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{{trope}}
{{cleanup|Sections need sorting.}}
{{quote|''"You'll wash my tender leaves and smell my sweet perfume.
''You'll water me and care for me, you'll see me bud and bloom.
''I'm feeling strangely happy now, contented and serene,
''Oh, don't you see, finally I'll be...
''Somewhere that's green."''|Audrey, from ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]'' {{spoiler|before getting fed to Audrey II}}.}}
''A song starts in sunshine, but has a dark reprise.''
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The other form is the dark reprise. Early in the show, we get a joyous song. In a later act, sadder and wiser, those same lyrics or melody are ironic and sad. Sometimes the reprise alters the original lyrics; sometimes they are the same, only sung more slowly and mournfully. In the case of a theme's reprise, the piece may have no lyrics at all. The "dark" part may even be literal, with the reprise using dimmer lighting.
The dark reprise is a subtrope of [[Ironic Echo]], and the [[Evil Twin]] of [[Triumphant Reprise]]. Of course, the
Compare [[Dual-Meaning Chorus]], more common in country music, where a song's chorus is interpreted differently with each iteration (and the song only plays once).
Can overlap with [[Lyrical Dissonance]], although a dark reprise tends to smooth this over with a more somber arrangement. Note that this can also apply to moments that don't use music. See also [[Soundtrack Dissonance]], [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]].
▲Can overlap with [[Lyrical Dissonance]], although a dark reprise tends to smooth this over with a more somber arrangement. Note that this can also apply to moments that don't use music. See also [[Soundtrack Dissonance]], [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]].
{{examples}}
== Default Usage ==
== Stage Musicals ==▼
* "Somewhere That's Green" from ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]''. A song with some of the same lyrics is first about dreaming of a bright future with Seymour, and then about begging Seymour to feed her to a man-eating plant.
** This is made even more twisted because of her reasoning (she says she wants Seymour to take care of her ''as part of Audrey II'').
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** Downtown is already a depressing song, but an instrumental version of it plays after Audrey dies and it's more depressing by far.
*** In the demo version, the same effect would have been had by playing an instrumental version of We'll Have Tomorrow after Audrey is killed. The difference is that while Downtown is already a depressing song, We'll Have Tomorrow would have been MADE a depressing song through its association with Audrey's death. The reason for the change is almost certainly the original version of We'll Have Tomorrow being cut.
*** In German productions, Seymour sings a
** Though cut out of many productions, an downbeat instrumental version of Mushnik and Son plays after Mushnik is killed.
** Also noteworthy is "The Meek Shall Inherit", which starts cheerful and gradually shifts into a dark echo of its earlier verses. By the time the final "you know the meek are gonna get what's coming to 'em by and by..." rolls around, it's downright ominous.
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* "I have a song to sing, O!" from ''[[The Yeomen of the Guard]]''. The first rendition is a sentimental ballad. In the end, it's painfully heartbreaking. And this is done without any changes in the music - only the context.
** There is ''one'' change: the line "Who loved her lord and laughed aloud" turns into "Who loved her lord and dropped a tear" because the actress playing Elsie in the premiere thought that the straight repeat was ''too cruel.'' Sir Gilbert agreed. She was right, too."
* [[Jeff Wayne]]'s ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' song "Brave New World" relates the Utopian dreams of The Artilleryman, who thinks the alien invasion is a opportunity to throw away the hated modern world and build an underground utopia. The music is a heart-rousing soundtrack to
** Of course, If you complete the game [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0UjCsZIIOk&feature=related as the Martians, it's implied he wouldn't have failed so hard if he had got a few people to help him..] {{spoiler|Oh look, he did!}}
** The song 'The Spirit Of Man' combines this with the Sarcastic Echo - whilst the embittered, broken and deranged Parson Nathaniel's verses deal with his disillusionment with the sins of those around him, and his delusional belief that the invading Martians are 'demons' sent by Satan to wipe out humanity, his wife Beth's chorus is an optimistic, hopeful exhortation to the finest and noblest elements of human nature within 'the spirit of man'. Then a Martian craft crash-lands on the house in which the characters are sheltering, Beth is crushed under the rubble and Nathaniel takes over her chorus, the lyrics now altered to reflect his bitter, defeatist worldview.
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** And, in a very nice touch that most people don't realize until they watch the show [[Fridge Brilliance|at least a second time]], almost every line Glinda sings in the opening number serves as [[Shaped Like Itself|its own]] Dark Reprise.
** In "Dancing Through Life", Boq tries to, but can't bring himself to tell Nessa about his feelings for Glinda. Nessa tells him:
{{quote|
Don't you see this is our chance?
We deserve each other, don't we Boq? }}
** In "Wicked Witch of the East", Boq finally sings to Nessa about his feelings for Glinda with the same melody as before. {{spoiler|Nessa reacts badly this, accidentally botching a spell to force him fall in love with her, destroying his heart instead. She then realises how evil she has become without realising it, singing:}}
{{quote|
{{spoiler|With just the girl in the mirror}}
{{spoiler|Just her and me, the Wicked Witch of the East}}
{{spoiler|We deserve each other}} }}
* At the beginning of [[Ragtime]]'s second act, Coalhouse manages to reprise both "Wheels of a Dream" and "The Prologue" (and also "Your Daddy's Son," but that was rather dark already) while spiraling into homicidal madness. It's very effective.
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** Likewise, in the 1941 film, Ivy first sings "See Me Dance the Polka" in a cheery production number; later, Hyde forces her to sing it as he strangles her.
* In ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'', Toby sings an innocent song of devotion to Mrs Lovett called "Not While I'm Around", in which he promises to never let her come to harm. Later, Mrs Lovett sings a section of the same song... while looking for Toby to hand him over to Sweeney to be killed.
** Even better - Mrs. Lovett's first
** Anthony's soaring ballad "Johanna" from midway through Act I, gets partially reprised at the top of Act II. The sentiment is similar, albeit intensified: Anthony seeks at all costs to free Johanna from the tyrannical Judge Turpin so they can be together. What makes it a
*** Sweeney's version, by contrast, is an exercise in complacency, an emotionally repressed farewell to his daughter in which he states that he's so involved in his murdering and goal of ultimate revenge that he's stopped caring about her.
*** In the original stage version of Sweeney, the Judge had a musically distinct Dark Reprise of "Johanna", like Sweeney's, but it was cut from the final production.
** Sweeney's songs in general are always dark, but at least Mrs. Lovett is singing along in most of them. In the final one, Sweeney Todd begins singing a falsely jaunty tune ("The history of the world, my pet...") -- itself a reprise of "A Little Priest"
** In fact, nearly every song in this show has a
* In the Broadway version of ''[[Beauty and the Beast]],'' the Beast acknowledges that Belle is his last chance when he sings "If I Can't Love Her," then reprises it bitterly when convinced that his chance has been lost.
* In the musical version of ''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel (theatre)|The Scarlet Pimpernel]]'':
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** Shortly after "When I Look at You", it is repeated by a second character with exactly the same lyrics.
** A reprise of Madame Guillotine. While hard to make darker, it is a declaration of determination to hunt by Chauvelin and is in some cases referred to as The Riddle: Part 1. While not on most albums, it's on the German cast album as "Das Verwirrspiel: Teil 1"
* In ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]'', President Wintergreen and his wife Mary dismiss the concerns of reporters by singing "Who Cares?" They sing a
* In ''Show Boat'', as Ravenal abandons his family, he sings the same song to his daughter that he sang when he first met her mother: "Only make believe I love you..."
* The musical ''[[Aida]]'' is full of this. "How I Know You", "My Strongest Suit", "Elaborate Lives"...
* Used a lot in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, particularly ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]''. Most notable in the songs 'All I Ask of You' (Raoul asking Christine to love him always), then the Phantom singing its tragic reprise about his love for her. Of course, [[Love Makes You Evil|love turns him evil]], as shown by the dark reprise.
** Also at the end when the Phantom is forcing Christine to choose between him or Raoul, we get three
** This is seen again at the start of Act II in ''Masquerade'', where everyone is happy and joyful, until things take a turn for the sinister in 'Why so Silent' and the Phantom reappears.
** The entire lengthy finale (Down Once More/Track Down this Murderer) is a Dark Reprise of earlier songs. Listen to the music without words and you'll find it difficult to pick out a new melody.
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** ''[[Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]]'' has the bright, cheerful opener 'Any Dream Will Do' repeat rather mournfully when Joseph is reunited with his sick, elderly father.
*** Doesn't really count because the earlier version of that musical only had "Any Dream" at the end, the song also being at the beginning was a later addition. A better example is Joseph singing his prophetic dreams early in the musical and then reprising the rhymes when he meets his brothers again - this leads into the dark "Grovel, Grovel".
** The Likes of Us, the first ever Webber/Rice musical, has an upbeat love song called "Love is Here", which admittedly [[
* "The Beauty Is" from ''The Light in the Piazza'': first sung by Clara, expressing hope and excitement at the possibility of finding love and happiness. The song is reprised by her mother, Margaret, who fears that Clara may ''never'' find love and happiness {{spoiler|(due to her mental disability)}} and Margaret's guilt over her own culpability.
* ''[[
** "The Stuff" also gets a reprise, but the song was pretty dark in the first place. It's actually a [[Inverted Trope|Triumphant Reprise]], at least in the [[Showtime]] [[Recursive Adaptation]]. {{spoiler|[[The Dog Bites Back|Mae finally has enough of Jack]], so she [[Beware the Nice Ones|murders him with a garden hoe]] and [[Crosses the Line Twice|rips out his still-beating heart]] while [[Deliberate Values Dissonance|gleefully belting about how she's finally reformed.]] }}
** "Down At the Old Five and Dime" gets the same dark reprise treatment. Act 1: Cheerful, chipper clean cut kids taking ice cream from Mr. Poppy. Act 2: Same kids being lead down the Reefer Path by Mr. Poppy.
** And don't forget "Listen to Jesus, Jimmy!", the splashy Vegas-style production number sung to our hero by the Man, {{spoiler|only to be shut out at the song's conclusion, saying "I have a new god now!"}} and then reprised at Jimmy's execution, against Jimmy's protests, admonishing him in the same splashy style that he DIDN'T listen.
* ''[[Into the Woods]]'' repeatedly reprises the title number, one of which is a bona fide
** Also happens with the duet "Agony": in Act I, two royal brothers are each singing about a woman they have fallen for, ending with "I must have her to wife." They reprise the number in Act II... talking about two different women. After justifying their infidelity, they end with "Ah well, back to my wife." Funny, but darker as well.
** ''Into the Woods'' also provides a rare inversion of this trope. In "Stay With Me", the Witch berates Rapunzel for disobeying her, singing, "What did I clearly say? Children must listen!" Later, in "Witch's Lament", she {{spoiler|mourns Rapunzel's death}}: "No matter what you say, children won't listen." Finally, the song becomes the finale "Children Will Listen"
* ''[[The Wicker Man]]'' (musical version) starts with Sgt. Howie singing a musical version of the 23rd Psalm along with the rest of his church congregation. At the end, he sings it again in a more defiant/terrified tone, {{spoiler|while being burnt to death in the eponymous Wicker Man.}}
* "Wilkommen" from ''[[Cabaret]],'' which first appears as an upbeat opening number but closes the show on a sinister note as the cast sings a discordant version surrounded by Nazi regalia.
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*** When you look at Bill's treatment of Nancy, the original becomes pretty dark on its own: "Though you sometimes do come by/The occasional black eye/You can always cover one/'Till he blacks the other one/But you don't dare cry!"
** "As Long As He Needs Me" is another example: the first time Nancy sings it to demonstrate how she won't give up Bill despite his abuse, the second is right before {{spoiler|Bill decides he doesn't need her anymore - and murders her in cold blood.}}
* In the final scene of ''[[West Side Story]]'', Tony, believing Maria to have been murdered, goes out and gets himself shot, and only then sees Maria. They start to sing a
** The same is picked up instrumentally by the orchestra as Tony's body is carried off, which this writer argues are some of the most heart-wrenching final chords to come out of Broadway.
*** In addition, Tony & Maria's [["I Want" Song]] "Tonight" is twisted later when the Jets and Sharks sing a variant of this about how Bernardo and Riff's knife fight will end their rivalry.
* ''Kismet'' ends with a
* "If I Loved You" in ''[[Carousel]]'' is first sung early in Act I, as Julie and Billy flirt with each other by offering romantic hypotheticals, denying their attraction even as they submit to it. Near the end of Act II, {{spoiler|a now-dead}} Billy uses largely the same words to lament that he [[Never Got to Say Goodbye|could never truly admit his feelings to Julie or to himself while he had the chance]]. (This reprise was added during the show's New Haven tryout; [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]] were pleased to see that it boosted sheet music sales of the song.)
* "I'll Cover You" from ''[[Rent]]''. First sung as an inspiring tenor/baritone duet by Angel and Collins as they realize they've fallen in love. Later {{spoiler|at Angel's funeral}}, Collins sings alone in a slow and pained bass-baritone to gospel-like piano chords. To add to the effect, Joanne and Maureen replace Angel in the chorus as the rest of the cast backs them up with "Seasons of Love," and a HUGE suspended harmony at the end adds to the dark nature of the reprise. Contrast [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Qq3gJhuE4 the original] with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAaXD9PscQs&NR=1 the reprise.]
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** There's also Javert's reprise of Valjean's "soliloquy" song. Both represent men at drastic turning points in their lives, however {{spoiler|Valjean ends the song by turning over a new leaf, while Javert ends by killing himself.}}
** "One Day More" is basically a reprise, with sinister undertones, of just about every song heard hitherto. Especially "Who Am I?"
*** Though the section that uses the tune of "I Dreamed A Dream" turns the song from a reflection on a life crushed by poverty and mistreatment to a song about two lovers wondering if they're ever going to see each other again, so not quite a
** There's also an element of this between Javert's [[Villain Song|Knight Templar Song]], "Stars" and the one he sings before his suicide. In the former, he outlines his philosophy, looking at the stars as a metaphor for a sacred order of society which must be rigidly enforced. The latter, which uses some of the same background melody, contains a [[Meaningful Echo]], where Javert, having his worldview shattered, refers to the stars as "black and cold".
*** And directly as he jumps to his death, the main instrumental motif of "Stars" plays as his falling scream dies away.
*** Javert refers to the stars in the French libretto too, where he sings "...les étoiles rient dans le noir / Elles se moquent de la victoire sur moi des forces du mal ..." ("The stars laugh in the dark / They mock me for the victory of the evil forces over me...")
** And then there's the finale's reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Its first appearance is as a rousing call-to-arms as Enjolras foments a rebellion. In the finale, the song is revisited as a sort of hymn about the wretched of the earth finding solace in the end. This may be something of a "light" reprise rather than a "dark" one, but then again, it's being sung by a chorus of the characters who have ''died''.
*** It paraphrases Enjolras' [[Character Filibuster|speech]] in the book at the barricade before the first battle, when they still think they can succeed. It is at once a stirring [[
** Also, "Turning", during which the women mourn about the outcome of the battle, uses the same tune as "Lovely Ladies" (the subject of which isn't exactly cheery, but which is sung in a far more uplifting way).
*** 'Lovely Ladies' is nothing but ironic and dark echoes. First it sounds like an [[Lyrical Dissonance|upbeat song celebrating the prostitutes]], then Fantine becomes a prostitute and it becomes a dark echo when we see the sort of circumstances that lead to women becoming a prostitute, and finally it becomes an ironic echo when she sings the final verse before the abusive customer appears.
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* The Off Broadway musical ''[[The Last Five Years]]'' features something of a [[Inverted Trope|Light Reprise]], since Cathy's songs start from the time of her divorce from Jamie to the beginning of their relationship - she rebukes Jamie for being self centered and obsessed with his career in "See I'm Smiling", while later in the play she uses similar language to her rebuke when describing how much she loves and wants to be with him in "I Can Do Better Than That" ("I want you and you and nothing but you/miles and piles of you").
* The ''[[Legally Blonde]]'' musical inverts this: the titular song is somber while the reprise is upbeat and energetic.
* Pretty much every key song in "Children of Eden" has at least one poignant reprise or more, because of the theme of history repeating itself and second chances.
** "Spark of Creation" Eve's big [["I Want" Song]], is later reprised as a fear that she has passed the fiery spirit that led to the fall of humanity to her son Cain. At the climax, when Noah is no longer sure what God wants him to do, his wife sings a reprise telling him to use his God-given brain to decide for himself.
** "That's What It Means to be a Father", Father's song about his love for his children, is darkly reprised by Cain as he accuses Adam of crushing his spirit, then by Father again after he wipes out humanity with the flood.
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** The show closes with a wistful closing reprise of "There's a Sucker Born Ev'ry Minute" as Barnum mourns how the great eccentricities and "humbugs" of the past - which he built his career on - are now forgotten.
* ''Hair'' has "Manchester, England," Claude's cheeky [["I Am" Song]], a verse of which appears in "The Flesh Failures" by his ghost after he's been ''killed in Vietnam''. Even worse in the film, where the person wailing "Claude, that's me, that's me"... isn't actually him.
* Kurt Weill was fond of this trope. A very nice example can be heard in the final three songs of ''The Seven Deadly Sins'', which summarize the previous parts both in melody and in lyrics.
** More famously, the final song of the Threepenny Opera, which echoes the opening song ''Mack The Knife''. "For some are in the darkness, and others are in the light. And we see the ones in the light. The ones in the darkness, we don't see." Although the song is left out in a staggering number of productions, it's one of the most quoted poems in German literature.
* Papa Ge's version of Ti Moune's dreamy "Forever Yours" at the climax of ''Once On This Island''. The original is about belonging to her lover (and his belonging to her); the reprise is about belonging to Papa Ge, [[The Grim Reaper|the god of Death]].
* ''[[Next to Normal]]'' has "It's Gonna Be Good", a bouncy, silly song in act one about Dan's excitement for dinner with the family. The reprise in act two comes after {{spoiler|Diana has recovered from amnesia and remembered their son is dead, and she insists on knowing his name, while Dan tries to ignore her and get her out of the house and to the doctor.}}
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* ''Little Johnny Jones'' by George M. Cohen has the upbeat patriotic number "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Toward the end of the first act, when Johnny is framed for throwing the English Derby, he sings a slower, sadder version of the song as he deals with being disgraced. This scene is also enacted in James Cagney's Cohen [[Biopic]] ''Yankee Doodle Dandy''.
* Though not to be found in the Broadway soundtrack of the not-so-known musical ''Rags'', the song "If We Never Meet Again" gets one of these - first sung by Rebecca Hershkowitz and Bella Cohen during the boat ride to America, then reprised by Rebecca after {{spoiler|Bella dies in a sweatshop fire.}}
* The ''[[Sera Myu]]'' has one: "Orleans No Sei senshi" is a song sung by Inner Senshi (Sans Mars) and Hotaru duing a mock battle. The first verse is later sung in a much darker form, Orleans no Sei Senshi ~ Uranus - Neptune no Uragiri (Holy Soldier's of Orleans ~ Uranus and Neptune's Betryal) The song title alone should tell you what's happening at this time. {{spoiler|except it's all ploy to kill Galaxia. Like the similar scene in the anime it fails}} The song is reprised in an altered form by all the senshi as La Fatalité Sei Senshi which itself is a lighter reprise and (longer version of) Oitsumerarete. Confused yet?
* Near the start of the trip, the characters in ''[[Cannibal! The Musical]]'' sing "That's All I'm Asking For," listing the things they're looking for in life. Near the end of the movie, they sing it again, but as they're all half-starved, all they want is some food, and they barely have the energy to sing at all.
* In the beginning of ''[[Fiddler
* In ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'' musical, this is done with the song "Someday". The original is about how Julia can't wait to be married and is hopelessly romantic. The reprise shows that, as her wedding to Glen approaches, she's beginning to have doubts if Glen is the right guy (because she's falling for Robbie). Also done with "If I Told You", where Robbie and Julia ask themselves what might happen if they share their true feelings (they can't hear each other, of course), and the reprise has them singing the same thing, except this time expressing their regret of not telling each other as Julia flies to Las Vegas to marry Glen.
* Inverted in ''[[Avenue Q]]'' with There's a Fine, Fine Line. It appears first as a sad song sung by Kate Monster lamenting her breakup with Princeton and how "there's a fine, fine line between love and a waste a time". It is reprised later as a more optimistic song {{spoiler|when he helps her fulfill her dream of building a school for monsters and they agree to take their relationship one day at a time.}}
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=== Animated Film Musicals ===
* ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' has two.
** First, Tiana sings her [["I Want" Song]] "Almost There" a second time after she's outbid on the restaurant she wanted (or so the realtors claim).
*** Plus a related [[Ironic Echo]], when Facilier whispers this as he offers to help her in exchange for his talisman.
** For the second, the page image is from the
* [[Villain Song|Jafar's reprise]] of "Prince Ali" in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''. "Prince Ali, Yes, it is he, But not as you know him."
** "One Jump Ahead" and its reprise also qualify: in the first Aladdin sings about what a great thief he is, in the second he wishes people saw that there was more to him than that.
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* Scar from ''[[The Lion King]]'' was originally going to have one.
* The song "First Toymaker to the King" from the [[Christmas Special]] ''Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town'' is reprised as "No More Toymakers to the King" by Burgermeister Meisterburger.
* In ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]'', the song "The Plagues" is partially a dark reprise of Moses' earlier [["I Want" Song]] inversion, "All I Ever Wanted", turning from a celebration of his life as an Egyptian to a lament over having to destroy it to win freedom for the Jews. It also doubles as a [[Villain Song]] for the Pharaoh, showing his anger at his foster brother's betrayal.
** Makes it even more dark and sadder if you remember that in-between "All I Ever Wanted" and "The Plagues", Moses' adoptive mother, the wife of the pharaoh, sings a reprise of this song, in a tender, motherly and comforting way, while trying to convince him to forget his true origin and embrace his Egyptian life and his adoptive family.
* Disney's ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' features a lovesick Quasimodo singing about how he has finally found love after years of assuming he was unlovable (''Heaven's Light''). Not much later, these same lyrics are echoed with a new, bitter twist as he discovers this his newfound 'love' is more interested in her [[Knight in Shining Armor]].
{{quote|
I knew I'd never know
That warm and loving glow
Though I might wish with all my might
No face as hideous as my face
Was ever meant for Heaven's Light... }}
** And ''seconds'' after the first instance, Frollo sings his own version, the awesome [[Villain Song]] ''Hellfire'', about his fury at and lust for Esmerelda. [http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=rj1v5tXs9Jo=related Here's] the whole sequence.
*** In addition to the instant dark reprise, "Hellfire" doubles as [[Lyrical Dissonance]]. The [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] aka "[[wikipedia:Confiteor|Confiteor]]" is a general confession of sin recited at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a strong contrast to Frollo's actual song.
{{quote|
'''Frollo''': I'm not to blame! ('''Choire''': Mea culpa ''through my fault'')
'''Frollo''': It is the gypsy girl, the witch who sent this flame! ('''Choire''': Mea maxima culpa ''through my most grievous fault'') }}
* ''[[Cats Don't Dance]]'' uses this trope with "Big and Loud". The first time through, Darla is giving advice to Danny about how to impress an audience. Once Danny is hustled out the door, the lyrics change as she declares her true
* The song "Let Me be Your Wings" from ''[[Thumbelina]]'' has a dark reprise halfway through the movie, called "Once There was the Sun". She sings this in lamenting {{spoiler|Cornelius' apparent death.}}
** When Thumbelina goes missing, her mother sings a sad reprise of Thumbelina's [["I Want" Song]] "Soon".
* "I Stand Alone" in ''[[Quest for Camelot]]'' is Garrett's [["I Am" Song]] in which he embraces his solitude and declares that [[I Work Alone|he works alone.]] He gives it a brief but passionate
* "Who's Been Painting My Roses Red?" from ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Disney film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'', an accusatory reprise of the cheerful "Painting the Roses Red".
* ''[[Tangled]]'' has two examples: a cutting reprise of "Mother Knows Best" (which was ''already'' a villain song) as Gothel severely undercuts Rapunzel's hopes for her growing romance, and then the second reprise of "The Healing Incantation" as {{spoiler|Rapunzel desperately tries to revive the mortally wounded Flynn after her hair has been robbed of its healing magic.}}
* In ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]: A Christmas Carol'', it manages to have a normal song paired with a
* "Colors of the Wind (Reprise)" from ''[[Pocahontas]]''. It's a somber, instrumental version of the song "Colors of the Wind" that plays at the end of the film where {{spoiler|John Smith is actually sent back to England as a result of him being shot by accident by the villain while attempting to protect the Indian chief.}}
* "The Bare Necessities (Reprise)" from ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]''. It's sung by Baloo and Bagheera as the two both walk off into the sunset after Mowgli bids them both farewell and heads back to the Man-village.
* "Friends to the End (reprise)" from ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Movie]]'', which plays when [[Tom and Jerry]] start to chase each other again, all without any dialogue.
* In ''[[Mulan]]'' there is a song called "Reflection" that is already a mild [[Tear Jerker]] when it is first played after a lighthearted scene involving Mulan messing up in front of the matchmaker. Another version of it is played in the end credits, and while it isn't necessarily "darker" in and of itself, (just gentler and slower) the film's [[Tear Jerker|most upsetting moments]] are between the original version of the song and its
=== Other Animated Film ===
* In ''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]'', let's not forget the Goofy Goober song. Sung at the beginning in a childish, sugary haze, it is later reprised in a slower, lower key as the two main characters are literally being killed. Definitely counts as a ''Crowning Moment of Tearful''.
** The song is once again revamped later on as a ''Crowning Music of Awesome''.
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* ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'' is this to the original ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. Apart from the [[Darker and Edgier]] approach, even the soundtrack features Dark Reprises of well-known tunes from the game itself - the random battle theme (which reached [[Ear Worm]] status for obvious reasons) is now a chilling piano instrumental, and even the iconic [[One-Winged Angel]] has been amped up into a rock opera.
* ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]'' - When Coraline visits the Other Mother's parallel world, she meets the other world's version of Mister Bobinsky (her strange yet friendly house neighbor), who performs his the "Mice Circus" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtDH_YlwuWY&feature=related song]. Later, when Coraline heads back to retrieve the souls of the Other Mother's victims, she finds the circus in disrepair and the Other Mr. Bobinsky reduced to a pile of talking rats. The song accompanying this scene presents the feeling of a circus [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIkW6LkX6jw&feature=related falling apart].
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'' begins with a montage of clips of Andy playing with his toys while 'You've Got a Friend in Me' plays, until {{spoiler|suddenly the music stops and the line 'our friendship will never die' is the last line you hear.}}
* "Breakout/It Comes With a Pool" from ''[[Dinosaur]]'', which is a dark reprise of "Courtship." It's played during the scene where Aladar, the Lemurs, Eema, Baylene, and Url accidentally discover an alternate route to the Nesting Grounds while attempting to find their way out of a large cave. The reprise comes in when Zini the lemur starts to surf in the lake, and the dark part comes in when Eema actually tells Aladar that the old entrance to the Nesting Grounds has been blocked by a huge landslide, and that Kron is threatening all the other dinosaurs into taking that route.
** Also "Across the Desert", which is a slow and somber version of "Raptors/Aladar Meets the Herd". It's played during the scene where Kron forces the Herd (as well as Aladar, the Lemurs, Eema, Baylene, and Url) to march across an endless desert reminiscent of the final act of [[Fantasia|''The Rite of Spring''.]] Fortunately, there's a lake ahead...
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=== Live Action Film Musicals ===
* In ''[[Mary Poppins]]'', an already dark song gets an ''[[Up to Eleven|even darker]]'' reprise. "Feed the Birds" is first sung by Mary to the Children, and later played in an orchestral version [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYsSyCtjuNI as Mr. Banks heads off to be fired]. The reprise continues relatively toned down as Banks walks alone through the London streets until he reaches St. Paul's... and its steps are completely barren, of birds and bird woman alike. At this point the orchestra swells to its full tearful majesty as Mr. Banks looks skyward, forlorn and desperate.
** Earlier, after Mr. Banks sings a self-pitying song about said firing (itself a Dark Reprise of "The Life I Lead", Mr. Banks' theme), Bert (Bert!) gives him a [[Reason You Suck Speech|Reason You Suck Song]] by both echoing "The Life I Lead" and reprising "A Spoonful of Sugar" into a song about Banks' neglect of his children for his work.
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* Jack's reprise of "Santa Fe" in ''[[Newsies]]'' is pretty damn bleak.
* [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Wall]]'' features a darker reprise of an already-dark song. "In The Flesh?" expresses Pink's disillusionment with life, or, alternately, an outsider's view as Pink starts to isolate himself. Later, "In The Flesh!" shows Pink's graduation into a full-blown fascist after a psychotic breakdown.
* In ''[[The Sound of Music]]'', the song ''Edelweiss'' comes up twice: First as a straightforward sign that Captain von Trapp is finally opening up to his family, and later as a defiant but bittersweet statement of patriotism in the face of a Nazi takeover that will do away with the country he loves. It's a subtler version in that the song is performed in the same key, performed by the same person, and does not differ until the Captain falters in his singing. (This is only a
* While not exactly a reprise ''[[A Muppet Christmas Carol]]'' had a sad little echo of 'Bless Us All', sung by Tiny Tim about how he and his family have so much to be grateful for, played as it pans over his crutch after his death with his family in mourning.
** It also contains a Light Reprise of 'When Love Is Gone' sung while Scrooge is left by his fiance sung at the end as 'The Love We Found' after he changes his ways. Sadly, the first song was cut from the theatrical release (and only reinstated on some video releases), meaning that the finale is less poignant.
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=== Other Live Action Film ===
* ''[[Titanic]]'': Near the middle of the movie, Jack is singing 'Come Josephine' to Rose as they stand near the front of the ship because it feels like they're flying. Later, singing the song is the only thing keeping Rose alive.
* In the soundtrack to the Kenneth Branagh movie of Shakespeare's ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'', the melody of the wedding march at Hero's first, doomed wedding reappears (in minor key) as her dirge when she is believed dead. By contrast, no music is played at the second wedding (during which the audience knows that the bride is Hero, alive and well, but her groom believes her dead and thinks he is marrying her cousin) until the moment she lifts her veil. This is very effective in setting the mood for all three scenes.
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* "Gong Jin'ou", the national anthem of the Qing Dynasty, is sung formally in ''The Last Emperor'', then gets sadly reprised one last time before the Qing abdicate in a real [[Tear Jerker]].
* Parodied (or played straight, or...who the hell knows?) in ''The Brothers Solomon'', in which the power ballad "St. Elmo's Fire" (from the film of the same name) is used first as a general triumphant anthem for the titular brothers. During their (extremely brief) falling out, a more sombre, acoustic version of the song is played.
* ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]: Revenge Of The Fallen'' has a
** Many of the musical themes from the first film are gone, and Optimus's theme becomes the backbone of the score. However, it's never in the same tone of the previous film, which was performed on a woodwind and with minimal percussion to make Optimus's theme sound more organic. The two main treatments are a minor-key variation with dark brass, and a more "spiritual" take (generally used for scenes involving the mythology and taking place after {{spoiler|Optimus's death}}) utilizing a [[One-Woman Wail]]. To hear the effect in full, listen to the track titled "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMnEY2eBj4A Optimus]" from the first film, then the one titled "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRLi4JIQbsk Prime]" from the second.
** In ''Dark of the Moon'', the scene in which the Autobots are exiled and forced to leave Earth is accompanied by a heartbreakingly sad reprise of the "Arrival on Earth" theme from the first movie.
** A non-musical example would be Waspinator's [[Catch Phrase]], "Waspinator has plans..." In the show ''[[Beast Wars]]'', it's said in a comical tone of voice, but in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', it more creepy-sounding.
* Inverted at the end of ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Phantom Menace]]'', where the celebration music is a '' childrens' choir'' doing a "light" version of the Emperor's exceptionally dark [[Leitmotif]] (far grimmer than, if not as immediately imposing as, the Imperial March), foreshadowing the coming darkness. Similarly, at the end of ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'', a more triumphant version of the Imperial March is played, underscoring that while the clones appear to be a good thing at the time, evil will come of them later.
** The prequels are just full of this. Anakin's Theme from Episode I repeatedly utilizes six notes from the Imperial March in a soft, light piece. Also, it doesn't quite count, but at the end of Episode II, the love theme that plays over Anakin and Padme's wedding morphs into something that calls to mind the Imperial March. Most of the end credits music for ''Attack of the Clones'' is the love theme, with a different
** In the ''[[Shadows of the Empire]]'' soundtrack, "Leia's Nightmare" is a dark version of the "Han and the Princess" love theme mixed with the Imperial March.
** Yoda's death music in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' is a sad reprise of his theme and the Force theme.
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=== Anime ===
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' gets one. The ending theme, "Fly me to the Moon" always seemed a tad out of place, even in the beginning, but by the end in the middle of all the [[Mind Rape]], [[Heroic Sacrifice
* Gainax seems to like this. In the ''Rebuild of Evangelion'' movies, most of the soundtracks have been changed to now HAVE OMINOUS CHANTING ON TOP OF THE MUSIC! It does add to the mood of the scenes, but it sure does freak you out when you know that the voices are chanting.
** And another Gainax-example: [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]] has Libera Me From Hell, a remix between the classic, Latin song "Libera Me", and the up-beat rap-song "Rap is a Man's Soul". And that's not the only time they took a classic song and used it in an anime. Just watch the [[Rebuild of Evangelion]] version of Shinji versus Zeruel. THEY'RE PLAYING A CHILDREN'S SONG WHILE SHINJI IS CAUSING THE END OF THE WORLD, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
** Yet another Gainax example: in the penultimate episode of ''[[Mahoromatic]]
* ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' reverses this with Return to the Sea. In its first uses, it's a dark, angry song in which Sara expresses her rage and hatred. However, when Hanon's assertion that Tarou really did love Sara gets to her, she reprises the song with a happier, more optimistic tone ("The inevitable distrust/Is only harmful weakness/Love cannot be defined, but/I want to believe in it again").
* In ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', the instrumental "Romantic" is
* Appears in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' with the songs "soul-eater (so scandalous)" and "soul-eater (reprise)." The first is a hip-hop tune with [[Word Salad Lyrics]] used over some title cards and at other light-hearted moments. The second keeps the [[Word Salad Lyrics]], but the catchy refrain is gone, some of the lyrics are warped, it sounds a lot creepier in general, and it's generally played when people are going crazy.
** It also has "Black Star (never lose myself)" and "Black Star (lost myself)". The first is a stirring hip-hop song that serves as Black Star's leitmotiv, the second one is a complete jumbled mess with the voice turned incomprehensible and the entire musical arrangement sounding like a carnival on acid.
* [[Macross Frontier]] has the song ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHpt2qikj1I Aimo]'', a love song/lullaby taught to Ranka Lee by her mother. Later in the series, Ranka sings a version created by her manager, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URzO2BT8l-A Aimo O.C.]'', which changes the song into a battle hymmn.
** To say nothing of the [
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' has a weird version where the darker version shows up first... in the ''very first scene''. It's a creepy song and fits the dark atmosphere of the scene. It turns out to be a slowed down, distorted version of the ending theme, "Magia", which the show deliberately avoided using until [[Wham! Episode|Episode 3]]. The ending version is... only slightly less creepy than the one used in the opening scene.
** Another weird variation comes up late in the series. Homura's theme, "Puella in somnio" (Girl in the Dream) tends to follow her arrival onto a scene without fail, and is a mysterious and airy. A reprise comes in the form of "Inevitabilis" (Inevitable), a heavy and melancholic piano reprise that plays {{spoiler|during Episode 11 when she breaks down in front of Madoka and explains everything before resolving to fight Walpurgis Night by herself}}. While the reprise came up much earlier in the series, it's particularly more poignant in the context of this scene and sets a much bleaker tone from thereon in (which, for ''Madoka Magica'', is saying something).
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=== Literature ===
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Bilbo and Frodo sing almost the same song as they leave the Shire. A single adjective is the difference between Bilbo's song of adventure and Frodo's complaint the arduousness of his task.
{{quote|
And I must follow, if I can
Pursuing it with ''eager'' feet...
('''Frodo's version''')
Pursuing it with ''weary'' feet... }}
* In ''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]'', Francie is horrified to hear her father come home singing the last verse of "Molly Malone" ("She died of a fever, and no one could save her..."), a verse he otherwise never sang. He dies a few weeks later.
=== Live Action TV ===
* In the ''[[Fringe]]'' episode Brown Betty, the story version of Walter is introduced amongst the cheerful sound of corpses singing The Candyman. Later, he sings it to himself as his son abandons him and he is left to die alone.
* One episode of ''[[The Wonder Years]]'' opens with Kevin extolling the virtues of his sweetheart Winnie as the Beach Boys' classic "God Only Knows" plays. The song is used again at the end of the episode when {{spoiler|Winnie dumps Kevin.}}
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** The music in the final scene of "The Pandorica Opens" is a dark reprise of Amy's theme.
** The Eleventh Doctor's secondary theme, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g04jyyuXXSg&feature=related "The Mad Man With A Box"] is given a dark reprisal towards the end of "The Big Bang", entitled [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzOhu24WNbE&feature=related "The Sad Man With A Box"].
* The background music during the final scene of the ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' episode "Jaynestown" is a sad, subdued, instrumental version of the earlier [[Firefly (TV series)/Funny|"Ballad of Jayne"]].
* In the BBC adaptation of ''[[Gormenghast]]'', Lady Fuschia sings a childish (and rather stupid) rhyme to announce herself in the first episode ('I am Fuschia, I am me...') and in the final episode, Steerpike [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|sings a seriously twisted version gloating about his utter madness]] and the fact that he has {{spoiler|mudered several members of Fuchsia's family, including her two aunts, whose corpses he is dancing around at the time.}} And it's all downhill from there...
* ''[[NCIS]]'' does this in several episodes with their theme song, both with 'darker' versions as well as several sad versions. Interestingly, they often only change the speed of the song.
* [[The Mickey Mouse Club|Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company.../M-I-C (...you real soon!)/K-E-Y (Why? because we like you!)/M-O-U-S-E...]]
* "Under Your Spell," from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. {{spoiler|In the first version, an upbeat love song, Tara uses the title phrase metaphorically; later Tara discovers she is literally under a spell to prevent her breaking up with Willow, and the
* In the first minute or so of episode 44 of ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'', Doctor Maki gets a less booming version of Kougami's music.
* The episode preceding ''[[Lost]]'''s fourth season finale introduces the show's [http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Home_theme home theme] as a happy, sentimental motif. The episode's final moment's transform it into a [http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Ben song of doom].
* A sinister cello version of Jenna's Turkish pop song "Muffin Top" plays during ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]'' episodes when she or Tracy are up to something.
* In ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'', when Isabella first shows up, she's accompanied by a very dark, off-key remix of Marian's theme, indicating that her betrayal was planned from the start.
* In ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', the first appearance of King Robert is heralded by a grand song called "The King's Arrival". In the second season premiere, a more dark version of the theme plays when {{spoiler|guardsmen hunt down and systematically kill Robert's bastard children throughout the capital}}.
** In the final episode of the second season, "Valar Morghulis", a very grim, foreboding version of the series' main theme is played when {{spoiler|an army of dead led by the White Walkers approaches the Fist of the First Men.}} In the same episode, a mournful version of the main theme is played on the [[Playing the Heart Strings|Violin of Sadness]] as {{spoiler|the Stark kids, Hodor and Osha survey the burnt wreck of Winterfell}}.
=== Music ===
* Nena's hit "99 Red Balloons" is a song about 99 red balloons being mistaken for a threat on radar and the nuclear holocaust starting. It's not exactly a sunshine song, but it's rather upbeat. Then the melody and lyrics turn soft and wistful for the final verse:
{{quote|
And every one a red balloon.
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city.
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here...
And here is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go... }}
* [[The Who|The Who's]] ''The Kids Are Alright'': The middle two sentences {{spoiler|("I know, if I go, things will be a lot better for her. I had things planned, but her folks wouldn't let her.")}} change the meaning of repeated verse.
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* [[Skinny Puppy]]'s ''Remission'' has "Glass Houses", and its more sinister reprise, "Glass Out".
* Cord Lund's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1V3JW4HeBs I Wanna Be in the Cavalry] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVRbEGlB4sc its reprise:] The [[War Is Glorious|first song]] is an upbeat country song about a young recruit, full of eagerness and enthusiasm who [[Captain Obvious|wants to join the cavalry.]] [[War Is Hell|The reprise]]? [[Darker and Edgier|A song about the hardships of being of a cavalryman in the 19th century,]] [[Reality Ensues|disease, starvation, and the elements and all]]. [[It Got Worse|To add to the bleakness, the narrator is a soldier]] [[Hopeless War|in an army fighting]] [[Despair Event Horizon|a losing war]].
* In [[Joanna Newsom]]'s album Have One On Me, the final song, [http://youtu.be/-LgQhfusf_E Does Not Suffice], is a
* In "Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf" by [[The Killers]], it's the line, "And I love you endlessly, darling, don't you see, I'm not satisfied." The line isn't as noticeable at first, because it goes by quickly and the music is still playing, but when the music fades out and the song puts special emphasis on it by making it the last line in the entire song, it seems like they are trying to tell you something. {{spoiler|And they are: The next song in the trilogy, "Midnight Show", has the narrator killing his ex-girlfriend, whom the first song was also for.}}
* In "Daughter of Evil", sung by [[Vocaloid|Rin Kagamine]] (and featuring her brother Len), in the beginning we get the line, "There was, once upon a time, an evil kingdom that no one dared to face, and the ruler was a girl so mean, a little princess of only age fourteen". This line is repeated at the end, right before {{spoiler|the princess is to be killed.}} Oh, and by the way, {{spoiler|[[Wham! Line|that's not her.]]}} Guess who took her place.
** Also by [[Vocaloid]], in "Kagome, Kagome" (Circle You, Circle You), Miku and Luka singing the words to the game (which is a real game, by the way) starts out already being extremely creepy. But when you find out their reasons for being in the abandoned orphanage and the things that happened in the orphanage before it was deserted, you realize that they are very likely {{spoiler|murderous ghosts}}. The line gets even darker when they sing it a second time.
* Ne-Yo's album ''Libra Scale'' opens with "Champagne Life", which is an easygoing, upbeat party tune, full of vitality and celebratory swagger. The album closes with "What Have I Done", a regretful look back at past mistakes and broken love whose backing track echoes the carefree tune of "Champagne Life" with piercing guilt.
* Lit's "Miserable" has this happen all within the chorus: "You make me cum/You make me complete/You make me completely miserable."
* [[Green Day]]'s "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" from their [[Rock Opera]] [[
* In the ''Domain'' concept album The Last Days of Utopia, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CoAw_ZBsg&feature=related this song] is played when the main character is washed up on the shores of the titular city, and is breathtaken at its majesty. Later on, after the destruction of the island and with the main character floating alone lost at sea, we get [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70RplPqHwzs this].
* Happens within a single song for [[The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets]]' concept album ''The Shadow Out of Tim''. The song is called "Operation: Get the Hell Out of Here," and the chorus goes "Take your time, take your toll, everything's under control/Execute Operation: Get the Hell Out of Here" until after the last verse of the song, where the protagonists accidentally unleash an [[Eldritch Abomination]], it's changed to "Take your life, take your soul, everything's out of control/Execute Operation: Get the Hell Out of Here".
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** Finally, the ending chant of "She Ayesha, She Immortal" is the same as the one in the prologue of the entire opera, except now it sounds hectic and desparate as the volcano erupts around the protagonists.
* "The Princess Who Sleeps In A Glass Coffin" from [[Sound Horizon]]'s ''Märchen'', Snow White sings a darker, more vindictive version of the song's first verse once she's revived.
{{quote|
And lips red as the flame, I have been reborn.
If your burning envy has made you sin, then with burning shoes,
You shall dance until you die! }}
* Front242's ''Front By Front'' reprises "Until Death (Do Us Part)" as "Agony (Until Death)".
* The reprise of La donna e mobile near the end of ''Rigoletto''; it's the moment when Rigoletto realizes the prince is alive...
▲== Opera ==
▲* The reprise of La donna e mobile near the end of ''Rigoletto''; it's the moment when Rigoletto realizes the prince is alive...
* Echoes of the Toreador song in a darker tone while Don José kills ''Carmen''.
* Wagner's Ring: where to begin? The whole thing is an embodiment of this trope.
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=== Video Games ===
* ''[[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories]]'' has a dark reprise (fully instrumental) of its main theme Sinful Rose play during the credits of the worst ending. Post credits, horror ensues.
* ''[[Silent Hill 2]]'''s (instrumental) theme tune is strangely light and optimistic for a horror game - until a scene near the end, where a much more melancholy version plays on [[Lonely Piano Piece|piano]] and [[Playing the Heart Strings|violin]], making the moment {{spoiler|(Angela's decision to commit suicide)}} that much more heartbreaking.
** In the same game, "Fermata in Mistic Air", played when Maria dies for the second time, is a dark reprise of "Null Moon", the music when you first meet her.
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** Also, the first game has "Not Tomorrow", played when Lisa dies, which is a dark reprise of its title theme.
* Yoko Shimomura loves this trope:
** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
*** ' 'The Other Promise'' is {{spoiler|a mournful reprise of Roxas's theme, played during your battle with him}}.
*** Vanitas's battle theme {{spoiler|is remixed with Ventus, Roxas, and Sora's leitmotifs during their final battle}}.
*** {{spoiler|Aqua's battle music with Ventus/Vantias is a dark version of Dearly Beloved}}.
*** Xion's leitmotif {{spoiler|contains a riff of Kairi's theme}}.
*** Memories in Pieces is a remix of the upbeat "Hand in Hand" battle theme.
*** In [[Kingdom Hearts 3D]], {{spoiler|the Possessed Sora}} uses a darker version of {{spoiler|Destati}} as a boss theme.
*** And many more...
** An inverse example: in the first game Hollow Bastion's theme is eerie and mysterious, but in the second game where said location serves as the [[Hub Level]], the music is a more happy upbeat version of the same song.
* Although non-lyrical, in ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'' versions, the Victory Road theme is essentially a
** In ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]'', {{spoiler|1=after Es Cade is revealed to be Evice, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuu1fmAdZcs his theme] switches to a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ueGTaZhy54 sinister version].}}
** Incidentally, the stage show ''[[Pokémon Live]]'' had Giovanni sing dark reprises of both "You and Me and Pokemon" and "Everything Changes" during his [[Evil Gloating]] (and that's in addition to his own [[Villain Song]]).
* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'', {{spoiler|Zelos' happy-go-lucky samba theme song is replaced by a much darker, slower arrangement during his [[Face Heel Turn]], showing his inner darkness}}.
** Similarly, Raine's theme has two versions: the speedy, silly version that plays when she is in the throes of her ruin mania, and a slower, solemn one used for more serious scenes. This second one is what plays when Raine meets {{spoiler|her [[Missing Mom]], who has gone insane with guilt(?) and doesn't even recognize her own children.}}
* The ending sequence of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' makes good use of this with ''Eyes On Me'', which {{spoiler|at first is turned into a [[Nightmare Fuel]] psychedelic acid trip}} and later {{spoiler|serves as a true [[Tear Jerker]]}}. This is the first time we hear the song in full - although the melody is played often as background music in the game, canonically the versions we hear during gameplay are muzak covers of the real thing.
* Hunting~Betrayal from [[Digital Devil Saga|Digital Devil Saga 2]] is a reprise of the first game's battle theme, which plays during the Optional Boss fights {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|and when you take on Heat]]}}
* The theme "Otherworld" is played during the intro to ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', and it's later used as the theme for the final boss.
** The Hymn of the Fayth is normally sung to inspire hope in the listener. However, an eerie, distorted version plays during the conversation with {{spoiler|Yunalesca, where the utter futility of the pilgrimage is revealed.}}
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''; The final boss fight in Disc 1, Jenova Life, has Aerith's theme playing in the background. This is appropriate because the fight takes place after Sephiroth kills Aerith.
* The Aria sung by Celes in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' is played again when Celes {{spoiler|attempts suicide after Cid's death.}}
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* ''[[Persona 3]]'' has the Aria of the Soul - well, more specifically, the entire Persona series has Aria of the Soul, which plays in the Velvet Room, and nowhere else. However, only in Persona 3 does it go further - the final boss, the {{spoiler|Nyx Avatar}} reprises it as the Battle Hymn of the Soul. While [[Autobots Rock Out|completely and totally awesome]], it turns the normally calm and peaceful Aria of the Soul into a theme that definitely seems to embody the state of the situation your party is in: While the main guitar segment seems to be optimistic and gung-ho, the corresponding piano and vocal-oriented segments are almost pessimistic.
** In Persona 2, we had [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG51JWZxT80 Kashihara] which is a darker version of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IguZ8-lBYBE Philemon's Theme]. Also the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbkwBImjSI0 EX] battle which is actually a lighter version of the final battle.
* In ''[[Tekken]] 2'', [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mUH2BSgZFk&feature=related Devil's theme] is a darker rendition of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWpIl0AOR38 Kazuya's theme.]
** That theme was already dark to begin with.
* The final mission of ''[[Halo 3]]'' features an [[Ethereal Choir]] music piece, "Halo Reborn", which itself is a reprise of "Under Cover of Night". A sad reprise of this, "Greatest Journey", with [[Playing the Heart Strings|"violins of woe"]], is played when Sgt. Johnson dies.
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** And "Midna's Desperate Hour" is a [[Lonely Piano Piece]] version of her theme / the Hyrule Field theme.
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'', the "Great Sea Cursed" music is a dark reprise of the main overworld theme combined with Ganondorf's theme.
*** Wind Waker also does this to each of the boss themes in {{spoiler|Ganondorf's Castle}} during what borders on being a [[Boss Rush]].
*** Much like the graphic style, a lot of Wind Waker's songs are deceptively cheerful, and get twisted into something darker or [[Tear Jerker|more downtrodden]] by the end of the game. Some of the tracks that haven't been listed yet are Aryll's Theme ('Aryll's Kidnapping'), 'Hyrule King Appears' ( {{spoiler|'Farewell Hyrule King'}}), 'Hyrule Castle' (which actually ''debuts'' as 'Sealed Hyrule Castle') and even the series' main theme in the ever-popular 'The Legendary Hero'.
** ''[[Links Awakening]]'' has several dark reprises of the main Zelda theme for exploration.
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* If you fail an event in the original ''Pilotwings'', a [[Lonely Piano Piece|sad piano version]] of the "Event Clear" music plays.
* ''[[Xenogears]]'' first has the song "The Wounded Shall Advance Into the Light" play in the Nisan Cathedral, a solemn, calm environment. Later, the dark reprise "Pray for the People's Joy" is played during moments of crushing hopelessness.
* Shadow Forger Ihlakhizan's theme in ''[[
* ''[[Scott Pilgrim (video game)|Scott Pilgrim Vs The World The Game]]'' has a dark reprise of the Scott Pilgrim anthem when fighting [[Evil Twin|Nega Scott]].
* The [[Final Boss]] Music of each scenario of ''[[
* ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles]]'' has Angel Island Zone, which starts out as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC-d-AM0gCM standard island-music fare] then turns slightly darker [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GWv8JaJpc8&feature=related once the jungle is set on fire.]
** Sonic & Knuckles also has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHVZQD8PHFc Lava Reef Zone], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9utFNqhJUgY its reprise after hell freezes over].
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** There's a similar-sounding "Tango of Tears" remix of the victory fanfare in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', for when you lose a chocobo race.
* "Mine Cart Madness" from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' is an ominous, dark remix of the main DKC motif first heard in "Jungle Groove", the first level's very lively theme.
** And in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'' they give Mine Cart Madness a dark''er'' reprise in the form of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqYlMjO2B70&feature=related Roasting Rails].
** ''Returns'' also has the fiendish and fast paced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718pU5J7AUg Muncher Marathon] theme, which is one of these for the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONR1eyPOPJc default Forest level music].
* In ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]'', the music for your house and Spiral Mountain are both upbeat and bouncy. In the sequel, however, Spiral Mountain's theme has a more mournful melody, and the music for Banjo's house sounds sort of empty, considering it's just been demolished. Within the same game, the sequel has King Jingaling's Palace, which has a melody that tells how you're in the presence of royalty. Once Grunty and her sisters zap his life energy and zombifies him, though, that same song seems to have less life in it. Put simply, this series has a lot of
* Inverted in ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]'' with a major version of Lechuck's theme.
* ''[[Axelay]]'' has this for the boss themes, basically much darker versions of their respective stage themes.
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' manages to make an already dark theme darker, not just one time but twice, turning [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAupQUUglkU goldenslaughterer] (which usually plays when a murder scene is discovered) into [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqjm6QZOeUs resurrected replayer], and then to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euezX9D3aDE&feature=related the executioner].
** Another song that gets this treatment is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGwL97BRAOE&feature=related deadangle] which is only played in the more hopeless of situation, which then becomes [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLJWV4rxVTg&feature=related discolor], which plays in one of the [[Tear Jerker|saddest scenes in the game]].
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*** Shi-Long Lang's initial theme, [http://youtu.be/YstILpaevkk Speak up, Pup], changes to [http://youtu.be/QkXn8XhXglc this] whenever he mentions {{spoiler|the fall of the house of Lang}}.
* ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Frontline'' uses a minor-key version of its title theme at certain points, such as at the end of the OST track "After the Drop".
* The song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsuWrntBz6E "I AM NOT A MORON"] from Portal 2 becomes a dark reprise of ''itself'' as the scene it plays during switches from being about {{spoiler|[[Robot Buddy]] Wheatley taking control of the Enrichment Center from [[Big Bad]] [[
* If Harry dies in ''[[Pitfall]] II'', a minor version of the [[Theme Music Power-Up]] plays.
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', ''Family'' is a slower, more wistful version of the theme from ''Earth''.
* Homeworld starts -after a much needed tutorial- with the epic scene of launching the Mothership. Meanwhile, the vocal version of Adagio for Strings, Agnus Dei, plays during the launch sequence. Cue two missions later after a small trip to the edge of the solar system: your fleet returns home only to find your homeworld ''burning''. The same bloody song, which filled you with triumph, ''will'' reduce you to tears.
** And then there is the twist at the end, you arrive at your long lost homeworld and here the same song is again, but this time it once again fills you with triump and a glorious feeling.
* ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'''s final boss theme, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PjEN-zFlDQ "The Battle For Freedom"] contains both a
* In ''[[Sonic Colors]]'' for the Wii, the final boss uses a dark, vocal-less remix of the games theme song Reach for the Stars.
* In ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'': Oogie's Revenge (the video game sequel to the movie), "[http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=w_1C6nZc-rE&v=jL0HwgNKeC8 Oh No!]" is a minor-key reprise of Jack Skellington's cheerfully macabre "What's This?", after he finds Christmas Town in ruins. Most of Oogie's Revenge is composed of reprises of the original songs, but this is the biggest [[Mood Whiplash]] from the original.
** There is also "Take Our Town Back" to the tune of "Making Christmas" about the townspeople banding together to defeat Oogie, and "Sally's Song" a darker, up-tempo version of the same song from the original film which is now a duet between Sally and Jack about Oogie's deception.
* The final boss theme in ''[[Dragon Quest IX]]'' contains a minor key variation of the series main theme.
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=== Web Comic ===
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' uses this multiple times over the course of the soundtracks; for example, the lighthearted song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6LcnuowRc0 "Harlequin"] from early in the story gets a pretty effective
** Another song, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So0ptdMJj0Y "Chorale for Jaspers"], is used in Volume 1 as a sort of silly, self-parodying epitaph for Rose's childhood cat. The same melody appears [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUbUFb5stQI hundreds of pages] later in a dramatic scene where {{spoiler|Rose faces [[Big Bad|Jack]] to avenge the mother and friend he murdered.}}
=== Web Original ===
* ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog|Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog]]'' has one with "Slipping." The song's melody is first heard as background music as Horrible is attempting to steal the Wonderflonium. When we actually hear it as a song in its own right, it's significantly darker...not that it doesn't have totally random humorous moments (such as the Doctor interrupting ''his own song'' to give a reporter the correct spelling of his name.) This is Dr. Horrible, the king of [[Mood Whiplash]], we're talking about.
** Also, the theme song. Also a mild subversion in {{spoiler|Brand new day / the music at the party after Hammer's defeat. The subversion is that BOTH usages are dark, but in different ways.}}
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** It also helped that the snippet played ended before getting to the outright sillier lyrics ("My car's like a puma, it drives on all fours").
* Draco's solo in "Back To Hogwarts" from ''[[A Very Potter Musical]]''. It switches from the happy major of everyone else's solos to a high minor, and it's about his dream of ''leaving'' Hogwarts, [[Take Over the World|taking over the world]], forcing everyone to submit to him, and getting Harry out of his way. Of course, since it's a parody musical, it's played for comedy:
{{quote|
=== Other ===▼
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': [[A Day in The Life|The Tale of Iroh]] once has Iroh singing [http://audio.avatarspiritmedia.net/Little%20Soldier%20Boy.mp3 a fairly happy song] to cheer up a crying child. He later sings it while breaking into tears as {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|he sets up a memorial for his dead son]].}}▼
** Only made worse in that the song is about a soldier coming home. {{spoiler|Iroh's son}} was a soldier who died in battle.▼
*** Not to mention that the whole mini-episode doubles as a {{spoiler|memorial for the actor voicing Iroh up to that point}}▼
** Even more interesting since the first time the song sends the message that [[War Is Glorious]]. The [[Dark Reprise]] instead sends the opposite message that [[War Is Hell]].▼
** Done to comic effect in another episode, where the leitmotif of the imitation Avatars is the normally awe-inspiring Avatar music [[Crowning Moment of Funny|played on an off-key tuba]].▼
* The song Apu sings in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode after losing his job; "Who needs the Quickie Mart?... I dooooooooo!"▼
** He lied to us through song! I HATE when people do that!▼
** Also from ''The Simpsons'': in the episode "Elementary School Musical", the Art Camp counsellors (who are actually [[Flight of the Conchords]]) sing Lisa and the other kids a song about how exciting being an artist is. When Lisa travels to Sprooklyn to become an artist, however, they decide to "sing her the truth"; a dark reprise about how [[Starving Artist|being an artist means taking demeaning jobs and living off sandwiches that dropped on the floor]].▼
* One episode of ''[[My Little Pony]] Tales'' has Starlight sing about her crush on [[The Ace|Ace]] while [[Imagine Spot|picturing the two of them]] as a "Perfect Pair". She then joins the soccer team, only to discover Ace is a [[Jerk Jock]] who goes out of his way to humiliate her [[For the Evulz|just because he can]]. Cue a weepy reprise where she admits "We're... not a perfect pair."▼
** ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' had an absolute bombshell of one of these. The Season 2 Finale, A Canterlot Wedding, introduces Twilight Sparkle's brother Shining Armor as the groom. However, his bride {{spoiler|who is actually a fake}} and {{spoiler|the real Princess Cadence}} engage in a [[Distant Duet]] entitled "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Wl72X4wlc This Day Aria.]" A few scenes later, the villain, {{spoiler|who reveals herself as the fake Cadence}}, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJw0ktrsv6w reprises the song], and the scenes of carnage and war play while she sings. ▼
* The [[Animated Adaptation|TV Special]] of [[Dr. Seuss|Dr. Seuss']] ''[[The Lorax]]'' has a whole bunch of these as {{spoiler|everyone leaves the land}}.▼
* ''[[Underdog (animation)|Underdog]]'', in "Riffraffville", when he's running out of energy: ([[Spaghetti Western]] style) "Once he was lightning, once he was thunder, now this could end him, if he should blunder. ''Without his super energy pill, he get weaker and weaker and weaker still'' ".▼
* In ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama World Tour]]'''s first song, Noah's only line has him sarcastically echoing the song itself.▼
** "Come fly with us, come DIE with us."▼
* In ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]]'', the standard music for the combination of the Wild Force Megazord begins with a jungle drumbeat, symbolic of the show's theme. When Zen-Aku combines the Predazord for the first time on screen, it's personal theme begins with an off-key version of the Wild Force Megazord's theme.▼
▲== Other ==
* [[Doctor Who]] And The Pirates (one of the [[Expanded Universe|audio stories]]) has Evelyn Smythe and Red Jasper claiming to be a Pirate Queen and King respectively, filking a Gilbert and Sullivan song while Evelyn (a sixty-something history lecturer) attempted to intimidate a pirate crew. Red Jasper sings it again shortly afterwards, celebrating his absolute authority after forcing a crewman to eat his own tongue. The enthusiastic pirate chorus is... somewhat less enthusiastic.
* The old entrance music of [[CHIKARA|Colin & Jimmy Olsen]] in 06-07 was Britney Spears' 'Toxic', along with the intro from [[Full House]]. After Colin left for [[
* If you've ever rode on the Disneyland ride, Splash Mountain (based on the movie, [[Song of the South]]) the annoyingly addictive song "Laughing Place" becomes more sinister when the ride passes by the two sinister, animatronic crows anxiously waiting for Brer Rabbit's death (and, in the Disneyland Anaheim version, before that scene, the dark reprise starts earlier with two Mother characters exclusive to that version of the ride singing mournfully about Brer Rabbit being caught facing certain death warning their children to not go to the laughing place). and when it climb up the last and highest hill in the cave before descending below. 4:54 in this soundtrack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIEvJfKSex4&feature=related
▲=== Stage Musicals ===
* "The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring" from ''The Mikado''.
** Another [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] example is "Happily Coupled are We" from ''Ruddigore'', though Rose's verse was cut in several of the D'Oyly Carte revivals, thus adding the [[Second Verse Curse]] to the curse upon the Murgatroyds.
** The second act of ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' is full of this kind of song (as well as the other kind of
* "America" from ''[[West Side Story]]''.
* "Master of the House" from ''[[Les Misérables (theatre)|Les Misérables]]''. Two verses of a character glorifying his own wicked ways, and in the last verse his wife comes in and insists that he's just a petty crook.
* The character of Che is a constant sarcastic echo to the title character in ''[[Evita]]''. It's never certain whether he's adding his own acerbic commentary... or voicing the cynical and darker subtext that Evita herself hides behind her upbeat words. "Goodnight and Thank You" showcases this best. "High Flying, Adored," reverses this sequence, with Che's grim assessment of Eva's fortunes making the main part of the song, while being undermined by Eva's euphoric attitude.
** His opening act, "Oh What a Circus", manages to be an ''ahead-of-time'' sarcastic echo of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". One wonders whether first-time audiences (before the latter song became famous by itself) quite got the nuances of that ...
*** Don't Cry For Me Argentina gets a more traditional Dark reprise, when Eva sings the melody during her last broacast with the wrods 'Don't cry for me, Argentina/The truth is i shall not leave you/ Though it may get harder/for you to see me/ I'm Argentina/ and always will be.'
* "You Must Meet My Wife" from ''[[A Little Night Music]]''.
* "Baby, Dream Your Dream" from ''[[Sweet Charity]]''. Starts out with Nikki and Helene mocking Charity's optimism, but then they reveal that they would love to have someon to love them.
* The Act II version "Not a Day Goes By" from Sondheim's ''[[Merrily We Roll Along]]'', in which Frank and Beth sing of their love for each other while their words are echoed by Mary, who is secretly in love with Frank. Of course, the Act I version of the song - which Beth sings bitterly to Frank after their divorce - is also a
* ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' has this in the first major duet after the opening number. "There's No Place Like London" opens with Anthony singing the praises of the city in tones of romantic idealism. His fellow passenger, Sweeney Todd, who lived in London all his life before being sent overseas on a false charge fifteen years ago, has nothing but contempt for the city, and his darkly cynical lyrics contrast Anthony's opening in a big way.
* "O Happy We" from ''Candide'', may be an unintentional invocation of this trope, as Candide and Cunegonde talk past each other obliviously as they discuss their radically different images of married life. (Some versions of this show gave this song an actual
* In ''[[Chicago]]'', Roxie's song "Funny Honey" suddenly turns spiteful when her husband Amos fails to maintain an alibi for the murder she committed.
* "All for the Best" in ''[[Godspell]]'' has Jesus sing the first verse to say that the suffering one goes through in life is "all for the best" in heaven. Judas then says that anything of any value is "all for the best" people.
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=== Animated Film Musicals ===
* "I won't say I'm in love" from ''[[Hercules (
* Similar to the above is the song "On the Open Road" from ''[[A Goofy Movie]]''. Goofy is excited and happy about his road trip with his son, who is inversely angry and depressed about leaving his new girlfriend behind.
=== Live Action Film Musicals ===
* In ''[[The Producers]]'', the song "We Can Do It" has Bialystock and Bloom alternately singing about how their plan cannot and is sure to fail, respectively.
** Also, Max's song "Betrayed" is practically the entire show abridged, and includes mocking Leo.
=== Anime and Manga ===
* Two versions of the song "Aura" in ''[[.hack|.hack//SIGN]]''. One showing the majesty of The World, and the other the horror.
=== Film - Animated ===
* ''Frosty Returns'' has one called "Let There Be Snow", but it's unique in that it gets ''two'' sarcastic echoes. In the first time the song was sung, the school children are playing and singing about how much they love the snow, while the snow-shovelling adults voice their complaints through song. Later in the special, the song is reprised as the protagonists explore a landscape filled with snow, singing about the benefits of snow. At one point, it cuts to the [[Big Bad]] [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] sitting in his limousine elsewhere, and the music takes on an industrial arrangement as he extolls his plans on becoming king now that his patented method of getting rid of snow has gone mainstream.
=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* During the climactic "Walk Through The Fire" in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' musical episode "Once More, With Feeling", quotes from the earlier, more positive "If we're together" appear as sarcastic echoes.
* The theme song of the show ''[[Green Acres]]'' is similar to, but lighter than the ''Candide example'', where husband and wife protagonists give radically different versions of the perfect life to the same melody.
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=== Music ===
* Used in Lupe Fiasco's already somewhat dark song 'The Die.' The second verse consists of the character's friend trying to convince him that he's safe, while the killer repeats the laundry-list of 'hidden' guns, and the two's plans for the evening and replaces the last line ('Go and get some grub') with 'Catch a few slugs'
** A lot of Fiasco's songs have a darker meaning in them. He can be extremely dark when he wants to be. For example, his smash hit Superstar can sounds cool, smooth and joyful at first, but if you know Lu's music, and know how he sometimes calls out other rappers for the content of their music and all that, the chorus will sound a little scary. If you are what you say you are, a superstar, have no fear.
=== Opera ===
* Used often in opera, making it [[Older Than Radio]].
** A good example is when we hear "Non piu andrai" from Figaro, reprised in Don Giovanni.
=== [[Professional Wrestling]] ===
* During a famous angle in which his career was almost [[Ten-Minute Retirement|ended]] by Earthquake, a video shown on WWE TV (and later in home video) about [[Hulk Hogan]] started by playing his famous entrance theme "Real American", but cut to footage of Hogan being massacred by Earthquake on "The Brother Love Show" set to a sad, melancholy, string version of "Real American" which ended with a shot of Hogan's locker being slammed shut.
** Another WWE video detailed the history of the company set to [[Kid Rock]]’s Lonely Road of Faith. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84yacsM03H4\] As the [[New World Order]] were set to debut, they made their own version. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe8aFH-WWZk\]
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* "On The Rise" from ''[[
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[The Batman]]'' - Joker has his own version of [[Lock and Load Montage|gear up sequence]] when he decides to become Batman for an episode.
* In ''[[Adventure Time]]'' Simon sings the cheers theme song twice. The first time is to cheer up Marceline, the second time he sings it as [[Survival Mantra]] to hold onto his sanity while he uses [[Artifact of Doom|his crown]]
▲* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': [[A Day in The Life|The Tale of Iroh]] once has Iroh singing [https://web.archive.org/web/20100706015204/http://audio.avatarspiritmedia.net/Little%20Soldier%20Boy.mp3 a fairly happy song] to cheer up a crying child. He later sings it while breaking into tears as {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|he sets up a memorial for his dead son]].}}
▲** Only made worse in that the song is about a soldier coming home. {{spoiler|Iroh's son}} was a soldier who died in battle.
▲*** Not to mention that the whole mini-episode doubles as a {{spoiler|memorial for the actor voicing Iroh up to that point}}
▲** Even more interesting since the first time the song sends the message that [[War Is Glorious]]. The
▲** Done to comic effect in another episode, where the leitmotif of the imitation Avatars is the normally awe-inspiring Avatar music [[Crowning Moment of Funny|played on an off-key tuba]].
▲* The song Apu sings in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode after losing his job; "Who needs the Quickie Mart?... I dooooooooo!"
▲** He lied to us through song! I HATE when people do that!
▲** Also from ''The Simpsons'': in the episode "Elementary School Musical", the Art Camp counsellors (who are actually [[Flight of the Conchords]]) sing Lisa and the other kids a song about how exciting being an artist is. When Lisa travels to Sprooklyn to become an artist, however, they decide to "sing her the truth"; a dark reprise about how [[Starving Artist|being an artist means taking demeaning jobs and living off sandwiches that dropped on the floor]].
▲* One episode of ''[[My Little Pony]] Tales'' has Starlight sing about her crush on [[The Ace|Ace]] while [[Imagine Spot|picturing the two of them]] as a "Perfect Pair". She then joins the soccer team, only to discover Ace is a [[Jerk Jock]] who goes out of his way to humiliate her [[For the Evulz|just because he can]]. Cue a weepy reprise where she admits "We're... not a perfect pair."
▲** ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' had an absolute bombshell of one of these. The Season 2 Finale, A Canterlot Wedding, introduces Twilight Sparkle's brother Shining Armor as the groom. However, his bride {{spoiler|who is actually a fake}} and {{spoiler|the real Princess Cadence}} engage in a [[Distant Duet]] entitled "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Wl72X4wlc This Day Aria.]" A few scenes later, the villain, {{spoiler|who reveals herself as the fake Cadence}}, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJw0ktrsv6w reprises the song], and the scenes of carnage and war play while she sings.
▲* The [[Animated Adaptation|TV Special]] of [[Dr. Seuss|Dr. Seuss']] ''[[The Lorax]]'' has a whole bunch of these as {{spoiler|everyone leaves the land}}.
▲* ''[[Underdog (animation)|Underdog]]'', in "Riffraffville", when he's running out of energy: ([[Spaghetti Western]] style) "Once he was lightning, once he was thunder, now this could end him, if he should blunder. ''Without his super energy pill, he get weaker and weaker and weaker still'' ".
▲* In ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama World Tour]]'''s first song, Noah's only line has him sarcastically echoing the song itself.
▲** "Come fly with us, come DIE with us."
▲* In ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]]'', the standard music for the combination of the Wild Force Megazord begins with a jungle drumbeat, symbolic of the show's theme. When Zen-Aku combines the Predazord for the first time on screen, it's personal theme begins with an off-key version of the Wild Force Megazord's theme.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Theater Tropes]]
[[Category:Musical Number Index]]
[[Category:Music Tropes]]
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