Rearrange the Song: Difference between revisions

With musicians, they can sometimes do [[Cover Version|cover versions]] of their own material as a method of pushing the envelope with their own work. Musicians also do it with other people's work as parody or homage.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime ==

* No theme has been rearranged more than the classic crooner's tune "Fly Me To The Moon" (itself a heavily rearranged version of an old waltz), which was the ending for ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. There's about 15 to 20 versions used for the show's ending, and that's for a 26-episode TV series. The ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' rendition "Fly Me To The Moon" is of itself a rearrangement. It was originally written by Bart Howard in 1954.

* ''[[Di Gi Charat Nyo]]'' used a remix of Equal Romace, an end theme of Ranma1/2, as it's ending theme.

* The second season of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' does this an interesting way. It plays the tune of the first season; ''backwards'', with enough variation to be an actual tune.

 

== Film ==

* A jazz version of the 1966 theme to ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' plays over the closing credits to the ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]]'' movie.

** The movies also feature an extra singing the theme at some point.

* Rap versions of the theme to ''[[The Addams Family]]'' are played over the closing credits of both movies.

* [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney movies]] simultaneously release the version one hears in the soundtrack, plus a version recorded by a popular recording artist arranged specifically for radio play with the intention of getting a hit single.

** And then there's the background music/muzik version in that infamous Scientology video (at least one person was surprised that it was actually being played and not a repeated clip).

* The sequel to ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' had the iconic [[Theme Tune]] rearranged to a rap by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLWOaAJtjgI Run DMC].

** Cartoon sequel ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' had a much more sinister version of the classic theme, in keeping with the series' [[Darker and Edgier]] mood.

* ''The X-Files: I Want To Believe'' features a remix of the theme song in the credits.

 

* ''[[The Bill]]'' has rearranged its theme music five times in its 26 years on the air. The original version of the theme was arranged in the irregular time signature of 7/4, giving it almost a reggae style beat. But subsequent rearrangements have been done in the regular time signature of 4/4, making them considerably less interesting as a result. In 2009 however, the theme was changed completely, to a darker and edgier theme to fit with the show's retool, albeit with a small homage to the original theme. At the end of the final episode, a new rearranged version of the original theme played, although similar in tone to the 2009 theme.

* ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' arranged its same theme music differently every season. It was just an instrumental the first season. But in later seasons it was rearranged as a salsa song, acapella(performed by Bobbie McFerrin), a ballet, and in the final season, an [[Homage]] to / [[The Jimmy Hart Version]] of the old song "Shotgun", but still recognizable as the same song the show had started out with.

Oh my love, that's where we must fly,

and let the world go by, just you and I.

 

Come, hit the Stardust Trail, we'll throw our cap at Mars;

we'll catch a comet's tail, and we'll sail to the stars!

 

Though the years go by like a silver stream,

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]:'' got rearranged theme music from season 3 on, but they kept the original arrangement for the closing credits.

* ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' had its theme rearranged for its fifth season. The fans hated it. So it switched back to the original arrangement for the very final episode.

 

== Music ==

* [[Elvis Costello]] rearranged "Watching the Detectives" to an Orchestral Big Band number out of the 1950s.

* [[Eric Clapton]] has done a soulful, unplugged version of his own song, "Layla." [https://web.archive.org/web/20090402040912/http://retrocrush.buzznet.com/archive2007/badcovers/part3.html Opinions vary].

* [[The Police]] released a 1985 remix of "Don't Stand So Close To Me"

* [[The Rock]]'s theme – basically, based off his [[Catch Phrase|signature line]] "If you smeeeellllllll .... what the Rock ... is ... cookin'!" – has been reworked many times.

* During Jacques Rougeau's run as rouge lawman The Mountie, he used the narcissist "I'm the Mountie!" (a heel marching tune) as his entrance theme. When he began teaming with Pierre Oulette as The Quebecers in 1993, the theme was reworked to "We're Not the Mounties," with Rougeau and Oulette re-recording the theme as a duet. The instrumentation was slightly re-worked, but the only changes to the lyrics were the title line and first-person pronouns (e.g., I, my) were made plural (we and our, respectively).

 

== Radio ==

* Radio 4's ''PM'' has a business news section called "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Upshares, Downshares]]". Every week, it's introduced by a different arrangement of the ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' theme, many of them sent in by listeners.

 

== Theatre ==

* The 2011 stage adaptation of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' uses the full original lyrics of "Arabian Nights", and also restores the [[Cut Song|previously unused]] reprises of that song.

* The songs in [[Jersey Boys]] are subtly rearranged from the original versions by the [[Four Seasons]]. Most of the songs are slightly faster, with a different instrument mix and a verse cut out so they can all fit in a two-hour musical.

 

== Video Games ==

* The first ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' used a rearrangement of the series' traditional title screen music that added a new part to the melody. The second one took that part and made it the main melody, with the traditional melody still appearing, but only later in the song.

* For its ''Anniversary'' [[Enhanced Remake]], ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' had its soundtrack re-recorded and remastered by Pyramind Studios, as well as having its orchestral pieces conducted by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' got a new version of the [[Theme Tune]] to go with the [[Art Shift]] in Season 2. The original version was sort of light and mystical-sounding. The Season 2 rearrangement was full of crunchy guitar and was definitely made to sound more like rock.

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' theme has been rearranged countless times in the series, to the point where it is almost a [[Running Gag]].

* ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' turns the franchise's famous theme song into a sinister [[Alternative Rock]] number.

* In the first season of ''[[The Raccoons]]'', the ending theme "Run With Us" was sung by Steve Lunt and was a [[Single-Stanza Song]], but in all subsequent seasons, it was performed by Lisa Lougheed ([[The Danza|Lisa Raccoon]]) [[Rewritten Pop Version|with additional lyrics]].

* Virtually all of the music in ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' is the theme song rescored to match the musical style of the part of the world that episode takes place in.

* For a scene in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' where [[Batman]], [[Green Lantern]] and [[Wonder Woman]] (along with more era-appropriate heroes like [[Jonah Hex]] are riding through the [[Wild West]] on horses on their way to the lair of the episode's [[Big Bad]], a Western-ised version of the theme music from the original Justice League plays.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Score and Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Theme Tune]]