The song, the song.

November 17, 2005 10:13 AM

MusicFilter/HorrorFilter: This is a long-shot but I'm looking for the name of a piece of classical music that is so frequently used in horror movies and horror parodies that it's become a bit of a cliche...

The motif goes like this, "Ba ba-ba-ba. Ba ba-ba-ba. Ba Ba Ba BAAAA BA ba-ba-ba." Yeah, it's not much. But it may be sung by a choral group. Bonus if you can tell me movies it's been used in. Thanks.

posted by captainscared to Media & Arts (19 answers total)

I'll bet it's O Fortuna, from Carmina Burana.
posted by Gator at 10:14 AM on November 17, 2005

Linky!
posted by Gator at 10:14 AM on November 17, 2005

I think they used that bit in a beer commercial in canada, it was a pretty funny commercial
posted by edgeways at 10:19 AM on November 17, 2005

Wow. You rule.
posted by captainscared at 10:20 AM on November 17, 2005

Heh, thanks. I love that song.
posted by Gator at 10:21 AM on November 17, 2005

This is a long-shot

I have yet to see a "do you know this song" on askme that isn't answered in like five minutes. It is awesome
posted by poppo at 10:28 AM on November 17, 2005

edgeways: was it the Big Ad, from Australia?
posted by Who_Am_I at 10:30 AM on November 17, 2005

Orff's "O Fortuna" seems to get used in commercials more than any other bombastic choral passage, but you sometimes hear the "Dies Irae" from the Mozart Requiem as well. And in the Triplets of Belleville, doesn't the doting grandmother sail off to America accompanied by the Kyrie from Mozart's C-Minor mass?

(Sorry. Choir geek.)
posted by DawnSimulator at 10:38 AM on November 17, 2005

Who_Am_I, no it was a different ad for Rickard's Red here in Canada. Silly, not quite as grand. I haven't see a copy on the web yet.
posted by GuyZero at 10:56 AM on November 17, 2005

For any of you whose Carmina Burana familiarity is limited to "O Fortuna," I highly recommend you listen to the rest of it (the Deutsche Grammofon version is great). It's a fantastic piece of music.
posted by rxrfrx at 10:56 AM on November 17, 2005

I have yet to see a "do you know this song" on askme that isn't answered in like five minutes. It is awesome

Here's one. Perhaps you'd like to try your hand at answering it? I'm still stumped.
posted by rxrfrx at 10:58 AM on November 17, 2005

I've got that song on iTunes, they had it as one of their freebies a few weeks ago. It reminds me of the Marines commercials they show in the US of some guy climbing a cliff or battling some beast and earning his uniform. Sample track 1 on this album @ Amazon.com (non-commissioned)
posted by vanoakenfold at 11:05 AM on November 17, 2005

Ah, the perfect opportunity to post the worst music pun the world has ever seen, courtesy of Tom Smith:

You say Carmina
And I say Burana
You say Fortuna
And I say Cantata
Carmina
Burana
Fortuna
Cantata
Let's Karl the whole thing Orff.

You're welcome.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:59 AM on November 17, 2005

UK folk of a certain age will remain the Orff from the "Old Spice" commercials...
posted by benzo8 at 12:19 PM on November 17, 2005

Who_Am_I: Thanks for the link to Big Ad, that was great.
posted by BoscosMom at 12:20 PM on November 17, 2005

Faint of Butt, you rock my world.
posted by Specklet at 12:51 PM on November 17, 2005

Ah, the perfect opportunity to post the worst music pun the world has ever seen

And by "worst," you clearly meant "best."
posted by pardonyou? at 1:40 PM on November 17, 2005

Faint of Butt, that was laugh-out-loud funny. I wish I still had music-geek friends to share this stuff with.
posted by chrismear at 2:05 PM on November 17, 2005

The best of use of this piece in a movie is, without a doubt, the opening sequennce to Jackass: The Movie.
posted by o2b at 8:11 PM on November 17, 2005