Popular Themes

Once upon a time, television theme songs were original compositions, unmistakably associated with their respective shows. Once we could marvel at the way Glenn Miller played, take the good and take the bad, want to go where people know people are all the same and realize that it takes Diff'rent Strokes to move the world. Though the theme to M.A.S.H. covertly had lyrics, it was among many themes famous instrumentally, such as Dallas, Barney Miller, or Night Court(”doot doot doot!”).

A friend of mine recently tipped me off to Jack FM, a “format-less” radio station with no DJ and few commercials. It reminds me of the golden age of Q104.3, when they too had no DJs, no commercials, and their self-proclaimed national anthem was the original Hair of the Dog. Good times. Jack isn't completely without format, as you won't hear country music, jazz, or hip hop. It's mostly rock and popular music, but not limited to one style or era. It’s not uncommon to hear Go West's “King of Wishful Thinking” followed by Metallica's “Sad But True”. I never know what I'll hear next, and I barely change the station any more. There's little need to do so.

On my way home the other day, a tune came on. I knew it was something I hadn't heard in a long time, yet the melody and rhythm were familiar. When the lyrics entered the picture, I was tapping my steering wheel and singing every word perfectly, strands of memory dancing on the surface of my brain. I began to realize the song was used as the theme to something, but could not remember what. I wasn't sure it was a show I'd even watched. Could it be Dawson's Creek? No, that was Paula Cole's “I don't want to wait”, phonetically “eye-owe-anna-wait!” of course. Was it the theme to 90210? I think that might have had its own theme. And The O.C. was far too recent with Phantom Planet's “California”. I knew I was on the right track, some unseen teen drama, but I couldn't unlock the recollection. I did suspect one show and, armed with only a phrase from the song's chorus, once I got home I quickly confirmed that the show was Party of Five and the song was ”Closer to Free” by the BoDeans.

I knew every word to that song, yet oddly enough I never watched the show. Through Go, Wild Things, the Scream trilogy, I Know What You Did Last Summer(and its sequel), Lost in Space, Mean Girls, the first season of Family Guy, and of course Lost, I'm quite familiar with the show's cast. I just never got in to that show. The theme, on the other hand, may have gotten quite a bit of airplay at the height of its popularity. Or maybe I lingered on the opening credits a few times before changing the channel. The whole experience got me thinking about how more and more shows obtain the rights to existing popular music, rather than an original composition. I first noticed this trend with Friends, which used ”I'll be there for You” by the Rembrandts. In that instance however, I think the song will forever be associated with that show, and its popularity on its own died the day the first episode aired. Scrubs only uses the barest snippet of Laslo Bane's “Superman”, so he may be safe from the theme song composer stigma suffered by The Rembrandts. Yes, Laslo Bane can be a household name. He's not, mind you, but he could be, whoever he is.

Why use popular music as a theme song? The first and most obvious answer is “to save money.” Just as art directors might obtain second rights to use existing illustrations, so might a producer pay for an existing song. It's a lot cheaper. There's also the time factor, as editing is faster than creating. In some cases, a show might be capitalizing on the popularity of a song, taking the mood it evokes in their target audience and creating a subconscious association to draw them in. Whatever the reason, people notice. A few weeks ago I admired a composition that played under a montage on an episode of Prison Break, as the each prisoner pondered his individual motivation to escape. Later on a message board I learned that this song was in fact the theme to House, and many were incredulous that the network would pick such an obvious song. I didn't recognize it, and I thought it fit the scene very well. It didn't bother me. When the theme to Stargate SG-1 was played during the trailer for Sky Captain, however, that I found a little odd.

Popular music works fine as a theme song, but definitely lacks something. The days when a catchy original theme song would come and knock on our door are over. What are some of your favorite popular theme songs? What are your favorite original theme songs?