody line.

It sounds like she deserves as much composer credit on this as the Beatles or Ludwig Van, a nice irony regarding this prettiest of tunes as turned out by one who's regularly slagged as an awful non-musician!

Billy Joel made "This Night," from An Innocent Man, directly out of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata.

and, of course, KISS' "Great Expectations" opens with a quote from the Pathetique.

I love Beethoven's Pathetique (2nd Movement)...I hear it late at night on our local college radio, and it sometimes brings me to tears.  The only other piece of classical music that does that to me is "Rhapsody In Blue".

Margo Guryan: "Someone I Know" (Bach: "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" AGAIN but put to good use here)

Parliament did a version of Pachabel's Canon with words, and so did many, many other bands, I believe, but I can't remember the titles or group names. (Related: Roy Wood in The Move referenced Jesu, Joy of plus Khatchaturian (already mentioned) and a dozen other prog-rock-jam starter-samples but I don't believe he borrowed any tunes wholesale, just fitted them with classical embellishments.)

FWIW Ennio Morricone has woven excerpts of Beethoven's "Für Elise" into many movies scores of his as major theme...but not theme tunes with lyrics as far as I know.

He outright STOLE All By Myself too. I listen to Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto from time to time and the verse melody of ABM is identical to parts of the 2nd piano concerto.