History Main / LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'': When Buzz is giving his Rousing Speech, an American flag appears behind him and patriotic music plays... which stays after he walks off camera. It takes a few seconds before it's revealed that it's just Al's TV signing off ("And that concludes our broadcast day").

* Although no-one comments on it, ''Film/IronMan'' opens with several Humvees traveling across a desert as ''Back in Black'' plays in the background. Then the scene cuts to the Humvee in which Tony Stark is riding with several other soldiers, revealing that the music is being played on a stereo in the truck.

** Rhodes's [[MythologyGag cell phone ring is based on]] the 1960s ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' cartoon.

* Done in the second episode of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes''. The piano music playing over the narrator's exposition turns out to have been played by Jessica.

* The 1996 movie ''Film/{{Werewolf}}'' uses this trope completely out of left field, when one character turns off a nearby radio, causing the BackgroundMusic to abruptly disappear. When the movie was parodied on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' two years later, Mike responded with "Thanks for turning off the bad soundtrack!"

** In "Bully for Steve", when Stan starts bullying Steve to toughen him up, Steve retaliates by paying Stan's old bully, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1nPGM-2Q0w Stelio Kontos], to beat the crap out of Stan. Throughout the ensuing CurbStompBattle, the BGM (sample [[http://www.steliokontos.com/ here]]) is an ominous chanting of Stelio's name. After the fight ends, Stelio turns off a radio that had been playing his theme music the whole time.

* From the Rifftrax narration of ''[[Film/HarryPotter Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'':
-->You know, you've gotta hand it to a teacher who supplies his own wacky montage music.\\
So, if Ron had taken a little longer on his turn, this dramatic score would be playing while the spider flailed around comically?\\
I feel robbed of a RecordScratch moment. I mean there was an actual record ''playing'' for Christ's sake!

--->'''Mr. Krabs:''' This really is the world's smallest violin. See?

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScrewySquirrel'' cartoon "WesternAnimation/ScrewballSquirrel", Screwy is being chased by a dog when suddenly the music starts repeating as if it were a broken record, and the action goes back and forth accordingly. Screwy then walks over to a record player, adjusts the needle and the chase resumes.

* In ''Film/AClockworkOrange'', a synthesized version of the Funeral of Queen Mary is heard in the Korova milk bar, first during the intro and in a later scene where Alex DeLarge and his droogs make a second visit. In the latter, Alex mentions in his narration that said music is actually coming from the bar's sound system, and as he describes its disc coming to a halt, a woman there starts singing a piece from Beethoven's 9th, much to Alex's delight. Some other scenes show tapes and reels being played, serving as the BackgroundMusic; one of them plays a pivotal role [[spoiler:during the Ludovico Treatment, making Alex paralyzed whenever he hears the 9th.]]

* ''Anime/InazumaEleven'' has a subtle version: Otomura's beatboxing and beat-counting is synced to the BackgroundMusic.

* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' opens with Creator/JohnnyCash singing ''Folsom Prison Blues'' as Savant sits BrigBallBouncing in his bare concrete cell in Belle Reve. When he uses the ball to crush a small bird that appears in the cell, the background music is suddenly replaced by the same song playing faintly over the prison speakers.

Meta-joke wherein the background music builds to a dramatic pace, and one of the characters suddenly turns around and complains about the loud music — revealing that what you thought was part of the soundtrack was music actually playing ''in'' the show. Bonus points if a second character apologetically turns the music off. A humorous variation of SourceMusic (which is any instance where the music the audience hears is actually in the scene).

* A Heineken commercial opens with a man walking in who is clearly the life of the party. The entire commercial is silent except for the background music, which is provided by a singer whom the entertaining man gets on stage with.

* ''Anime/InazumaEleven'' has a subtle version: Otomura's beatboxing and beat-counting is synced to the background music.

* ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamThunderbolt'': In the anime adaptation, most of the time the background music during action scenes is being played by one of the two protagonists' music players, as they each like to listen to music in combat. Io prefers jazz, while Daryl listens to pop. There's some indication that Io even transmits his music over the comms to his enemies, as a sort of calling card.

* ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'': In the Christmas Party scene, as Maho is winding her music box gift, the narration states that Kaede turns off the background music.

* Happened on one occasion to [[ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} Mike Doonesbury]] while he was talking to a friend. "Mike, could you please turn your background music down?"

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'', Miguel has a tendency to play background music on a lute. Also, Chel hums the theme to El Dorado while offering to help Miguel and Tulio. When Miguel wants to go and wander the city, the song starts to swell, but Tulio cuts it sharply when telling him not to go out.

* In Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/Batman1989'', ComicBook/TheJoker often seems to be able to hear the score -- most notably in the roof scene at the end when he's dancing to it. He also has a mook follow him around with a boombox, which he uses to switch the background music on and off and change it from one tune to another. At those points, though, it wasn't background music; it was diegetic.

* The Creator/LaurelAndHardy short ''Busy Bodies'' opens with Stan and Ollie driving to work, with the familiar background music playing. The music comes to an end, so Ollie stops the car; Stan gets out and lifts the hood, then changes the record on the wind-up gramophone which is in there, starts it playing again (it's actually a jazzed-up version of the same tune!) and they drive on.

* In ''Film/AClockworkOrange'', a synthesized version of the Funeral of Queen Mary is heard in the Korova milk bar, first during the intro and in a later scene where Alex DeLarge and his droogs make a second visit. In the latter, Alex mentions in his narration that said music is actually coming from the bar's sound system, and as he describes its disc coming to a halt, a woman there starts singing a piece from Beethoven's 9th, much to Alex's delight. Some other scenes show tapes and reels being played, serving as the background music; one of them plays a pivotal role [[spoiler:during the Ludovico Treatment, making Alex paralyzed whenever he hears the 9th.]]

* An older example will be the 1944 FilmNoir, ''Film/DoubleIndemnity''. Fittingly dramatic music is played in the scene, with the assumption by the audience that this is background music, until Walter Neff complains to the neighbor that the music is too loud.

* ''Film/{{Focus}}'' has what seemed to have been just the background music revealed to have been playing in-universe ''as part of the exposition after the song has ended'', as part of an extremely insane XanatosGambit to swindle a high-roller from Macau. After repeatedly allowing the mark to win increasingly high-stakes wagers that seem to be even chances, the mastermind convinces the mark into a bet where the "odds" overwhelmingly favor said mark -- pick out any one player on the field, then give, not the con artist himself, but his ''girlfriend'', heretofore not involved in the action, one guess as to which player he selected. In fact, the con man has replaced #55 with one of his own henchmen -- something his date recognizes and knows to pick -- and primed the mark to have picked #55 by a series of events involving repeated exposure to the face of said henchman, various instances of the number 5 or 55 appearing, and -- the kicker -- the fact that Music/TheRollingStones' "Sympathy for the Devil", with its repeated "woo-woo!" background shouts, had not only been playing over the scene but ''in'' the scene -- "wu" being "five" in the mark's native language.

* In both ''{{Film/Guardians of|the Galaxy}} [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 the Galaxy]]'' movies, a great deal of the background music comes from Peter's walkman. [[ZigZaggedTrope It's not always set up]], but in scenes such as the opening credits for both movies and [[spoiler: Yondu massacring the other Ravagers]], the use of background music is set-up by the characters. Peter does try to [[DefiedTrope defy this]] at the start of the second film, since preparing to fight a giant monster is more important than listening to music while fighting.

* In [[LiveActionAdaptation the movie]] ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'', one of the characters is trying to remember a tune. He is having a hard time, and eventually complains about music the viewer had assumed was just background music. Teela pulls out a blaster and shoots a speaker on the side of a building, causing the music to cut off.

* The Norwegian movie ''Film/MaxManus'' has a rather horrible version of this. [[spoiler:After one of the main characters gets captured by the Nazis, we see him again hanging bloodied in a dungeon somewhere, in the background, eerie, classical music is playing, until the man angrily yells to at least "turn that fucking music off" (roughly translated). Cut to the fat torturer who takes the needle off the LP, silencing the music, and starts a small conversation with his prisoner. He then resumes the music and it becomes background music again as the screen fades.]]
* {{Film/Micmacs}} has an interesting variation: dramatic background music is playing, and the camera moves to a point where a full string orchestra are in view (playing said music), before it turns out that it's actually a bullet-in-the-brain induced hallucination.

* In ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', Prince Herbert (who is being held in the castle tower by his father, to be forced to marry Princess Lucky against his will) is going to start a musical number, and the background music begins playing, but it is immediately interrupted by Prince Herbert's father, who demands that there shall be no singing. This gag is repeated several times.

* ''Film/RearWindow'' opens with a jaunty tune playing over the titles, which then segues into an advertisement, as we see it's coming from a radio across the courtyard. In fact, all the background music in the movie is coming from radios, phonographs, or pianos in various apartments -- including one tune that plays a pivotal part, [[spoiler:stopping a spinster from taking a pill overdose, and distracting the protagonist from seeing the killer return to his apartment where the girlfriend is casing the joint for clues.]].

* In ''Film/{{Slashers}}'', the producers play background music through the maze. At one point, Megan is afraid she is about to be attacked because the background music has turned ominous, but the GenreSavvy Devon her that while that music does accompany attacks, the producers sometimes play it just to psych out the contestants.

* In ''Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary'', a guitarist and drummer repeatedly play the music that one would assume to be background music, and then the prisoners from the middle of the movie perform the credits song.
* ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'': During the flashback to King Arthur and the Transformers, the background music starts to swell, until it flashes back to the present, revealing that Cogman was playing a pipe organ. He's told to stop and Burton continues the story, until a OneWomanWail picks up, which is also Cogman. He's told to stop again.

* ''Film/TheTransporter'' has a non-comedic variation: after every action scene, the fast-paced background music continues playing until the eponymous transporter turns off his car radio.

** It happens again when the trio enters the weapons bunker in 2017. Sarah starts playing the same song on the same cassette, listening to it with headphones. We then cut over to Kyle Reese and the Pops T-800 loading bullets into gun clips as the song becomes background music, until Pops's right arm briefly spazzes out, at which point the music cuts off, although Sarah is still listening to it through her headset in the background.

* There's a scene in ''Film/UrbanLegendsFinalCut'' where the final girl is hiding in a room full of instruments from the killer, who briefly plays the very background music playing in the scene on a piano while looking around.

* The 1996 movie ''Film/{{Werewolf}}'' uses this trope completely out of left field, when one character turns off a nearby radio, causing the background music to abruptly disappear. When the movie was parodied on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' two years later, Mike responded with "Thanks for turning off the bad soundtrack!"

** The establishing shot of the island in ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'' features jazzy background music, before pulling back to reveal The Electric Mayhem.

* In ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Arthur Dent's first steps on an alien world are accompanied by haunting, ethereal background music... which turns out to be the RobotBuddy, Marvin, humming. Later in the same episode, a self-consciously inspirational speech from Zaphod Beeblebrox is nearly drowned out by a swelling, triumphal fanfare: Marvin again. (The fanfare was ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', best known from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. The earlier ethereal bit was a Pink Floyd instrumental -- which caused copyright issues, and the joke was cut from the home audio release and most of the later versions of the series.)

* The second RP of ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' has Alfred turns on a Humvee's radio during the ChaseScene and ''Primo Victoria'' by Sabaton starts playing. Cpl. Stern then immediately orders him to turn it off. WordOfGod states that ''Primo Victoria'' is indeed supposed to be the background music.

* In the RPG-Maker game ''The Bad Guy'', the protagonist discovers the hard way that all the background music of the game comes from an orchestra playing in the top of a hill.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', when Batman starts heading toward the penthouse, all of a sudden, Bane arrives, set to the tune of Gioachino Rossini's "[[PublicDomainSoundtrack The Barber of Seville]]", grabs Batman and tosses him into the penthouse where ComicBook/TheJoker lives. The Clown Prince of Crime tells the Dark Knight that "it's a tradition in my house to open one present on Christmas Eve." He then chooses one of the detonators and uses it to blow up [[spoiler:an empty construction site]] before laughing and singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas"... while the background music starts to sound more like ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', as the Joker had been watching WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's "WesternAnimation/RabbitOfSeville" while he is doing the atrocity. Enraged, Batman grabs the Joker as the explosion rocks the building, cutting out the TV signal.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Deponia}} Chaos on Deponia]]'', the main character can hear the background music from where they are (presumably there is a local orchestra) and you actually have to mute the music from the options to pass a puzzle (The music is catchy and therefore makes him forget what he was thinking.)

* In ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVI'', during the famous opera scene, Locke has just discovered that [[RecurringBoss mutual annoyance Ultros]] is planning to sabotage the opera. Once he tells the impresario, the background music makes a dramatic chord... and we pan back to the stage, as the scene has shifted from a celebration to a battle.
* In ''VideoGame/GliderPRO,'' turning off a stereo will silence the game's background music.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', the background music becomes louder and more intricate as TheHero ascends to the top of TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. In the final room, the hero finds BigBad Ganondorf playing an OminousPipeOrgan as he waits for the hero to arrive.
** Likewise for Saria's Song, which you find her playing on the Ocarina in the Sacred Meadow. After you learn the song, it becomes the normal background music, [[DiegeticSwitch inverting this trope]].
** Malon also sings along with the Lon Lon Ranch music (Epona's Song), even at night when the background music isn't playing, and when you first meet her at Hyrule Castle.

* In ''VideoGame/SpaceStationSiliconValley'', the background music comes from speakers placed around each level, and one mission involves destroying all the speakers to stop the music.

* After you reach a certain point in the final area of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2: Octo Expansion'', the previously ominous background music is [[ThemeMusicPowerUp replaced with Off the Hook's "Nasty Majesty"]]. Later on in the stage, Pearl comments on being able to hear their own music, which they realize is coming from Agent 8's CQ-80, meaning they're approaching the surface.

* Happens during [[spoiler: the glitchy second loop]] in ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub''. [[spoiler: On a couple of occasions, the player will walk out into the hallway outside the clubroom, and the background music becomes muffled and distant as if it's coming from the clubroom itself.]]

* Occurs in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' EP 4. When the background music "Monochrome Clock" starts playing, Ange complains about it, prompting Amakusa to turn off the radio.

** "That's a Baby Show!" opens with D.W.'s favourite TV character, Mary Moo Cow, performing in Arthur's bedroom. Arthur interrupts the performance and orders the music to stop -- at which point we see that what we thought was background music was actually being played live by three musicians.

** In the first season episode "The Blue Spirit", the atmospheric background music as Zuko returns to his ship turns out to be Uncle Iroh playing the tsungi horn [[ContinuityNod purchased in a previous episode]]. Iroh then admonishes Zuko that he "missed music night" ([[ContinuityNod shown later]]).

* In one episode of ''[[Franchise/CareBears Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot]]'', Grizzle actually manages to take over Care-a-Lot and immediately sets up a throne. As he ascends the stairs leading to it, regal background music plays, only to be revealed to be coming from speakers built into the throne itself.

** In "Play It Again, Wufgang", all the world's music has been stolen by cut-rate composer Wufgang Bach. DM and Penfold are prepared with an emergency tape "in the radiation-proof glass-fronted box that was given to us by our scientific branch that can resist any attempt to break into it and contains any sort of background music we need for our activities while saving the world." This tape is apparently necessary, as certain activities are apparently impossible unless the appropriate background music is playing. When the recording of "The Devil's Gallop" (the theme to a show called ''Dick Barton--Secret Agent'') stops playing, the Mark III stops and then drops out of the sky when the next selection on the tape was "The Funeral March."

** Another episode had Double D playing background music where the Eds open up a hula school, and he is lassoed into setting the mood by playing traditional hula music on his steel pedal guitar; once Sarah and Jimmy interrupt the lessons, he then switches the mood to sound more like the show's style of music scoring, that is until Eddy shouts at him.

** Goo once created a violin friend for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYlNwBZmqqs&t=8m4s some sad mood music]], although in this instance it wasn't played straight; the audience is never led to believe that it was just background music.

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' once had a scene where after a few seconds we see it's [[spoiler:Mr. E]] playing the background music on a keytar.

** In an early episode (the one where Plankton is introduced), Plankton pulls out a tiny record player from {{Hammerspace}} so his EvilLaugh can have some appropriate background music. At one point, the record is on the wrong side, and he laughs to a song teaching the alphabet before noticing and flipping the record... and laughing again, but to the right music this time.

** In "Larry the Floor Manager", [=SpongeBob=] spits one of Larry's protein shakes out on the radio that was providing the background music, shorting it out.

** Parodied in "Sidekicked to the Curb" by having the supposed background music actually playing on the radio previously reporting the "villain"'s antics: "Breaking news alert: the Whammer has been spotted trying to steal two yachts from the marina. Yowza. Now back to all climactic battle music, all the time."

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has a few examples.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' called ''The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God'', whenever the name or plot of BigBad Baron Greenback was mentioned during a mission briefing from Colonel K, a dramatic piano sting was heard. Eventually, an annoyed Colonel K hits the button on his desk's intercom and asks his secretary to do her piano practice somewhere else.
** Also, in "Play It Again, Wufgang," all the world's music has been stolen by cut-rate composer Wufgang Bach. DM and Penfold are prepared with an emergency tape "in the radiation-proof glass-fronted box that was given to us by our scientific branch that can resist any attempt to break into it and contains any sort of background music we need for our activities while saving the world." This tape is apparently necessary, as certain activities are apparently impossible unless the appropriate background music is playing. When the recording of "The Devil's Gallop" (the theme to a show called ''Dick Barton--Secret Agent'') stops playing, the Mark III stops and then drops out of the sky when the next selection on the tape was "The Funeral March."

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''

** A CutawayGag about a film literally called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1MO023vN8o "Distracting Trumpet."]] [[spoiler:As Italian mob members discuss business, a solitary trumpet plays in the background and gradually increasing volume. As the discussion continues, the characters end up shouting at each other and [[BehindTheBlack a pan out shows]] they have a trumpeter playing their discussion.]]

* Happens several times in ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends''.
** Particularly used in "Berry Scary", with the best example being Mac popping up to a dramatic sting... or, well, a pale ''a capella'' imitation thereof from an imaginary friend.
** In the same episode, [[StalkerWithACrush Berry]] spots Bloo, and romantic violin music plays--and a violin imaginary friend walks behind her, playing itself.
** [[RunningGag The entire episode is a series of these.]]

* In [[Recap/FuturamaM4IntoTheWildGreenYonder one episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode, Zapp Brannigan is called to the White House while patriotic American music plays. It is shown to be Kif playing as a one-man band.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' "Olga Comes Home" has Olga crying in her room sadly to sad classical music... and in the last scene, Helga enters the room and turns off Olga's stereo.

* A RunningGag in the ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' episode "Carnival Lucius" is the constant "[[{{Sting}} dun-dun-dun]]" sounds actually coming from prizes Lucius is giving out at his carnival. This trope comes up in a few other episodes, too.
** In fact, this trope mostly comes up during 'serious' ([[GagSeries for this show, anyway]]) heart-to-heart moments. For example, in "Baby Boom", when Jimmy tries to give a moving talk, Beezy and Heloise begin playing violins. Jimmy then tells them, "Whoa, not that serious", and they do something a little more up-tempo.
** A [[BreakingTheFourthWall Fourth Wall Breaking]] example in "Jimmy Matchmaker". In preparation for Beezy and Saffi's FallingInLoveMontage, Jimmy pulls out a musical record and says, "Maestro, a little music please" before beginning the montage.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' did this in an early episode. Whenever the villain's plot was described, an ominous tune would cause the characters to look around in surprise and confusion until finally, one of them wonders aloud "Who keeps doing that?"
** In a much later episode, Johnny sees a big shining sign advertising just the thing he needed at the moment. Cue the sound of a choir chanting. After a zoom-out, there's an actual boy choir standing right next to the sign.

* Doubly subverted in ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' in the episode "Dumb". Sad violin music plays in the background as Joe yells at his elderly father. The music stops and we hear a voice on the radio say "That was 'Sad Violin Music #7' by Ludwig [=VonStopmotionanimationname=]." The camera then pans out to reveal that the voice was actually Joe's half-sister, who happens to have a ridiculously deep voice. Then a voice on the radio says "That was 'Sad Violin Music #7' by Ludwig [=VonStopmotionanimationname=]."
** Also happens in the episode "Courtship" which heavily features the song "You" by Peter Blood. When it's used at the beginning of the episode, we hear a RecordNeedleScratch when Doughy asks his parents a question. Turns out they're playing a record of "Silly Sound Effects."

** And in the episode "Parental Glideance", where an EtherealChoir and bright light is revealed to be an actual sound effect triggered by opening a door.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''
** "MOM! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!"

** In "Attack of the 50-Foot Sister", which takes place during the Tri-Stare Midsummer Fair, Doofensmirtz's usual "Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!" jingle is somewhat muted over the bustle of the fair, which happens to be at the foot of his building. Cut to Doofensmirtz complaining that he can't hear the quartet that's actually singing it in his studio over the noise.
*** There's another time where Perry the Platypus actually crashes through the window and interrupts the quartet as they're recording the jingle.

* ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain''

** In another ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' sketch, "Where Rodents Dare", the mice have mailed themselves to Switzerland to overthrow a conference of world leaders. During the flight sequence, a snare-drum march is heard. Cut to the shipping container, where Pinky is playing the snare drum, and Brain has become very annoyed...

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' when dramatic martial arts music plays as the sun rises on the day he must face his childhood nemesis, Dingo. The music is played on a boom box.
** In an earlier episode, after Rocko breaks the ice that Heffer's adopted ([[ObliviousAdoption which he assumed Heffer knew]]), the sound effect of a dramatic heart beat is heard. It turns out the beating heart is from the Wolfe family's dinner, which the dad has in his mouth.

* Several examples in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':

** In "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy", when Homer and Grandpa get run out of a hick town to dueling banjo-style hillbilly music, Grandpa blames Homer's poor salesmanship, until Homer points out that they only started the chase when Grandpa turned on the "getaway music". He switches it off, and the hicks stop, make disappointed noises, and return home.
*** Incidentally, the song playing was "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Flatt and Scruggs.
** Also happens in "In Marge We Trust", Reverend Lovejoy has a revelation, sunlight beams through a window and a dramatic chord plays on an organ. It turns out Marge accidentally leaned on the church's pipe organ.

** Happens during ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror story "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse". The school dance scene has music licensed from the ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} HalloweenSpecial ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', which it parodies, but Milhouse rushes in to shut off the iPod-dock stereo that's playing it.
*** The same episode features Marge's voice replaced by a trombone, as with all adults in Peanuts. Naturally, she is playing a trombone.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''

** Also featured in "Cripple Fight"; Big Gay Al is sadly packing away his old boy scout things, to a sad piano tune, until he finally gets exasperated and tells his (previously off-screen) piano-playing friend to stop being so depressing. Which culminates in him changing his tune to a very upbeat arrangement of [[http://downloads.southparkstuff.com/sounds/epi503/503_uplifting.mp3 the Too Fat Polka]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

** Also happens in a later episode, "Sing a Song of Patrick", when [=SpongeBob=] tells Gary that "he can play his record later" immediately after the music has a dramatic buildup.
** And Mr. Krabs once played sad music on a tiny violin.

* During the SadTimesMontage which opens Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', the music which backs the entire montage is eventually revealed to be the techno track which is playing at the rave where Brock finally catches Doctor Venture.

* ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl''

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo''. A Season 2 episode has a villain who's fueled by power drained from other warriors and a funky horn section that plays his theme music. He's so dependent on that theme music that he's easily beaten when his horn section is defeated, even though he's powerful enough to beat all of the protagonists.

* In ''VideoGame/Returnal'', one of the bosses, Hyperion, can be found at the top of a eerie looking tower; the climb to the top of the tower is accompanied by sinster organ and synth music, which the PlayerCharacter, Selene, complains about, feeling tormented by the music. When Hyperion is encountered at the top of his tower, he is actually found hunched over an organ which he proceeds to keep playing for his entire boss fight. It is first when Hyperion finally goes down that the music, to Selene's outspoken relief, stops.

* The final mission of ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' is accompanied by a haunting piano version of Nina Simone's Feelin' Good, being played by a despondent Nazi general. You have the option of killing him and playing the rest of the mission in eerie silence.

--->'''Mr. Krabs''': That's a 4/4 string ostinato in D minor! Every sailor knows it means death!

---> '''Plankton''': I love messing things up!

-->'''Mr. Krabs''': This really is the world's smallest violin. See?

-->'''Plankton''': Would you stop playing that tiny piano?\\
'''[=SpongeBob=]''': ''(hides piano behind his back)'' ''Sorry''.

'''Animal:'''[[HulkSpeak Politics! Politics!]]

Compare DiegeticSoundtrackUsage, for when the show's theme tune is performed within the show. Compare DiegeticVisualEffects, its visual counterpart. Not related to LeaveTheCameraRunning, where the camera is set in the same scene for a very long time even if nothing's happening. Contrast MediumAwareness, for when a character is actually hearing the soundtrack. Can be used with almost all {{Mood Motif}}s. The inversion is DiegeticSwitch, when the music goes from in-universe to soundtrack. See also AMFMCharacterization.

* A bit of a variation in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney: Trials & Tribulations'': Godot seems to be aware of his own theme song due to the fact that his cell phone has it as his ringtone -- or maybe it's his theme song because he uses it as his ringtone.
** Also, Klavier Gavin's theme song ("Guilty Love") just so happens the best-selling single of his band, and he apparently ''plays'' a recording of the song by way of an introduction to, uh, himself, much to the annoyance of the judge.
*** Also, Klavier's theme song appears in the flashback case [[FridgeLogic BEFORE the song was actually written]]
** When you examine Luke Atmey's gramophone while he's in his office, Maya says "So that's where this music is coming from!" -- "that music" being Atmey's theme ("I Just Want Love"). The guy is such an egomaniac he ''composed a tune for himself'' (and yes, he tells you so).

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Red Mage from ''WebComic/EightBitTheater'' has a nervous habit of going Dun-Dun-Duuuun at tense moments.
* In a ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' [[http://www.hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2006-01-20 strip]], Frohman finds a group of soldiers preparing themselves for an aerial attack due to them hearing the techno music that usually accompanies action sequences in ''Half-Life 2''. After standing there with their weapons drawn for a few moments, Gordon realizes it's his cell phone, much to the soldiers' annoyance.

* The Embassy level in ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1997'' has diegetic piano set to the chords of the non-diegetic ambient music.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Hero}}''. As [[NoNameGiven Nameless]] and Sky are fighting, an old blind man with a gu zheng is getting up to leave. [[NoNameGiven Nameless]] and Sky pause their fight to the death and pay the old man to play dramatic BGM for the rest of the fight.