What's this song from?

Most everyone will get this one right away. So the challenge is how quickly you get it before the first words are sung. But what film was this used it? If you have not heard this version before, you're in for a treat.

An extremely well known song. It's inclusion in the film The Graduate was an accident: When editing the 1967 film The Graduate, the directors initially timed some scenes to this song, intending to substitute original music for the scenes. However, they eventually concluded that an adequate substitute could not be found and decided to purchase the rights for the song for the soundtrack.

This version by the heavy metal band Disturbed was released in 2015 and many fans think it is even more powerful and meaningful than the original.

The title doesn't show up in the lyrics on this one. It has been used in 3 films.

This song has been covered by a lot of artists including: Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and more recently Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.

It as been featured in the films: "The Boy with Green Hair", "The Talented Mr. Ripley", most recently: "Moulin Rouge".

This recording is sung by Eivør - A Faroese singer I already mentioned on Pick #6

This one is somewhat appropriate for Thanksgivings weekend. The singer is fairly easy to recognize, but what Broadway show and movie it is from?

"Love with all the Trimmings" is from the musical "On a Clear Day". It ran on Broadway for 2 years and was made into a film in 1970. This recording is from the film and sung by Barbara Streisand. The song is imagined in Daisy's mind during a huge dinner scene as she is sitting across the table from a man she is very interested in.

One of my favorite tunes from years ago. But fans of a certain current TV Series will recognize it, but may not know the actual name. It has some new lyrics for the show but was originally written in the late 19th century.

"Various - because (from Wikipedia): "Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet composed the lyrics to an air collected by Anne Campbelle MacLeod in the 1870s, and the line 'Over the Sea to Skye' is now a cornerstone of the tourism industry on the Isle of Skye.

Alternative lyrics to the tune were written by Robert Louis Stevenson, probably in 1885. After hearing the Jacobite airs sung by a visitor, he judged the words of this song to be 'unworthy', so made a new set of verses "more in harmony with the plaintive tune".

Most recently the lyrics were changed again by Bear McCready for the opening of the Outlander series that you can hear here

This is an obscure one that perhaps may be slightly familiar because it was included in a popular Netflix series in 2020.

This melancholy melody was used in Episode 2 of Netflix's The Queens Gambit. I had never before heard of the music of Erik Satie. He is known for creating "elevator music" before it was a thing. He described it as music "intended to be heard, but not listened to". Great background for reading a sad book don't you think. It was also used in Killing Eve, Mr. Nobody, Chocolat, Royal Tenenbaums, Hugo and others.

It sounded familiar to me, however, and I eventually remembered that a Canadian artist I follow (Bryn Oh -- who creates virtual narratives in 3D worlds), had used it as part of one of her works: The Singularity of Kumiko

This tittle of this one is pretty obvious, but what show is it from?

A song from near the end of the show after one of the dancers has suffered a career-ending injury. (Although this could apply to athletes as well.) The dancers are asked what they would do if they were told they could no longer dance. This reply offers the view that they should have no regrets as they choose their career for love, and their talent was only theirs "to borrow," and would someday be gone anyway.

This track is not sung by the original artist, so it may be a challenge for younger readers. So who was the original artist and what movie is it from?

This track is song by Linda Eder. The song was featured in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii, which was the first of 3 Elvis films shot in Hawaii

This artist you may be able to guess from the overall sound, but what is its name? It was also used in very incongruous way in a scene from a movie that was released about 10 years ago.

A popular song from the late 80s. It has appeared in many TV shows and series: South Park, Cougar Town, Black Mirror, The Last Man on Earth; and in the movies Shrek Forever After and Moone Boy.

But the strangest appearance is in the U.S. Version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, where is it played by the villain as he murders people in his basement.

This show is the second longest-running show to ever run on Broadway.

Not only a popular show in theaters, the movie version, (Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta Jones and Rene Zellweger), won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2002.

The story is based a play about actual homicides in Chicago in 1924.

From a Tony Award winning Best Musical.

Nine was originally written as a class-project in a music theatre workshop in 1973. It was later developed into a Broadway show that opened in 1982 and ran for 729 performances and won a Best Musical Tony award.

It is loosely based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical 1963 film 8 1/2

A christmas selection. You know this song, but what show is it from? And as it is often sung without the introduction, how quickly did you recognize it?

The song originated in a musical called Holiday Inn with music by Irving Berlin, which was then later made into a movie of the same name staring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. But most of you may know it from another movie, staring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, named White Christmas.

In this film Crosby and Kaye are famous performers/producers that have a touring show. They learn that their old commanding officer from WWII now owns a small Vermont hotel but it is shrugging to make ends meet. They decide to move their Christmas show to this small inn and thus bring in a lot of customers for the holidays.

As well known as this song is, far fewer recognize the introduction. Did you recognize it before the verse?

An overture for popular show.

I love the whimsical and playful nature of this. For those that haven't see the show, the "Cats" are slowly making their appearance coming out of various hiding places in what looks like junkyard. Some even appearing to express curiosity about the audience

I especially just like the ending of this piece.

An obvious title, but what show is this from?

For my college friends from Memphis, this song has additional significance.

For many years the Memphis Symphony did a sunset concert as part of the Memphis in May festival on the banks of the Mississippi river. Free for all that could find a spot to sit on the river bank. The highlight of the evening was the performance of Ol' Man River by James Hyter. Sadly the concert has been discontinued, but here is the complete song in James Hyter's last performance in 1998

James did change some of the lyrics to avoid some of the racial overtones. And he was criticized by some for singing it, but felt that these performances on the river contributed to bringing people together in a shared experience.

No guessing needed for this one. It's "As Time Goes By". But before you play it, my question is do you remember the lead-in line correctly.

This one is a recurring theme from a movie. This is a favorite of my wife who finds this to be very relaxing.

Staring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford and loosely based on a book by Isak Dinesen about her life in Africa in the early 20th century. The music by John Berry won him an Oscar for Best Original Score

This one is an outlier as it doesn't fit the categories I set out for song picks. For this one you will need a "gamer" as it is the opening for a popular game from 2005.

The lyrics are the Lord's Prayer or "Our Father" in Swahili. It was the first music from a game to win a Grammy. Take a look at it in the context of the game opening.

How quickly can you get this one?

How many times was Lara's Theme used in Doctor Zhivago? Enough that you'll never forget it. There were several pieces of music written for different spots in the film, but the director didn't like them and just substitued Lara's Theme over and over. For most of us this was also our introduction to the sound of a balalaika.

Baby boomers, might have seen the epic film that featured this song.

This is a baby boomer selection. Obviously set to Greensleeves, this variation is sung by Debbie Reynolds as the main characters are first setting out on their journey at the beginning of the Epic movie How The West Was Won.

But did you know that Greensleeves was written by Henry VIII when he was courting Anne Bolin? Check out the lyrics that go on and on and on.

Pretty well known song. What is it from?

I picked this one because it is a chance to introduce you to the singer -- Eivor. Eivør Pálsdóttir lives in the Faroe Islands and sings in Faroese, Islandic, Swedish, Danish and English.

I discovered her when I was browsing the Periscope App. Periscope is a live streaming app with a feature that lets you look over a map of the world and see who is broadcasting live.

So I see this red dot in the middle of the North Atlantic and just have to click on it. I saw an interesting view of rugged shoreline drive with snow covered mountains. The broadcaster was streaming her drive to work and playing a Eivor CD. Everyone on the channel was asking "who is that singer".

Eivor started out singing Faroese folk songs and ballads and has a couple of CDs of these, which include some good tracks even if you can't understand the words. Her version of "May It Be" from Lord of the Rings is magical. This track was from a performance at the 40th Jubilee for the Queen of Denmark.

Here is her performance in Elfish costume

For HBO subscribers.

This is opening theme from HBO's remake of Westworld. It's a nice soothing piece that contrasts with the sinister things happening in the show. Here it is in context.

I like the visual of the skelton piano player part of the opening where at first you think the skelton is playing the piano, but when its hands lift up, you realize it's a player piano and the robot's hands are just matching the key movements. A foreshadowing that things are not going to be what they seem.

When first released some critics said it was the worst song ever, others loved it.

This is one of many pop songs that found it's way into the Netflix series "Sense8". There were several songs that I discovered while watching this series that I liked enough to pull into a playlist.

Sense8 has stunning visuals with film locations all round the world as suggested by the opening.

Sense8 is about group of people that wake up one day and start experiencing bits of other peoples lives. So there is a sci-fi mystery to solve, as well as an evil group that wants to kill all of them (of course). Lucky for them, this sharing of experiences has some additional benefits that will help them stay alive long enough to figure it all out.

It has a lot of diversity and so may not be for everyone's tastes

The series was canceled after 2 seasons, but the public outcry led to a 2 1/2 hour extra wrap-up show to finish the story.

I may add a couple of other song picks from the series later in the year.

Featured in a Film, but a well known singer make it famous.

My first example of a song that was well know in popular culture and included in a film. This song was first introduced in the film One Minute to Zero in the early 1950's. Many artists have covered it since then, most noticably Nat King Cole. His daughter, Natalie, did a duet with recording of him singing it on TV once. It is one of MANY old standards included in "Sleepless in Seattle"

What did you think about such heavy use of well know songs as a element of this movie?

From a Broadway Show.

This show is about a film writer/director that is having problems with both his marriage and well as difficulty gettting started on a new project. This song describes the relationship that one of the (many) women in his life has had with him. The singer relates how he has made her who she is, but he has to let her go now. This cover sung by Linda Eder.

The show ran for almost 2 years on broadway starting in 1982. It has since has limited runs touring internationally every few years. It was made into a movie in 2009

From a Broadway Show.

The show is based on Madame Butterfly. This song occurs in Act 1 between an American GI and Vietnamese woman who are in love but know that that the US is pulling everyone out. He promises to get her out too. See the show to find out.

The show premiered in London in 1989 and ran for 10 years with 4000+ performances. It is Broadway's thirteenth longest-running show.