Dark Reprise: Difference between revisions

** 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.

** 'The Eve of the War' and 'The Fighting Machine' are also reprised on several occasions (usually to accompany situations of impending doom), but the example that fits this trope best is the start of Dead London, which features a slow, somber repeat of the Fighting Machine main riff. Jeff Wayne likes this trope.

** Wicked is in love with this trope. The riff which accompanies the lyrics "Unlimited/My future is unlimited" in "The Wizard and I" is heard three times more throughout the musical, in "Defying Gravity" ("Unlimited/Together we're unlimited"), at one point in the full version of "No Good Deed" ("Unlimited/The damage is unlimited"), and finally at the beginning of "For Good" ("Limited/Just look at me, I'm limited").

** Also, "I'm Not That Girl" - same words, different character singing it.

* [[Man of La Mancha]] has a song "Little Bird, Little Bird", which is first sung by a group of men attempting to flirt with Aldonza, the tavern wench whom Don Quixote imagines to be a noble lady. Much later in the story, while singing the same song, they rape her.

** In the same musical, the song "Dulcinea" has two dark reprises. Directly after Don Quixote sings it to Aldonza, the muleteers (same group of men from the above example) sing the chorus mockingly. Later, when Don Quixote is {{spoiler|dying and has renounced his dreams}}, Aldonza sings a version with slightly different lyrics back to him, begging him to make her feel like someone with self-worth and dignity again.

** The [[Crowd Song]] "Facade" gets ''four'' reprises, two of which are much darker than the original song already is.

** Not to mention, "Lost in the Darkness" is first sung by Jekyll to his father, who is mentally ill. In the latter part of the musical, after he's realized how much control Hyde has over him, he sings it to himself; using the exact same words.

** 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.

** Even better - Mrs. Lovett's first [[Dark Reprise]] of "Not While I'm Around" actually comes ''right in the middle of Toby's version'', complete with an off-key violin screeching under her vocals to set it apart from the rest.

** 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 [[Dark Reprise]] is its juxtaposition with Sweeney's lyrically and musically distinct song, also called "Johanna," as he ''cuts people's throats and shunts their corpses into a bakery''.

*** 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.

** In fact, nearly every song in this show has a [[Dark Reprise]]... most of which are incredibly dark to begin with: "A Barber and His Wife," "A Little Priest," and "Pretty Women," just to name a few. Sondheim's pretty economical with his musical material.

** Chauvelin sings "Where's The Girl?" as a love song to Marguerite, then later renounces her in a snarling reprise.

** Shortly after "When I Look at You", it is repeated by a second character with exactly the same lyrics.

** "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" could also be considered an example of this trope. Depending on what the director chooses to do, the cabaret dancers sometimes sing it early on while everything's still going well, as a happy, hopeful anthem.

** "Married" also qualifies. Not that the words are changed, but in the reprise the song is interrupted by {{spoiler|a brick being thrown through the window of Herr Schultz's shop, because he is Jewish. This causes Fraulein Schneider to realize she can't marry him}}.

** "Reviewing The Situation" is first sung by Fagin as he tries and fails to convince himself to abandon his criminal ways, later reprised with the Artful Dodger as they pledge their dedication to a life of crime.

** "It's a Fine Life" may be an even better example of this trope. It's first sung by Nancy and Bet as a relatively cheerful song, but is later reprised by Nancy, Bill Sikes, Fagin, and Dodger in a more sarcastic and dark manner.

** In the Broadway version, Mimi repeats some of the lyrics from 'Light My Candle' in the finale.

** Where "Seasons of Love" uses the optimistic lines "How do you measure, measure a year?" and "How do you measure a year in the life?" the reprise "Seasons of Love B," from later on in Act II, has the darker "How do you figure a last year on earth?"

* Early in ''She Loves Me'', the protagonist's boss, Mr. Marazak, sings "Days Gone By," in which he reminisces about his freewheeling days as a young man and meeting his wife. Later, {{spoiler|after he finds out his wife has been cheating on him,}} he sings the song again, with identical lyrics, which take on a much more poignant meaning.

* One of the three couples in ''Baby'' is barren, and trying desperately to conceive. The wife, Pam, tries to cheer up her husband, Nick, describing their rigorous (and restrictive) sex schedule in pleasant terms in "Romance." The song gets reprised twice, getting increasingly ironic and agitated, until they get fed up and decide to stop trying.

** And Gavroche's reprise of "Little People" {{spoiler|when he gets shot at the barricades}} ?

*** In some versions, the song is instead "Ten Little Bullets", a dark reprise of his [["I Am" Song]] segment in "Look Down"

** Also, "I'm Alive", while very dark in substance in its initial iteration, becomes even more overwhelmingly vicious halfway through its reprise — Gabe becomes very vehement in tone and word choice as he {{spoiler|reasserts his control over Diana}}.

** Although "I Am The One" isn't exactly happy, musically it's very upbeat and energetic, and includes Dan's reassurances to Diana that he'll stay by her side through her manic depression and he "won't walk away" - contrasting severely with it's Dark Reprise, {{spoiler|when ''Diana'' leaves ''him'': "I am the one who loved you // I am the one who stayed // I am the one and you walked away..."}} Throw in Gabe, who later in the reprise pushes his father to {{spoiler|accept his death by saying his name aloud}}, and you got yourself a major [[Tear Jerker]].

* In the much rewritten musical [[Martin Guerre]], 'Live With Someone You Love' starts out as a beautiful love song, and doubles as Arnaud's [["I Am" Song]], and is reprised by Bertrande and Martin when Arnaud dies. Also, "I'm Martin Guerre" gets one when Arnaud sings it in the courtroom when he pretends to be Martin. Not exactly dark, but still a bit on the creepy side.

** In the rewritten version Martin gets a dark reprise of 'Without You As A Friend' during 'Why,' including the line ' so it seems we have come to the end/i'll live my life/without you as a friend.'

* 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?

* In the beginning of ''[[Fiddler On the Roof]]'', the citizens of Anatevka sing about their traditions and customs, explaining how they base their entire lives around them, and love doing so, in the upbeat "Tradition". Later in the musical, when Tevye disowns his own daughter, the main line of "Tradition" is sung by the ensemble in a much darker and more dramatic tone, showing that tradition is tearing the family apart.

* 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.}}

* Inverted in ''[[In the Heights]]''. During the opening number, Usnavi has a solo where he compares himself to a streetlight, stuck in one place while the rest of the world moves around him. In the finale the melody and analogy is revisited in a more positive way, as Unsavi celebrates the important role he plays for his family and community.

* ''Vanities: A (New) Musical'' reprises "I Can't Imagine" as "The Argument" in Scene 3, with a more frantic tempo and the lyrics changed to a [[Drunken Song|drunken]] [[Counterpoint Duet]] between Joanne and Mary. Just prior to that, the second reprise of "An Organized Life" has a more somber tone than the previous versions, turning the previously peppy and optimistic tune into a [[BSOD Song]].

* The song "Mama, wo bist du?" from ''[[Elisabeth]]'' is already something of a [[Tear Jerker]], until Der Tod (Death) comes to comfort Rudolf and tells him he will always be close by. Later in the play, after {{spoiler|Rudolf has killed himself}}, Elisabeth sings a reprise that begins " {{spoiler|Rudolf}}, wo bist du?" and only becomes sadder thereafter, ending in her begging for Death to release her. He does not oblige, but [[Ironic Echo|bitterly reprises]] a brief song of hers from earlier.

** Special mention must go to "Boote in der Nacht", a full-length ballad in which the by now old and bitter Elisabeth and Franz Joseph conclude that they were never meant to be together, set to the same melody as the standard love song they sang to each other as starry-eyed teenagers.

* In ''[[How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying]],'' [[Guile Hero|J. Pierrepont Finch]] [[Running Gag|(F-I-N-C-H)]] sings "I Believe In You" to himself as a way to keep his confidence up on the eve of making it big. Later, {{spoiler|after it all comes crashing down,}} his [[Love Interest]], Rosemary, sings the same words to him in an attempt to reassure him {{spoiler|although he's already been dragged away to face the music}}. The tone of the song is only slightly different (it's a touch more desperate), but the situation is worlds from what it was before.

 

 

== Animated Film Musicals ==

** 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 [[Dark Reprise]] of the [[Villain Song]], "Friends On The Other Side," when {{spoiler|said "friends" drag Facilier to his hellish death, evilly chanting [[Ironic Echo|"are you ready?"]]}}.

** "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.

** "Why Me" was a rejected alternate reprise of "Prince Ali". In the stage adaptation, it was used as Jafar's introductory song.

** "Death of the Beast" is a sad instrumental reprise of "Beauty and the Beast" and the Beast's leitmotif, and had a rejected alternate version that was considered too light.

* Scar from ''[[The Lion King]]'' was originally going to have one.

* 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.

{{quote| '''Quasimodo''':<br />

I knew I'd never know<br />

'''Frollo''': I'm not to blame! ('''Choire''': Mea culpa ''through my fault'')<br />

'''Frollo''': It is the gypsy girl, the witch who sent this flame! ('''Choire''': Mea maxima culpa ''through my most grievous fault'') }}

* 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 [[Dark Reprise]] towards the end of the film, bitterly repeating the chorus as he unhappily resigns himself to remaining alone.

* In ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]: A Christmas Carol'', it manages to have a normal song paired with a [[Dark Reprise]] at the same time with ''I Always Get Emotional At Christmas Time''. On one hand, Killer is singing about how he loves Christmas and it makes him feel repentant for his evil deeds while Belladonna's version has her singing about how much she loves doing evil things to people on Christmas.

* "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.}}

* 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 [[Dark Reprise]], which gives the second version of the song a bit of a [[Harsher in Hindsight]] feel.

 

* 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''.

** "La Resistance" also provides a very short version of this for Satan's [["I Want" Song|oddly poignant]] [[Villain Song]], "Up There." The original has him sing "Up There there is so much room/Where babies burp and flowers bloom," while he adds in the reprise, "Tomorrow night ''Up There is doomed...''"

*** Also in the song, the brief reprise of 'Uncle Fucker' where the lines have been changed to "Looks like we may be out of luck/Tomorrow night, we're pretty fucked!!"

** Also in the episode where Butters sings about his new robot (really Cartman in disguise), "Hey there, let me tell you 'bout my robot friend" reprised when the robot gets taken away by the government: "Hey there, did you know I had a robot friend..."

* ''[[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 played straight with "Test Drive", originally heard when Hiccup is learning to ride Toothless. A sadder version comes later {{spoiler|after Hiccup lost a leg during his fight with [[Big Bad|Red Death]], and must learn to walk with a crude prosthetic limb.}}

* Remember the [[Tastes Like Diabetes]] [[Lyrical Dissonance]] singing info booth in [[Shrek]]. In the Halloween special Scared Shrekless, it returns with a [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmare fueled]] rendition of "Duloc is a Creepy Place" with creepy lyrics and the aftermath of a [[Sugar Apocalypse]].

* 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.

* 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 ''[[Blades of Glory]]'', the song for the pairs first performance is "Don't Want To Miss A Thing." After his partner refuses to speak to him, he leaves many messages on his phone, one of which is a sad, drunken version of that song.

** And ''Semi-Pro'': Jackie Moon earned all his money that he bought the Tropics with using royalties from his song "Love Me Sexy." He later goes through a [[Heroic BSOD]] of sorts, and sings a variation of that song while lying in a dumpster. Yes, it's sad and drunken.

** This may count as a mild subversion: the musical tone is sad and subdued in the reprise, but the lyrics are exactly the same, which is to say, relentlessly boosterish and ultra-patriotic.

* "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.

** 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.

* 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 ending--it segues into the main thrust of the March, as played slowly on a double bass.

** Star Wars is basically made of this trope. Most of the consequential music pieces are basically darker versions of earlier pieces of the trilogies.

* The opening theme to the first Harry Potter movies, is dramatically skewed for the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mObK5XD8udk Deathly Hallows part 2 trailer].

 

 

** 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).

** Signum Malum is a darker and more melancholic revision of ''Sis Puella Magi.''

 

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

* 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.}}

* During the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Last of the Time Lords", at various points remixed versions of "All The Strange Strange Creatures" appear, with added instrumentation, in order to evoke a more desperate, partially tribal feel.

** 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"].

* 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...

* [[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...]]

* In the first minute or so of episode 44 of ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'', Doctor Maki gets a less booming version of Kougami's music.

* 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}}.

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.

* ''[[Arcade Fire]]'''s album ''The Suburbs'', about the appeal and drean-crushing nature of the aforementioned place, ends with a dark reprise of the titular song, representing (in one interpretation) the overwhelming nature of the suburbs. It ends with a slow fadeout of the words "Sometimes I can't believe it/I'm moving past the feeling", implying that while the protagonist once railed against the suburbs vociferously, he has given up his fight as futile.

* [[Skinny Puppy]]'s ''Remission'' has "Glass Houses", and its more sinister reprise, "Glass Out".

* [[Green Day]]'s "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" from their [[Rock Opera]] [[Twenty First Century Breakdown]] is a [[Dark Reprise]] of one of the earlier songs, "¡Viva La Gloria!" While the latter is that of one of the main characters, Christian, praising and encouraging Gloria to "start a war", the former is that of Christian accusing her of being a useless "dirty liar".

* 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].

* The last song of Caamora's opera based on the novel ''She'', The Fire of Life, is full of these.

** Partway through the song, Leo reprises part of a much earlier song, Covenant of Faith. But instead of hopeful and optimistic, it's now full of despair. The line "But I won't turn back from this journey that I take" in Covenant refers to his exploration of the lost island they've washed up on, whereas in Fire he's referring to his decision to bathe in the Fire of Life and rule the island as its immortal king.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[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.

** 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:

*** ' '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}}.

*** 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.

** 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]]).

** 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.

** Similarly, when Miranda is killed, a sad reprise of the beginning of "High Charity Suite" is played, which itself was a darker arrangement of "In Amber Clad".

** The credits music starts with a [[Triumphant Reprise]] of the ''Halo'' theme, but ends with a [[Lonely Piano Piece]].

* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the creatures known as the [[Energy Beings|Naaru]] play a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BpPahqltkc soothing melodic chime] as you approach them. However, when one of them becomes corrupted and is reintroduced as a boss, a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYombOgsI3o twisted, chaotic version] of the same chime can be heard during the fight.

** And "Midna's Desperate Hour" is a [[Lonely Piano Piece]] version of her theme / the Hyrule Field 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.

* If you fail an event in the original ''Pilotwings'', a [[Lonely Piano Piece|sad piano version]] of the "Event Clear" music plays.

* Shadow Forger Ihlakhizan's theme in ''[[Runescape]]'' is a darker take on Born To Do This, a heroic theme of Daemonheim.

** 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].

** The [[Game Over]] music from the Japanese version of [[Sonic CD]], which is essentially a slowed-down and slightly distorted version of "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior." The US version [[Nightmare Fuel|on the other hand...]]

** Also, the ending music of the first ''Galaxy'' game, which is a dark reprise of the "Comet Observatory" theme, which is played when Rosalina says goodbye to Mario/Luigi after helping her save the universe (and Peach, which Mario/Luigi is concerned) from [[Big Bad|Bowser]] and flying away to another part of the galaxy.

* You know [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwUig18llPo that little jingle] that plays whenever you win a battle in most of the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games? Well, it, naturally, features in the ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' games whenever the character you're playing as wins a fight. However, if you're playing as one of the [[Villain Team-Up|Warriors of Chaos]], a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10RoWVAaDf0 different variation] plays, with a real 'evil has prevailed' feel to it.

** There's a similar-sounding "Tango of Tears" remix of the victory fanfare in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', for when you lose a chocobo race.

* 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.

** 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]].

* In the Ace Attorney series, [[Show Within a Show|the Steel Samurai is an exciting children's action show.]] Appropriately, it has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Syt7p2Iv0 an upbeat theme song]. The protagonist of the first three games even uses it as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC_TeHy_UKo&feature=related his ringtone]. The show's popularity leads to a spinoff show called the Nickel Samurai with the same theme. However, the star of the Nickel Samurai is accused of murdering the star of a rival show. At a certain point during this case, when something sad is being explained, a slowed-down and sad version of the song called the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyVaYeRwhTM Steel Samurai's Ballad] plays. The same Ballad also plays during the game's [[Multiple Endings|bad ending.]]

*** 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".

* If Harry dies in ''[[Pitfall]] II'', a minor version of the [[Theme Music Power-Up]] plays.

* 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.

* 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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2a5YXEF8EQ title theme] of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' is a much slower and more somber version of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md5TFAnyk38 Victory] theme that plays at the climax of the original ''[[Mass Effect 1|Mass Effect]].''

** {{spoiler|Mordin sings snatches from [[Major-General Song|I Am The Very Model Of A Scientist Salarian]] just before his death in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''}}.

 

 

 

== Web Original ==

** 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.}}

** ''My Eyes'', the opening number of Act II, probably counts as a sarcastic (ironic?) echo, with Billy and Penny singing completely different songs in the same space. Billy/Dr. Horrible's is a angsty, dark song about his descent into supervillainy because Penny is boinking Captain Hammer, while Penny's is an [[Granola Girl|inspirational]] song about Hammer superficially supporting the homeless shelter to get into Penny's pants but still being a jerk to the bums. "So They Say" continues along these lines.

* Used in ''[[Gantz Abridged]]'', of all places. In the final episode, when {{spoiler|Kurono realizes that everyone else has died}}, a sad-sounding rendition of the Rickroll (Gantz's theme) plays in the background.

* [[Horrible Turn]] has a dark reprise of "No Place on Earth like Austrailia" for the dark finale song of webmovie.

** 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:

 

== Western Animation ==

** 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}}

** 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."

** "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.

** The second act of ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' is full of this kind of song (as well as the other kind of [[Dark Reprise]], for which see below).

* "America" from ''[[West Side Story]]''.

* 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 ...

* "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 [[Dark Reprise]] despite coming ''first'', since the action of the play moves ''backwards''.

* "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 [[Dark Reprise]].)

* In ''[[Chicago]]'', Roxie's song "Funny Honey" suddenly turns spiteful when her husband Amos fails to maintain an alibi for the murder she committed.

 

== Animated Film Musicals ==

* 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 TV]] ==

* 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.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'' - The promotional band for the series, TETRA-FANG, did a cover for [[The Rival|Nago Keisuke]] a.k.a [[Good Is Not Nice|Kamen]] [[Anti-Hero|Rider]] [[Knight Templar|IXA]] called Individual System. He then does his own version of it with the lyrics changed to support his twisted Black and White view of the world called Fight For Justice. He then does it again with his more [[Character Development|lighter mindset]] called Don't Lose Yourself

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

** 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\]

 

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

 

{{reflist}}