Melodies similar to Rainbow Connection?
October 26, 2016 11:21 PM Subscribe
Ha, this is such a silly question!! This question percolates every couple months/ years, and I think, yeah! damn, what is it I'm reminded of?!
I feel like I recognize the melody in a phrase of the "Rainbow Connection" (that's right, the Kermit the Frog song) and have heard it elsewhere, but can't identify where.
Link to non-canonical version (or original, bit in reference starting at 3:05). So at about :19, right after "...the lovers, the dreamers and me..." there's a little la-da-da-de-la-da-du flourish, and it's that melody that's niggling me.
Does that 'la da da' melody make you think of another song? Please share it!
Thank you for humoring me!
Link to non-canonical version (or original, bit in reference starting at 3:05). So at about :19, right after "...the lovers, the dreamers and me..." there's a little la-da-da-de-la-da-du flourish, and it's that melody that's niggling me.
Does that 'la da da' melody make you think of another song? Please share it!
Thank you for humoring me!
The song was co-written by Kenneth Ascher and Paul Williams - both of whom already had extensive back catalogues of their own material (listed on the linked pages). You might check that.
But the song itself is all about other songs about rainbows, of course. The part that you are talking about reminds me of "Look to the Rainbow" from "Finnian's Rainbow" from 1947 - also a waltz. Listen to the string part in the intro. The co writer of *that* song was Yip Harburg - who also wrote "Somewhere Over the Rainbow)"
And who, of course, is the fucking 'rainbow connection'! (the things you find out when researching askmes)
posted by rongorongo at 1:58 AM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]
But the song itself is all about other songs about rainbows, of course. The part that you are talking about reminds me of "Look to the Rainbow" from "Finnian's Rainbow" from 1947 - also a waltz. Listen to the string part in the intro. The co writer of *that* song was Yip Harburg - who also wrote "Somewhere Over the Rainbow)"
And who, of course, is the fucking 'rainbow connection'! (the things you find out when researching askmes)
posted by rongorongo at 1:58 AM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]
Best answer: It has the the same melodic profile as the main theme of Rogers & Hammerstein's Carousel (starts just after 1'30").
Is that what you're thinking of?
posted by dogsbody at 3:11 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Is that what you're thinking of?
posted by dogsbody at 3:11 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
John Denver's Calypso comes to mind.
posted by JohnFromGR at 6:50 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnFromGR at 6:50 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
There's a la-dee-da section in Billy Joel's Piano Man that might be similar enough to seem familiar but I think that's a stretch.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:06 AM on October 27, 2016
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:06 AM on October 27, 2016
Let me ask the dumb obvious question: Have we ruled out the punk rock cover of Rainbow Connection that came out in 1999?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:20 AM on October 27, 2016
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:20 AM on October 27, 2016
This question is really bugging me now! To be clear, are you just asking about the sing-songy up-down part right after the words end ("LA dada DEE dada da") or also the flourish at the end ("da da da da da da da DAAAH")? I feel like both of these are distinct musical tropes - the former is very much "folk song has run out of words and the singer has to bring it home" and the latter is a very Baroquey finish.
For the former: I was also thinking Piano Man (for a minor key version). The other example I can think of (not the same melody, but the same trope) is at the end of Peter Mulvey's Sad, Sad... which is very much a send-up of folky tropes.
For the latter: you can find that exact finish at 1:20 here (Rameau's Fanfarinette) and probably in many other places too (it's just that this particular piece is seared into my consciousness as the theme tune of the old DiscDrive program on CBC Radio 2)
posted by btfreek at 8:24 AM on October 27, 2016
For the former: I was also thinking Piano Man (for a minor key version). The other example I can think of (not the same melody, but the same trope) is at the end of Peter Mulvey's Sad, Sad... which is very much a send-up of folky tropes.
For the latter: you can find that exact finish at 1:20 here (Rameau's Fanfarinette) and probably in many other places too (it's just that this particular piece is seared into my consciousness as the theme tune of the old DiscDrive program on CBC Radio 2)
posted by btfreek at 8:24 AM on October 27, 2016
How about Ripple, by the Grateful Dead? Sorry for no link, I am on my phone.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:13 AM on October 27, 2016
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:13 AM on October 27, 2016
There are a few songs that come to mind, if they help at all.
Ballad of Bitter Honey -- Eef Barzelay (0:38 mark)
I Want You But I Don't Need You -- Momus (0:20) or Amanda Palmer (0.30)
Sunburst -- Picturehouse (try 1.24 - 1.41).
I agree that it is a super familiar tune, and I'm not sure if any of these come close enough to scratch the itch for me.
posted by rollick at 10:42 AM on October 27, 2016
Ballad of Bitter Honey -- Eef Barzelay (0:38 mark)
I Want You But I Don't Need You -- Momus (0:20) or Amanda Palmer (0.30)
Sunburst -- Picturehouse (try 1.24 - 1.41).
I agree that it is a super familiar tune, and I'm not sure if any of these come close enough to scratch the itch for me.
posted by rollick at 10:42 AM on October 27, 2016
Response by poster: >> To be clear, are you just asking about the sing-songy up-down part right after the words end ("LA dada DEE dada da") or also the flourish at the end ("da da da da da da da DAAAH")?
I think more the sing-songy up-down part, but I wouldn't have occured to me that little fragment is made up of two recognizable phrases, and that's really cool!
(Sorry for giving you a brain worm, btfreek!
posted by queseyo at 12:09 PM on October 27, 2016
I think more the sing-songy up-down part, but I wouldn't have occured to me that little fragment is made up of two recognizable phrases, and that's really cool!
(Sorry for giving you a brain worm, btfreek!
posted by queseyo at 12:09 PM on October 27, 2016
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posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:31 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]