Crowd Song: Difference between revisions

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[[File:~~theygotthemustardout_4944~~.png|link=Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E07 Once More, With Feeling|frame|[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|"They got...the mustaaard...ooooooouuuut!"]]]]

[[File:theygotthemustardout 4944.png|link=Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E07 Once More, With Feeling|frame|[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|"They got...the mustaaard...ooooooouuuut!"]]]]

{{quote|'''Rocko''': Why was everyone singing?

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In the world of storytelling, there are untold legions of men, women and children ready to burst into song at a moments notice, they only need a nice main character or two to inspire them. Lyrics? Got em memorized. Tricky singing pieces? Not a problem. Choreography? Goes off without a hitch. Every single time.

Naturally, this grows directly out of musical theater, where it's [[Musical World Hypotheses|understood]] that all these people aren't ''really'' bursting into ~~song -- they~~'re merely acting as the [[Greek Chorus]] for the lead characters. For that matter, since the actual Chorus in many Greek tragedies speaks for the general public within the play, versions of this are [[Older Than Feudalism]].

Naturally, this grows directly out of musical theater, where it's [[Musical World Hypotheses|understood]] that all these people aren't ''really'' bursting into song—they're merely acting as the [[Greek Chorus]] for the lead characters. For that matter, since the actual Chorus in many Greek tragedies speaks for the general public within the play, versions of this are [[Older Than Feudalism]].

TV shows will sometimes make an entire [[Musical Episode]] out of this trope. [[Captain Obvious|Obviously]], Musicals will have these all the way through.

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* ''[[Elf]]'' contains a sequence where the [[Love Interest]] leads a group of New Yorkers in "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"; this is slightly [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that pretty much everyone ''does'' know the words to that song, and in that several people are fairly off-key.

* ''[[Bran Nue Dae]]'' has the final number, a reprise of Nothing I Would Rather Be. Every character in the film gets a second in the limelight.

* The recent film version of ''[[Horton Hears a Who!]]'' uses a [[Crowd Song]] for its finale, in which every single character spontaneously bursts out into REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight this Feeling."

* The recent film version of ''[[Horton Hears a Who!]]'' uses a Crowd Song for its finale, in which every single character spontaneously bursts out into REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight this Feeling."

** This Crowd Song was especially bizarre since the song really has nothing to do with anything that happened in the movie.

*** Although considering Horton's personality, him randomly bursting into song isn't that big a shocker...

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** The latter also occurred in ''[[Goof Troop]]'': when Goofy and Pete were in a traffic jam, Goofy started to sing to waste time and all the cars followed!

* ''[[Casablanca]]'' has one to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYbEPZVVIA La Marseillaise](France's National Anthem) in [[Protest Song|protest]] to the Nazis in the bar singing ''Die Wacht am Rhein''. This is extra effective when you keep in mind that the extras were refugees and exiles who fled France due to the Axis Powers taking over.

* Played with in ''[[Hot Rod]]'', where Rod starts a normal uplifting [[Crowd Song]] of "You're the Voice". More and more people join in, their antics becoming increasingly energetic...until it eventually just devolves into an outright riot as people trash the street. The hero and his friends run like hell.

* Played with in ''[[Hot Rod]]'', where Rod starts a normal uplifting Crowd Song of "You're the Voice". More and more people join in, their antics becoming increasingly energetic...until it eventually just devolves into an outright riot as people trash the street. The hero and his friends run like hell.

{{quote|'''Rod''': What the hell?! Was that because of ''us''!?

'''Dave''': I dunno man! It started out super-positive then it just got crazy! }}

* ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', quite famously. The King of Swamp Castle tries to stall the start of a [[Crowd Song]], or any kind of musical number, for as long as possible.

* ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', quite famously. The King of Swamp Castle tries to stall the start of a Crowd Song, or any kind of musical number, for as long as possible.

** How is it that no one has mentioned "[[Monty Python's The Meaning of Life|Every Sperm is Sacred]]"?

*** [[Truth in Television]]: speaking as a Yorkshire resident, we always break into village-wide spontaneous song about the use of sex for reproduction only.

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** "Life's a Happy Song" from the 2011 movie is another example. And when the leads leave, everyone collapses from exhaustion.

* [[Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na|"Hai popular!"]]

* [[Hello, Dolly!|"Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out..."]]<ref> Anyone who's seen ''[[WALL-E]]'' will know this one...</ref>

* [[Hello, Dolly!|"Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out..."]]<ref>Anyone who's seen ''[[WALL-E]]'' will know this one...</ref>

* "Consider yourself" from ''[[Oliver!]]''

* The movie version of ''[[Hair (theatre)]]'' has "Let The Sunshine In" turn into this as the finale.

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** In the ''Thieves' Guild Diary'', pickpockets get trained how to do this, as it's an essential part of the "image" (the accompanying illustration is clearly of Ron Moody as Fagin in ''[[Oliver!]]'')

* In the [[Star Trek]] novel ''How Much For Just The Planet?'' by [[John M. Ford]], the Direidians break out into crowd songs around the visiting Federation and Klingon diplomatic delegations on several occasions. It turns out that {{spoiler|it ''was'' all carefully rehearsed and planned out ahead of time, as part of the Direidian "plan C" to prevent either of the two sides from taking over their planet and disrupting their way of life.}}

* Averted by the Hogwarts school song in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' ~~books -- everyone~~ sings what they want in any key or tempo they want, for a glorious burst of incomprehensible cacophony.

* Averted by the Hogwarts school song in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books—everyone sings what they want in any key or tempo they want, for a glorious burst of incomprehensible cacophony.

== Live Action TV ==

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* Most episodes of ''[[Fraggle Rock]]'' have at least one instance of this. Arguably justified, in that Fraggles are inherently musical creatures (as are nearly all creatures in the Rock, to a lesser degree), and are strongly implied in several episodes to be somewhat telepathic. Crowd songs often involve creatures other than Fraggles.

* The premiere episode of [[Reading Rainbow]] in 1983 included an example of this: "Check It Out", an elaborate musical number intrduced by the host, [[LeVar Burton]], to a young child, staged at the Milburn Free Public Library in Milburn, NJ.

* [[The Cast Showoff|Barney]] from ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' goes into an [[Imagine Spot]] [[Crowd Song]] where a whole street in New York sings about the virtues of suits.

* [[The Cast Showoff|Barney]] from ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' goes into an [[Imagine Spot]] Crowd Song where a whole street in New York sings about the virtues of suits.

** Another (smaller) ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' example: In one episode, Ted explains the gang's presence on someone's front porch by claiming that they're carolers. They look at each other, then Marshall begins to sing "Silent Night." The rest of the gang joins in in perfect harmony.

* ''[[Glee]]''. Sure, sometimes the implication is that they rehearsed the song to take us through to the big song-and-dance-number we see as a final version. And sometimes it's a [[Dream Sequence]]. And they are a reasonably well drilled show choir. But faaaiiirly frequently, this sort of thing happens, particularly when non-Glee-Club characters (like Emma Pilsbury) are involved... It gets a little ridiculous when they can invent a mash-up, with fully choreography, on the spot, and the band can just keep up.

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'''Rose''': What makes you think that?

'''Margaret''': Hush! They sing choruses in public! That's mad enough, I think! }}

* ''La Vie Boheme'' from RENT counts as a small-scale crowd ~~song--everyone~~ in the Life Cafe (except for Benny and his three associates) joins in ''right on cue'' after Mark's mocking prayer for the death of Bohemia. It's both spontaneous AND an [[Ear Worm]].

* ''La Vie Boheme'' from RENT counts as a small-scale crowd song—everyone in the Life Cafe (except for Benny and his three associates) joins in ''right on cue'' after Mark's mocking prayer for the death of Bohemia. It's both spontaneous AND an [[Ear Worm]].

* A few songs in ''Urinetown: The Musical'' count, but none moreso than "Act I Finale", in which the entire band of the poor people, the two local policemen, and the [[Big Bad]] and his henchmen all join in a song about the rebellion's goals.

* Two songs from ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'' count: ''Luck Be A Lady'' first has Sky Masterson singing about how badly he needs to win this round of craps, and then all the gamblers around him join in apprehensively singing at him to shut up and roll the dice. ''Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat'' then features a prayer meeting full of missionaries and the aforementioned gamblers singing about the dream that Nicely-Nicely had last night (which is often implied to have been made up on the spot).

* The musical ''Titanic'' is made up almost exclusively of these, with only two solos and two duets of any appreciable length.

* Like [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|the movie]] it was based on, the King of Swamp Castle in ''[[Spamalot]]'' is constantly trying to put a stop to these kind of songs, or any kind of singing whatsoever. He ultimately fails of course.

* Sondheim averted some of this in ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' ~~-- there~~ is a great deal of counterpoint in the crowd songs, with individual members singing different things. Most noticeably shows up in "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" and "God That's Good!" "City on Fire," on the other hand, is perhaps the only straight [[Crowd Song]] in the bunch.

* Sondheim averted some of this in ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]''—there is a great deal of counterpoint in the crowd songs, with individual members singing different things. Most noticeably shows up in "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" and "God That's Good!" "City on Fire," on the other hand, is perhaps the only straight Crowd Song in the bunch.

* This trope is subverted during a song in the musical ''[[How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying]]''. To get ahead at the office, Finch learns that his boss is a graduate of Old Ivy, and then Finch falsely claims to be an alumnus of that same college. When the boss starts singing the college song "Grand Old Ivy", Finch joins in ... but, rather than singing in unison, he lags slightly behind the boss so that the audience will understand that Finch doesn't actually know the lyric.

* [[1776]] gets their [[Crowd Song]] out of the way first thing with "Sit Down John". Basically, all of Congress wants [[John Adams]] to ''shut up already''.

* [[1776]] gets their Crowd Song out of the way first thing with "Sit Down John". Basically, all of Congress wants [[John Adams]] to ''shut up already''.

* The "Governer Miller" song in the Takarazuka presentation of ''[[Phoenix Wright]]'', done in praise of the titular politician by a gang of reporters.

* [[Les Misérables (theatre)|Do you hear the people sing]] - both the main song and the reprise at the finale. Being epicified by a 250 persons choir certainly helps.

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== Western Animation ==

* [[Justified]] due to [[Mind Control]] in the ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' episode "The Mayhem of the Music Meister" still notably for a [[Crowd Song]] that seemingly encompasses ''the entire world''. Which is, again, justified due to the satellite transmitting the mind control.

* [[Justified]] due to [[Mind Control]] in the ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' episode "The Mayhem of the Music Meister" still notably for a Crowd Song that seemingly encompasses ''the entire world''. Which is, again, justified due to the satellite transmitting the mind control.

** Further justified in that the Music Master is played by Neil Patrick Harris (see above).

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' has had many, many, '''many''' episodes which include a spontaneous [[Crowd Song]].

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' has had many, many, '''many''' episodes which include a spontaneous Crowd Song.

** One of the clip shows spoofs this:

{{quote|'''Lisa''' ''(singing)'': We can't even get any local laws passed without everyone singing, like a big Broadway cast.}}

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* Subverted in [[Mission Hill]], where everyone bursts into song with "Everybody Hurts," but ''not on key.''

** And justified, since not only was the song played earlier that episode, but it started off as one person singing it with everyone around joining in after a line or two.

* ''[[South Park]]'' has several ~~[[Crowd Song|~~Crowd Songs]], even making [[The Movie]] into [[The Musical]]. In a recent episode, the entire nation of Canada bursts into song (although there is [[Lampshade Hanging]], saying that they've been rehearsing.)

* ''[[South Park]]'' has several Crowd Songs, even making [[The Movie]] into [[The Musical]]. In a recent episode, the entire nation of Canada bursts into song (although there is [[Lampshade Hanging]], saying that they've been rehearsing.)

* ''[[Animaniacs]]'' pulled this off every so often, but this was also an animated series that frequently featured musical numbers in their skits, including an impressive rewrite of the Major-General's Song.

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]:''

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* Let's do the Time Warp again!

** In fact, any song with their own specific dance (Y.M.C.A., The Macarena, Thriller, The Chicken Dance, etc.). Play it in a crowded area, and watch them dance.

** In Japan or at Anime conventions, you can get the same effect with arguably greater enthusiasm with Hare Hare Yukai<ref> That's the [[Suzumiya Haruhi]] ED for the 1st season</ref>, the [[Lucky Star]] OP <ref>That's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFhl7WOIiw Motteke! Sailor Fuku]</ref>, or [[Caramelldansen Vid|Caramelldansen]].

** In Japan or at Anime conventions, you can get the same effect with arguably greater enthusiasm with Hare Hare Yukai,<ref>That's the [[Suzumiya Haruhi]] ED for the 1st season</ref> the [[Lucky Star]] OP,<ref>That's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFhl7WOIiw Motteke! Sailor Fuku]</ref> or [[Caramelldansen Vid|Caramelldansen]].

* Similarly, "[[Portal (series)|Still Alive]]" is pretty much guaranteed to have this effect if there is any number of gamers nearby.

* Whenever any band dares to play the distinctive opening chord to [[The Beatles]] song "A Hard Day's Night" in front of a crowd of Beatles fans, the fans have been known to sing the entire song in response while the band stands there silently.

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* "[[Queen|Bohemian Rhapsody]]". If the beginning is too slow for some people, just wait. When it gets to "I see a little silhouette of a man," everyone in the nearest vicinity will join in. This has been proven [[Wayne's World|in the car]], on camping trips, and while listening to the radio both around the house and while cleaning up a theater.

** The same can be said of "We Will Rock You". * stomp stomp CLAP! stomp stomp CLAP! stomp stomp CLAP!*

** "We Are The Champions." When it comes to Arena Rock, Queen are the [[Crowd Song]] champions, my friend.

** "We Are The Champions." When it comes to Arena Rock, Queen are the Crowd Song champions, my friend.

* Four words: We Are The World. The song was cleverly arranged as a crowd song, the crowd being composed of pop singers in both 1985 and 2010 versions...and many attendees at Michael Jackson's funeral in 2009.

* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZrrbgCdYc This] video. It starts out as a flash mob, but you can see random members of the public joining in. Granted not as well, but still....

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[[Category:~~{{PAGENAME}}~~]]

[[Category:Crowd Song]]

[[Category:Theater]]

[[Category:Score and Music Tropes]]