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Captivity Harmonica (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:harmonica1_1496harmonica1 1496.jpg|link=The Shawshank Redemption|right]]
 
{{quote|''(Prisoner plays harmonica)''<br />
'''Homer:''' That's sorta nice. [[What Are You in For?|What're you in for?]]<br />
'''Prisoner:''' Atmosphere.|''[[The Simpsons]]'', "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, {{color|blue|Blue}} Fish"}}
 
When various characters are trapped or held captive (say, during a jail scene) the harmonica may be played, as [[Background Music]] if not by an actual character. It's also done in isolation, such as being stranded or lost in the wilderness. Or just camping or boredom, which borderline qualifies as the previous. Sometimes associated with [[Wild West]] settings.
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
 
▲{{examples|Examples:}}
== Anime & Manga ==
 
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== Fan Fiction ==
 
* When Kyon went to talk with an inmate in ''[[Kyon Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', the inmate in the cell next to his is shown playing the harmonica. They use the music from it to prevent anybody from hearing Kyon's conversation.
 
== Film ==
 
* In ''[[Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky]]'', our titular character is typically seen blowing on a folded leaf in this manner - and pulls it off fairly well. (Probably because he broke his harmonica killing half the prison population off-screen.)
* Parodied in ''[[Chicken Run (Animation)|Chicken Run]]''.
* In the movie ''[[Club Paradise]]'', [[Robin Williams]] imitates playing a harmonica with his own voice while locked up. (He loves this gag, apparently, see ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'' below.)
* In ''[[Police Academy]]'', Larvell Jones uses his own voice to imitate a harmonica while held at a police station.
* It's likely [[Ennio Morricone]] was the [[Trope Codifier]] here; he liked to use harmonicas a lot in his [[Spaghetti Western]] scores, along with whistling, to draw attention to a solitary protagonist. The harmonica is used in ''[[The Good, the Bad Andand Thethe Ugly]]'' as Blondie and Tuco get marched into the Union prison camp, and in ''[[Once Upon a Time Inin Thethe West]]'' it's given centre-stage as Harmonica's trademark.
* [[Deadpan Snarker|Hamm]] plays one in ''[[Toy Story 3]]'', after realizing the truth about Sunnyside. He is promptly told to knock it off.
{{quote| "Silence, musical hog!"}}
* Horror film ''[[Prison (Filmfilm)|Prison]]'' has a whole captivity band which appears couple of times.
* Jesse from ''[[Free Willy]]'' plays harmonica, to the Nostalgia Critic's annoyance.
* Ike plays a harmonica while hiding in the attic in ''[[South Park]] Bigger, Longer and Uncut''.
* Subverted in ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'' when Andy learns that Red used to play harmonica before he went to jail, and gets him one as a gift. Red declines to play it.
* ''[[Battle Beyond the Stars]]''. [[Space Trucker]] Cowboy [[Face Death Withwith Dignity|plays his harmonica]] while [[Space Pirate|Jackers]] wear down his shields.
* Variations
** Luke's banjo in ''[[Cool Hand Luke]]''
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== Live Action TV ==
 
* In ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "Shadow Play", one of the prisoners plays a harmonica. The main character, who claims it's [[All Just a Dream]], lampshades this by saying the harmonica-player was taken from "a bad movie I saw once".
** In "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby", a man abducted by aliens despondently resorts to this trope... the sound of which turns out to cause them physical pain. [[It Makes Sense in Context|It's less contrived in context]].
* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]''. DiNozzo is framed for murdering a woman and is held by the FBI because all signs seem to be pointing to him. DiNozzo's typical target for jokes, McGee, strolls past the jail cell playing harmonica, then gives it to DiNozzo as a "present".
* While he's not a captive, Richard O'Brien from ''[[The Crystal Maze]]''.
* In the ''[[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode ''[[Future War]]'', when the hero and heroine are hiding out in a boxcar, Mike and the bots riff "Well, I suppose one of us has to play harmonica".
** In a scene cut from the ''[[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]]'' movie, the crew is forced to go into a shelter as the Satellite of Love passes through a meteor shower. As a harmonica plays, the camera pans over Mike checking on Gypsy, Servo hoarding canned food, and...[[Sorry I Left the BGM On|Crow playing the harmonica]].
* Mork imitated playing the harmonica with his voice while locked up in several ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'' episodes.
* In "Parrot Island," the second part of the pilot episode of ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody|The Suite Life on Deck]]'', London Tipton plays a harmonica while imprisoned on the titular island. She plays it surprisingly well, given [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit|the character's]] [[The Ditz|history]].
* Recently played on ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' (and surprisingly well) by outgoing former MP, Lembit Opik, in mourning for his former employment.
* Les Stroud, star of ''[[Survivorman]]'', is actually a professional harmonica player. So a lot of times when he's stranded out in the wilderness and all, he'll just jam with it for a few minutes to cheer himself up.
** Once produced a particularly amusing situation. Les was out in Alaska or some other very snowy region. Before climbing into bed in his snow shelter(!), he took it out and played it for about 10 seconds before suddenly stopping and saying:
{{quote| '''Les''': I just forgot--[[Everything Is Worse With Bears|polar bears]] [[Oh Crap|are attracted to strange noises]].}}
* In ''[[Drake and Josh]]'', Josh plays one in a jail cell. The prisoner next to him crushes it and then gives it back.
* In an [[Alternate Reality Episode]] of ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' in which the main characters are soldiers fighting in WWII, Cory plays the harmonica because he's separated from his [[High School Sweethearts]] Topanga.
{{quote| '''Alan:''' You really miss her, don't you?<br />
'''Cory:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|You don't play the harmonica when you're happy]]. }}
* In ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'', when Buck runs away and ends up in the pound, it's very prison-ish, complete with harmonica-playing pooch.
* In one episode of ''[[Hot in Cleveland]]'', Elka plays the harmonica in jail to which Mary Tyler Moore's character tells her to stop.
* In one episode of ''[[Power Rangers Zeo]]'', after the [[Monster of the Week]] and some Mooks capture Bulk and Skull and throw them in a makeshift cage, Skull starts playing a harmonica he just happened to have - which ''really'' starts to annoy Bulk. ("Do everyone a favor!" he shouts, [[Call Back|"stick to the piano!"]]) Fortunately, the Rangers find them before he drives Bulk nuts
 
 
== Newspaper Comics ==
 
* In a series of strips of ''[[Kudzu]]'', Maurice gets thrown in jail for [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not Heinous?|singing the blues without a license]]. While in a cell, he starts to play a harmonica and is told "no blues." There's a list of acceptable songs on the wall, which include [[Musical|showtunes]] and Peter Paul And Mary.
 
== Video Games ==
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* In ''[[Americas Army (Video Game)|AmericasAmerica's Army]]'' if you shoot an instructor during the training missions the mission will end, the screen will fade to black and then reveal you to be in a jail cell with harmonica music playing in the background.
* Kaori uses a flute to the same effect in ''[[Eien no Aselia]]''.
* In the game over screen of ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong Country 2]]'', a harmonica plays over a shot of Diddy and Dixie in a jail cell.
 
== Webcomics ==
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== Western Animation ==
 
* During a ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode the kids are sent to school by a prison bus rather than the usual school bus, and look as if they were sent to an actual prison. One of the kids plays the harmonica.
** Lampshaded in another episode, see the quote above.
** When Bart gets sent to juvenile hall in "The Wandering Juvie", a harmonica is amongst the personal effects the warden confiscates. He plays a few bars of the traditional incarceration tune before putting it away.
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* Played by one of the Sirrians when Glenn and Lincoln are locked up in the Pound in the ''[[Dogstar]]'' episode "The Beagle Has Landed".
* Parodied in ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' when the four guys are locked up in a ghost world prison.
{{quote| '''Peter:''' Whoever's playing the crummy harmonica, knock it off!<br />
'''Egon:''' Uh...Peter?<br />
'''Peter:''' What!?<br />
'''Egon:''' It's their version of elevator music.<br />
'''Peter:''' }}
* In ''[[Zekes Pad]]'', Zeke's dad plays a harmonica when they are trapped inside the snowbound house in "The Artful Dodger". It gets [[Tongue Onon the Flagpole|stuck to his lips]].
* Invoked in one episode of ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' by Steve and Klaus after spending several days locked in a closet.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Prison Tropes]]
[[Category:Score and Music Tropes]]
[[Category:Captivity Harmonica{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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