Most used song

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Stewball
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Most used song

Post by Stewball »

So what is the most used song in multiple films. What made me look was "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane which was most recently used in Pawn Sacrifice. So I checked in IMDb's advanced search and it's been used in 57 movies (says 58 but the last one was just a same name thingy). "Rhapsody in Blue" came very close with 55.

If you check any, drop off the results here even if it isn't a new high. To check, go to "Advanced Search" in IMDb's search bar, then Soundtracks in the "Plot" dropdown menu.

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" is listed in 161 titles, but 87 of those are TV series (11 on the Simpsons alone), video games, etc, and it's very short. Something like that would get honorable mention in the periphery category, inmynevertobehumbleopinion.

kyvetti
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Re: Most used song

Post by kyvetti »

Went to check the obvious, The Star-Spangled Banner: 316 titles (and quickly counting 147 were films, and eleven episodes of Simpsons)

Marseillaise has 252 titles and God Save the Queen 106 (Das Lied der Deutschen disappointingly only in 22 titles)

MacSwell
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Re: Most used song

Post by MacSwell »

Thought Gimme Shelter would be a high one, but it was only in 46, 10 of which were non-documentary movies, and only 9 of which were the Stones (the other being a Patti Smith cover - can't believe not one film has used the fantastic Grand Funk Railroad version!).

I like this feature on imdb, glad you've pointed it out.
Last edited by MacSwell on Fri Oct 09, 2015 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kyvetti
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Re: Most used song

Post by kyvetti »

Ooh, "Wedding March" gives 538 hits, couldn't check how many of them are that most popular Mendelssohn piece and don't want to parse through the list.

"Auld Lang Syne" gives 410 hits and "Pomp and Circumstance" 139 hits.

And "Happy Birthday to You" 431 hits.

Stewball
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Re: Most used song

Post by Stewball »

kyvetti wrote:Ooh, "Wedding March" gives 538 hits


Yeah, given the romance/wedding theme being so prevalent, there's a good chance it'd be the #1, and that same principle applies to TV as well, even more so, 18 in the Simpsons alone. I suspected the mundane would probably surface, but didn't know the gap would be that big--time & sentiment are on their side I 'spose. And as is also apparent, there'll be surprises on both ends.

My White Rabbit done good, but in the end, slipped down the rabbit hole.

kyvetti
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Re: Most used song

Post by kyvetti »

Yeah, hit those eight notes and the audience is mentally moved to a wedding. And weddings are fairly popular events in movies and tv :)
And those other "ritualistic" songs are of course doing well too, there's no doubt other similar audio cues...

Though one should also look for performances, "Happy Birthday" doesn't have any specific performance but is usually sung by the cast, meanwhile "White Rabbit" performed by Jefferson Airplane is probably more popular than any known performance of Wedding March or Happy Birthday.
Unfortunately IMDB search doesn't seem to be able to handle queries for those...

hellboy76
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Re: Most used song

Post by hellboy76 »

Haven't found a good site for tracking these but in a purely unscientific approach, I have heard Stayin' Alive and Sweet Home Alabama a lot.

Stewball
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Re: Most used song

Post by Stewball »

hellboy76 wrote:Haven't found a good site for tracking these but in a purely unscientific approach, I have heard Stayin' Alive and Sweet Home Alabama a lot.


Yeah, 289 titles returned, but results all over the map. Only 3 by the Bee Gees. SHA had 66, looks like mostly by Skynyrd.

kyvetti
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Re: Most used song

Post by kyvetti »

Would have expected Sex Machine to get more than 40 hits, and plenty of them in tv series...James Brown of course as the most common performer but not the only one.

La vie en rose however graps 125 hits and most of them in films (including a number of Looney Tunes...)
The performances are very mixed though, besides instrumentals it seems that both Edith Piaf and Louis Armstrong versions are popular, Grace Jones has her share and others too.

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