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Left the Background Music On
aka: Sorry I Left The Bgm On
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"Chase Scene A Go-Go?" Whoever owns this truck has great tastes in music.
"Could someone please turn down that shrill music? I'm trying to commit mass murder, here!"
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 Source Music (which is the technical term for "it's actually in the scene").
Compare Theme Tune Cameo, for when the show's theme tune is performed within the show. Contrast Medium Awareness, for when a character is actually hearing the soundtrack. Can be used with almost all Mood Motifs. The inversion is Diegetic Switch, when the music goes from in-universe to soundtrack.
Examples
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Advertising
- A Tyson commercial plays with this by having a group of three kids playing video games spontaneously stand up and praise one kid's mom for making them the ready-to-serve chicken wings while dramatic music plays in the background. However, a fourth kid is seen a second later switching off the stereo and the music ends.
- Doubles as a parody of the typical "Mom's the best" commercials.
- Another version has the same thing done with dramatic piano music that hits a bad note as soon as someone says something insulting, at which point the camera shows us that a person was playing the piano in the background.
- In a US Beef Board ad, the usual music (Aaron Copland's "Hoe-down") plays as a waiter brings a steak to a customer...but when the waiter walks past the customer's table, he makes a gesture and the music winds down. Cut to the just-off-camera musicians, who start playing again when the waiter delivers the customer's steak.
- 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 & Manga
Comics
- Happened on one occasion to Mike Doonesbury while he was talking to a friend. "Mike, could you please turn your background music down?"
- The Far Side has several of these gags:
- One featured a shot of Tonto knocking on an outhouse door, whispering, "Kemosabe, hurry up, the music's starting!"
- Another one - a group of cowboys at camp looking around: "There it goes again - whenever we settle in for the night, that harmonica starts up!"
- Still another one - a gal standing in the aftermath of a huge bar brawl recounts it to the police: "So this little sailor dude whips out a can of spinach, this crazy music starts playin', and...well, just look at the place!"
- In another Wetern strip, a sinister desperado is coming into a saloon, and the banjo player nervously says to the pianist: "Bad guy comin' in, Arnie! Minor key!"
- A variation occured in Foxtrot: Paige is dreaming about Pierre, as usual (in particular, her dream is reminiscient of Rapunzel). She tries to make out with him. However, Pierre then uncharacteristically says in a (presumably) American accent "Let's go with U.S. Presidents for $400, please, Alex."*
Note: Pierre, as implied by the name and outfit, is supposed to be a Frenchman, complete with French accent. It then cuts to Jason watching Jeopardy! while Paige was napping, with an awake Paige shouting angrily at Jason to turn down the TV, with Jason then sarcastically responding "Pardonnez moi, O Princess." (possibly implying that Paige was sleeptalking).
Fan Works
- The Kingdom Hearts Fan Fic Those Lacking Spines plays this trope straight:
"Who's playing that bloody piano?" Xaldin interrupted.
"Oh," Murray the night janitor lifted his hands from the keys abruptly. "Sorry!"
- Heck, just about any of The Abridged Series will play with this trope.
- In Naruto The Abridged Series, whenever Gaara is referred to by his full title of Gaara of the Funk, there is not only music — "ch ch ch Gaara of the funk!" — but a sequence of hue changes in time with the music.
Naruto: Does that happen every time you say his name?
Kankuro: Sadly, yes.
- Duke in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series. Additionally, in LK's parody of
 "Poker Face", as soon as the riff starts, Kaiba asks where the music is coming from and, more importantly, if Joey is going to sing. He does.
- Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged
- This happens (specifically, the Gaara of the Funk example) to Koenma in an episode, but only Koenma sees/hears it, prompting the line:
Ogre: Sir, what are you on?
Koenma: I don't even know anymore, man.
- Kuronue accidentally left on his...iFog.
Rimshot: Well, they can't all be winners.
- In Berserk Abridged there's Private Frank who loves his music records even if the other Hawks don't.
Films — Animation
Films — Live-Action
- From the Rifftrax narration of 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 Record Scratch moment. I mean there was an actual record playing for Christ's sake!
- Variation: in Airplane!, Ted is at a bar where a diegetic band that heavily features trombone is playing, and he sees the legs of a woman standing on a table. The camera then pans up to see that she is playing the trombone.
- Wonderfully embodied in Mel Brooks's 1974 film Blazing Saddles: When Bart rides forth to become sheriff of Rock Ridge, he sets out to a swinging big band tune — and after a few moments, passes by Count Basie and his orchestra, who are set up in the middle of the lone prairie and playing said tune.
- Arguably done with the "Ballad of Rock Ridge," where the final verse is sung by the townsfolk: Arguably, because the final verse is in a different key and tempo than the first two verses.
- An older example will be the 1944 Film Noir, Double Indemnity. 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.
- In High Anxiety, the hero is chauffeured to his new workplace to dramatic chords. These turn out to come from the entire Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, traveling in the coach next lane.
- There's also a few scenes where the Scare Chord plays, and the characters look up at the unseen source of the sound.
- Similarly, the 1988 Blaxploitation sendup I'm Gonna Git You Sucka! has The Obi-Wan John Slade followed about by a funk band to provide the Obligatory Theme Music. Young Jack Spade, at the end, gains KRS-One and his crew (complete with turntable) to mark his ascent to Black Hero-hood.
- In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 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.
- And at the end when he does get to continue the song, the music turns out to be coming from the wedding band!
- Big Money Hustlas features a dramatic sting every time Sugar Bear's name is mentioned. After the first few times, the other characters begin to notice... and then to complain... and on the final time, the Big Bad turns and shoots the sound guy.
- In A Knight's Tale, the opening theme is "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Then the spectators at the 13th century joust start clapping to the beat. The guitar solo at the end is apparently being played on flugel horns, as it cuts out just as the hornblowers stop the fanfare.
- Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town is being chased by a bunch of ghosts, accompanied by lively chase music; then they run past the street violinist who is providing it.
- Later in the movie, he's coming clean to another character about the whole I See Dead People thing and the camera pans away to reveal that the drum music in the BGM is being played by a guy on a nearby park bench.
- Mel Brooks's Spaceballs has a sequence in which Dark Helmet's Flagship becomes a Humongous Mecha and ends with a lot of timpani hits a la 2001. One of Dark Helmet's underlings is later shown to be playing the timpani.
- This happens in The Holiday, when Miles (who writes film music) meets Amanda for the first time he is listening to film music that is eerily appropriate for the scene. You'll only notice when Amanda asks if he wrote the music that is playing in the background.
- The Gag Dub movie Kung Pow! deliberately hangs a lampshade on this trope by having an actual CGI-inserted character with a boombox play Betty's music ("Baby Got Back"). At one point during the final battle, The Chosen One throws a shuriken into the boombox and turns on his own power up music just as the tide of battle is turning.
"Beware his song about big butts. He beats you up while he plays it!"
- The 1996 movie 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 Mystery Science Theater 3000 two years later, Mike responded with "Thanks for turning off the bad soundtrack!"
- Spoofed in the episode Space Mutiny, where a monk chorus starts up as a crewman shows the mysterious oracular aliens to their quarters. Mike chimes in: "Sorry about the singing, we've got Benedictine monks in the floorboards — we have set out some traps with fresh bread and brandy, though."
- In a scene cut from the movie, the gang is forced into a shelter when the Satellite of Love passes through a meteor shower. The classic Captivity Harmonica plays as the camera pans past everyone coping - including Crow playing the harmonica.
- Film Noir parody Fatal Instinct uses a home stereo for tense, dramatic music during a confrontational argument... and after one person finishes, the other changes tracks to THEIR power music and continues to argue, and vice versa.
- Also, Sean Young's character is constantly followed by a saxophone player playing her sultry theme (except when he had another gig, and got a trumpet player to stand in). Also, apparently the main character's bathtub faucet is linked to a tense music cue (the resurgence of which leads the main character to remark "Damn faucet keeps turning on all by itself").
- In Bananas, Woody Allen is invited to dinner with the president of the country he's visiting, and as he dazedly lies on his bed harp music starts. Courtesy of the harp player in his closet.
- He needed a place to practice!
- In The Adventures of Robin Hood, the main theme that plays over the opening credits ends with the accompaniment of several drums. As the film starts, we see these drums are in the film itself, calling attention to the town crier.
- Beautify done in the comedy mystery The Radioland Murders which takes place during the first night of national syndication of a late '30s Chicago radio station. The entire soundtrack consists of the evening's broadcast.
- The Company of Wolves has an interesting example of this. The scene is a wedding reception in an outdoor marquee where guests are enjoying themselves and pleasant classical music plays to set the mood. We then cut to three musicians in the tent who are providing the music we hear. Soon however, a horrific transformation takes place and the guests are thrown into chaos and utter panic. The music becomes haut and tense as the traumatic events unfold... and we suddenly see the musicians are still providing the music; not only are they largely unperturbed by what is happening in front of them, but they have changed their music to match the mood!
- Although no-one comments on it, the opening guitar riffs in Iron Man are revealed to be blaring from a stereo in the Humvee Tony Stark is sharing with three soldiers (to be clear, the song playing is Back in Black; you'll have to wait for the credits to hear Iron Man).
- Later on, while Tony is working on one of his hot rods, blaring rock music is playing. Pepper comes down the stairs, opens the door, and switches off the music so she can talk to him, causing Tony to complain.
- Jim Rhodes's cell phone ring is based on the 1960s Iron Man cartoon.
- A remixed version of the same music is also playing at the casino.
- The sequel once again starts off with some AC/DC that becomes diegetic when Iron Man enters the expo, if the chorus line dancing in time to the music is anything to go by.
- In Sunset Boulevard, as Joe Gillis enters White Dwarf Starlet Norma Desmond's parlor, which is tragic and more like a tomb, haunting pipe organ music plays...at which point Norma turns to the pipe organ and comments about the wind getting into the cracked pipes.
- In lesbian film noir Bound, dramatic music builds steadily with the onscreen approach of the antagonist until the old b/w detective movie on the television is switched off, taking the music with it.
- In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, after it's been established that Davy Jones enjoys playing his own leitmotif on his pipe organ with his beard of tentacles, Will challenges him to a game for his soul, and the quiet organ music, almost unnoticed in the background, abruptly cuts off before Jones stomps up on deck to accept the challenge.
- In The Hot Chick, a teenage girl steals a pair of magic earrings from a store, leading her to switch bodies with an older man, played by Rob Schneider. When the girl (in the man's body) returns with her friends to admit what happened and get it fixed, the woman who runs the store tells her the story of how a Pharaoh's wife traded places with a slave, but got stuck after the full moon. As she's telling the story, the drums in the background swell as the store owner's story comes to a climax, and then just before the end, she stops, grits her teeth, and tells the man offscreen (played by Adam Sandler) to stop banging on the drums. The man mumbles that he thought the music matched the tone of the story.
- The Truman Show. "Fade up music..." Also a clever example when Christof is looking at Truman sleep in the middle of the night. As the camera pulls out we see a pianist (actually the film's composer) playing in the studio.
- In Tim Burton's Batman, The Joker 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 even change it from one tune to another. At those points, though, it wasn't background music; it was diegetic.
- Hilarious variation in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: the eponymous heroes are standing in a fast-food restaurant when the main love interest enters, in a reveal complete with a soft-lens, lots of hair tossing, and the song "Bad Medicine" blaring. Silent Bob notices that Jay is rather, erm, excited. To cover it up, Bob reaches over and puts an empty fast-food cup over Jay's crotch - which immediately mutes the music.
- Last Action Hero contains this. After a big car chase with heavy music playing the main character takes a tape out of the car's stereo causing the BGM to stop and inserts a new tape with different BGM.
- The Transporter has a non-comedic variation: after every action scene, the fast-paced background music continues playing until the eponymous transporter turns off his radio.
- In There's Something About Mary, 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.
- In Euro Trip, when Scotty is fighting the robot street performer in Paris, a nearby busking Buddhist with a guzheng notices the fight and provides appropriate soundtrack.
- In Stepmom, the movie starts with an establishing shot over New York city, set to a classical piece. Cue one character saying: "Mom, turn that off, I hate classical music.".
- Played with in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Bond plans to use a bank of security cameras on a track to carry an explosive device to where the timed detonator needs to go off. As he rides the security cameras into location, his Theme Music Power-Up plays. As soon as the cameras reach the end of their track, Bond disconnects the cameras from the track and cuts the power to the monitors, at which point, his theme music goes out abruptly, mid-crescendo.
- In the dark comedy Harold and Maude, the music of Cat Stevens is used throughout to build mood. But in one scene, after listening to a song for some time, Maude approaches a couple of police officers and tells them "by the way, you might want to turn off the radio... saves the battery that way." The cop turns off the radio, and the BGM stops.
- In the movie Masters of the Universe, 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.
- In the 1941 World War One Drama Sergeant York, a fight breaks out at a bar. The automatic piano is bumped into "Fast" mode during the fight, then turned back to "Slow" when it's over.
- Joe Dirt plays with this when Joe finally decides to return home his journey montage is accompanied by the song Burnin' for You by Blue Öyster Cult, however as he gets close to home, a group of punks drive up to him and the BGM is immediately replace by the song that was playing in the car's radio (You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive) which continues to play until they turn off the radio.
- Inverted in Hero. As Nameless and Sky are fighting, an old blind man with a gu zheng is getting up to leave. Nameless and Sky pause their fight to the death and pay the old man to play dramatic BGM for the rest of the fight.
- In Emir Kusturica's Underground a brass band follows the main characters for part of the movie, providing the BGM. During a fight scene, one of the main characters requests a suitably fast pace song to be played.
- Shaun of the Dead
- The jukebox, playing Queen while Shaun and the other survivors started hitting a zombie. One survivor tries to shut it off to keep from attracting zombies, but he can't.
- Also happens earlier in the movie around the time they begin to appear ("We aren't using the Z word!"), as Shaun and Ed talk at the Winchester, "If You Leave Me Now" begins to play on the jukebox. Both times the same lines are spoken in response, however the roles reverse.
(in response to "If You Leave Me Now" as Ed tries to cheer up Shaun)
Ed: Who the hell put this on?
Shaun: (sniff) It's on random.
Ed: For fuck's sake!
(in response to "Don't Stop Me Now", while the survivors are trying to remain quiet)
Shaun: Who the hell put this on?!
Ed: It's on random!
Liz: For fuck's sake!
- In the 1939 film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty prepares his evil plan while soft but ominous flute music plays in the background. Then, as we move to a different perspective, we can see the shadow of a man playing the flute from another room. One of Moriarty's underlings complains about it.
- In the Swedish 1987 comedy Leif, dramatic music is heard during a board of directors meeting. Intensity increases until the boss gets annoyed and opens a door, revealing the company band, who were practicing in the nearby hallway.
- Hot Rod has a montage of the events right before Rod's big jump, set to John Farnham's "You're The Voice." It culminates with Rod and the members of his crew coming together for a slo-mo Power Walk, only to be joined by a crowd of people who all start singing. The song grinds to a halt when a guy takes advantage of the distraction to rob a store, starting a riot. As people flee in chaos, a bagpipe version of "You're the Voice" starts playing, and eventually a group of men playing the bagpipes is shown.
- Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The Thirteenth has the heroes running away from the villain, and as they pass the band playing the music, they stop and dance. The killer plays sax for a while.
- Iron Eagle has a flashback scene introducing the heroic teenage pilot, Doug, as he takes an (illicit) flight with his father in an F-16 trainer. The Queen soundtrack blaring over his loops and rolls is revealed to be coming from Doug's Walkman, which also turns out to be his Theme Music Power-Up.
- During the ball scene in the first Anne of Green Gables film, a waltz piece is used for the BGM. When it segues to the next scene, the same tune is playing on a phonograph.
- Used in Yes Man. The film opens with Separate Ways by Journey over the opening studio titles but then switches to the same song as a ringtone on Jim Carrey's phone.
- Both versions of Funny Games begin with a helicopter shot of a car driving through a country road set to classical music. Then voice-overs of the family in the car begin discussing the music, revealing that it's playing from the car stereo.
- Fritz Lang's 1936 film Fury uses this twice. In a scene where Joe's fiancée Katherine is writing him a letter, a sappy '30s-style romantic soundtrack plays... until Katherine turns off the radio, apparently sick of it herself. Later, as the guilt-ridden Joe wanders the streets, he goes into an apparently busy bar only to discover that only the bartender is there; all the music and crowd noise was, again, coming from a radio that's promptly turned off.
- A variation in Almost Famous is a scene in which "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John plays on the soundtrack. One by one, the characters begin to sing along.
- In Spy Hard, The Chief is talking, while facing the camera, about how horrible it will be if the Big Bad succeeds in his master plan, while a violin is playing in the background. He then gets annoyed and turns around to yell at the violinist standing to the side.
- In TRON: Legacy, Daft Punk (who scored the film to start with) are DJs inside the End of Line Club. Come the fight scene, they look at each other, nod, and switch to a way more intense track.
- In Ollie Hopnoodles Haven Of Bliss, after Ralphie and his friends get fired, a sad piece(don't know the name of it) from Carmen plays, until Ralphie picks up a rock and throws it in a nearby window. Cue record scratch.
- Used in Going The Distance, as Erin and Garrett go in for a kiss, "Take My Breath Away" starts playing, and they stop. Erin wonders where the music is coming from, and Garrett reminds his roommate Dan (in the other room) that just because he can hear them, doesn't mean he's allowed to participate.
- The Laurel and Hardy 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.
- Unintentionally used in The Room, when Mark comments about the soft music in the first scene Lisa tries to seduce him. The music is definitely a part of the soundtrack and not established to actually be playing so that the characters hear it.
- In one scene in The Ten, a room full of presumably squatting junkies are laying around, with a strange xylophone piece as the score. As the camera pans back a bit further, it turns out one of the junkies is playing a xylophone.
- In Sucker Punch, a cover of Where is My Mind? plays through a montage of Babydoll's week at the mental asylum. Just as Babydoll is about to be lobotomized, the scene abruptly changes to Sweet Pea (who is playing Babydoll), who demands the music be shut off.
- In The Mirror Has Two Faces a romantic operatic aria sung in a tenor voice is heard during a romantic scene. It turns out that someone in an apartment was playing a record of the music.
- Jarhead has a scene where two planes fly over the marines to the tune of "The End" by The Doors, only for Swofford to wail: "That's Vietnam music! Can't we get our own music?"
- The Smurfs mixes the opening narration of the movie with this trope by having an Interactive Narrator called Narrator Smurf doing the honors.
- In War INC, when Hauser is asked what happened to his family, he gets depressed and the lively music stops. He then gets up and adjusts the record player, as the needle had slipped off.
- The Norwegian movie Max Manus has a rather horrible version of this. 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. (Written from memory, feel free to rectify any errors) D
- Eyes Wide Shut begins with a Dmitri Shostakovich waltz over the opening credits, which continues as Bill and Alice prepare for the party, and ends when Bill turns off their CD player. It's a lightly comic touch that provides a hint of the dreamlike atmosphere that will follow.
- Rear Window 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, 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 the 2012 The Muppets, Kermit's first appearance is accompanied by Holy Backlight and angelic singing... both of which are provided by a bus of Choir singers driving past.
- When 10 Things I Hate About You's Katerina sits her younger sister Bianca down to have The Talk, which also explains her occasional hostility towards Bianca, they are accompanied by a soundtrack of sentimental piano music. After trying to launch into her speech, Kat rolls her eyes in exasperation with the music and turns off the on-screen television in Bianca's room, halting the musical accompaniment, before she continues.
Literature
- In Freshman, one of the special powers of vampires is that they get their own personal soundtrack that plays whenever they're nearby. At one point, Tabitha comments that she downloaded hers off the internet.
- In Artemis Fowl - The Lost Colony, Minerva notices the fitting soundtrack of the scene when Billy Kong is about to kill Soto, but immediately remarks that there is no soundtrack in Real Life. Turns out Billy's cell phone has the torero song of Carmen as its ring tone...
Live-Action TV
Music Videos
Puppet Shows
- When Bob Hope guest hosted The Muppet Show he sang a country song and asked where the music was coming from. The horse explained that there was a tape deck in the saddle.
- A scene in a Muppets Christmas Special has Kermit and the others fretting over the future of their theatre whilst harp music plays in the background. One of them then apologises that she was practicing her harp.
- The establishing shot of the island in Muppet Treasure Island features jazzy BGM, before pulling back to reveal The Electric Mayhem.
Zoot: I'm confused. Are we with the pirate dudes, or the frog captain? Floyd: Hey, man, just play the gig. Don't get involved in the politics. Animal:Politics! Politics!
- In The Muppets, Kermit's big entrance involves him being brightly back-lit while a Cherubic Choir is heard singing... and both lights and music turn out to be from a passing bus full of choir singers.
Radio
- In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent's first steps on an alien world are accompanied by haunting, ethereal background music... which turns out to be the Robot Buddy, 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 2001: A Space Odyssey. 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.)
- In The Goon Show, every time a character was monologuing about having fallen on hard times, the same sentimental melody (the Standard Snippet "Hearts and Flowers") would play on the soundtrack. These sequences always ended with a Left the Background Music On gag; the only exceptions are those that begin with an "I'll just put the BGM on" gag.
- Sometimes this doesn't even appear in the script, but got ad-libbed in as the audience expected it.
From The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler:
Bloodnok: We must eat it or die.
Seagon: Never!
Original line:
Bloodnok: We must!
Adlibbed line:
I'll stop playing this violin then! *Music Stops*
- Even seen in the dramatic one-woman play Golda's Balcony; a weary Golda Meir repeats the line "I could do without that music" several times.
- The Mighty Boosh: Howard plays a tape of his own dramatic score in the radio show episode, "Jungle".
- In the Firesign Theater radio show "Nick Danger", a character demonstrates that all they have to do to time-travel is "to fade out the sound and cue the organist!"
- Repeatedly in I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue spin-off Hamish And Dougal, including a Scare Chord that turns out to be the Laird practicing on the organ, and then keeps happening, even when logic suggests the organ can't possibly be present.
- Also repeatedly in In Search Of Mornington Crescent. At one point a scene with spooky electronic music turns out to be being recorded in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. For no reason whatsoever.
Stand-Up comedy
- Eddie Izzard uses this trope to poke fun at ominous movie music in his crap horror movie routine. If the cast of horror movies listened to the BGM (or even realised they were being followed around by an orchestra), they'd know they were walking towards their doom.
Theater
When the villain goes into her Freudian Excuse flashback, Sarah pulls out a violin and plays the flashback music herself.
Video Games
Web Animation
Web Comics
- Oddly enough, in this strip◊ of Narbonic.
- The Order of the Stick
- A minor Running Gag has dramatic moments being underscored with an appropriate "Dun Dun DUN!" The source of it inevitably turns out to be Genre Savvy bard Elan. He can apparently even do this when the dramatic event in question is happening too far away for him to be aware of it.
- Also, when Varsuuvius makes a pact with demonic forces for more power, the Ominous Latin Chanting that results comes from a choir of castrated pedophiles.
- In RPG World, elevator music to the Big Bad is Ominous Latin Chanting. What's more, the lyrics are taken from Sephiroth's theme, "One-Winged Angel", with Sephiroth replaced with the Big Bad's name.
- In Sluggy Freelance Torg's "ominous crash of thunder" ringtone is played at just the right time.
- Pintsize from Questionable Content on more than one occasion including this strip where one of Pintsize's friends is responsible for the sound effect.
- In a Concerned 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.
- Red Mage from 8-Bit Theater has a nervous habit of going Dun-Dun-Duuuun at tense moments.
- In Strange Candy, it is revealed at one point that the Oom Oom chanting in the background track of the Big Bad's lair is in fact a Oompa Loompa record stuck on the "Oom".
Web Original
- One of several gags in the video Realistic Hollywood Sex Scenes.
- The second RP of Darwin's Soldiers has Alfred turns on a Humvee's radio during the Chase Scene and Primo Victoria by Sabaton starts playing. Cpl. Stern then immediately orders him to turn it off. Word Of God states that Primo Victoria is indeed supposed to be the background music.
- Joked about in The Nostalgia Chick's review of Labyrinth when Sarah is running around.
Chick (as Sarah): I gotta find that drum machine!
- A non-musical variety of this is done in this youtube video.
"You're playing your voiceovers in the HOUSE now?"
- Something of a Running Gag in Unskippable.
"Dude playing the pipe: this is not the time!"
- In one episode of The Fuplers, as Kevin is considering deleting his mom from facebook, dramatic music plays. Dean then looks to his side to find Lindsay is humming this music, which then turns into weird babbling.
- Done by Sursum Ursa a few times in the Jim vs. Moriarty review.
Sursum Ursa: Where is that music coming from?
- A variation is done by Tobuscus in his Let's Plays: he frequently comments on the game music as if it were occurring in the scene.
Western Animation
- In the Veggie Tales film of Jonah – inside the whale, Jonah and the angels are holding a massive celebration. Cut to the surface as two fisherman hear the music and wonder what on earth is going on.
- Doubly subverted in Moral Orel 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."
- Happens several times in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
- Particularly used in "Scary Berry", 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, Berry spots Bloo, and romantic violin music plays—and a violin imaginary friend walks behind her, playing itself.
- The entire episode is a series of these.
- Goo once created a violin friend for 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.
- Johnny Bravo 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.
- At the start of an episode of Sabrina: The Animated Series, eerie music plays as Sabrina works at her cauldron. She asks her aunts to turn off the magical speakers.
- In one episode of Danger Mouse called The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God, whenever the name or plot of Big Bad 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."
- Several examples in The Simpsons:
- When in a tank, Burns plays an audio tape of Wagner's "Die Walkyrie"... but it turns out that Smithers took that tape and over-recorded it with his favorite song: Waterloo, by ABBA.
- In another case, a paranoid Homer hears the theme from Psycho in the episode "The Springfield Files"... only to have it turn out to be an actual orchestra on a passing bus. This may be a direct lift of the scene from High Anxiety (see above in Film).
- 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.
- Also happens in the episode in which Marge becomes the "Listen Lady" at the church. Reverend Lovejoy has a revelation, sunlight beams through a window and a dramatic chord plays on an organ. It turns out Marge is sitting on a keyboard just off-screen.
- In the episode where Bart burns the Christmas tree and presents, when Homer walks into the living room and sees everyone from town in his living room, some Christmassy music can be heard. He then barks at Lisa to stop playing it on the piano.
- Yet another episode plays with this: The Simpson kids hear spooky noises coming from their attic and decide to investigate. Homer dismisses it until stereotypical spooky music starts playing. At this point he angrily declares that it's one thing to scare his kids, but messing around with his theremin crosses the line, and he leads the family into the attic.
- In "Mobile Homer", while Marge and Homer are looking through a holiday album (of Homer getting repeatedly injured) a song is playing, only for Marge to reach over and turn it off, courtesy of a nearby casette player.
- Happens during The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse". The school dance scene has music licensed from the Peanuts Halloween Special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, 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.
- In the "Return to Lake Wannaweep" episode of Kim Possible, Ron is stressing out over having realized they're back at Lake Wannaweep. Anxious brass music plays until Ron turns to address the kids playing it. They in turn apologize and say they thought they were at band camp.
- Animaniacs did this when spoofing the Three Billy Goats Gruff, as whenever someone said "troll" there was ominous organ music - shown to be played by Wakko. At one point, Wakko said it and Dot took over the organ duties ("Well, someone had to do it!").
- Parodied in Yin Yang Yo. An season 2 episode has a villain who's powered by 1. Power drained from other warriors, and 2. 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.
- An episode of Histeria about The American Civil War featured the classic scene of a soldier writing letters home to his girfriend, but ends up with the entire camp going insane from the violin constantly playing a forlorn "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" throughout the sketch.
- Used thrice in Avatar The Last Airbender.
- 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 purchased in a previous episode. Iroh then admonishes Zuko that he "missed music night" (shown later).
- In the third season episode "The Painted Lady", the fog, spooky music, roaring and giant footsteps all turn out to be sound effects supplied by the Gaang.
- In the Grand Finale they pull the same trick as in the first season, with Iroh playing inside his new tea shop.
- South Park
- The opening to the episode "Kenny Dies" contains multiple ones in sequence.
- 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 a Crowning Moment of Funny when he changes his tune to a very upbeat arrangement of the Too Fat Polka.
- Family Guy
- The Star Wars-parody has heroic music swell as Chris/Luke looks over the desert at sunset. Then the camera pans over to John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra, whom Chris acknowledges and thanks for their hard work before asking to do the theme from The People's Court. Then they're killed in the Empire's attack, and we have to make do with Danny Elfman. Well, that is if Chris/Luke didn't decapitate him with his lightsaber... Peter/Han gets really into the TIE Fighter battle music.
- Also, in the episode "Holy Crap" (the one with Peter's father), there's a Running Gag involving a band that plays appropriate emotive chords at Peter's request.
- And in the "Viewer Request" episode (the last episode of the original run) Peter gets three wishes; one of them is to have his own theme music, which follows him everywhere.
- There's also the episode where Stewie gets a job following fat people around with a tuba.
- And John Williams is alive again in the third Star Wars parody, switching from the tense music of the Speeder Bike chase to the theme of Entertainment Tonight.
- A Cutaway Gag about a film literally called "Distracting Trumpet." The scene opens with Italian mob members around a table, discussing about an unknown topic, while slow, jazzy trumpet plays in the background. As the discussion goes on, the music becomes louder, and the scene pans to show that there is actually a trumpet player in the background. Eventually, it gets to the point to where the boss actually has to yell across the table so people can hear him.
- When we get Roger's origin on American Dad, while they're hunting the alien, Stan goes to 'look in that room where the spooky therumin music is coming from'.
- In "Bully for Steve", when Stan starts bullying Steve to toughen him up, Steve retaliates by paying Stan's old bully, Stelio Kontos, to beat the crap out of Stan. Throughout the ensuring Curb-Stomp Battle, the BGM (sample here.)is an ominous chanting of Stelio's name. At the end of the fight, Stelio calmly turns his theme music off, takes the radio it was playing from, and leaves.
- Another episode combines this with a Brick Joke. A montage set to "Weird Science" shows Stan in a library, trying to find a way to heal his injured dog. But when he gets home, he laments that he couldn't get any work done because "They were blasting Oingo Boingo at full volume."
- Pinky And The Brain
- In "The Real Life" episode, parodying MTV's The Real World, a troubled and angry Brain walks about the house while a parody/pastiche of the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" plays in the background... until Brain opens a door in the house and angrily tells the director of the reality show to 'turn that insipid maudlin music off', though maybe not in those exact words.
- In another Pinky And The Brain 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...
- The first episode of Legion of Super-Heroes season 2 opens with Superman and Brainiac 5 fighting the Dominators. Brainy gets hit, and some really melodramatic BGM plays as he dies in Superman's arms. Then it abruptly shifts into "Music terminated, simulation complete." Yes, Brainy programmed his simulation of Superman reacting to his death to have melodramatic music.
- In the Transformers: BeastWars episode "Changing of the Guard", when Rattrap discovers that piloting the makeshift mini-sub is "kinda cool", a cheery sea-shanty-esque tune plays - then we cut to Silverbolt on the shore, listening to the music through his handheld communicator and staring at it in confusion.
- Transformers: The Movie had something similar; during Starscream's coronation, a trumpet fanfare plays in the background each time the 'con is about to be crowned, interrupting the ceremony. Eventually, Starscream screams for someone offscreen to "get on with it"...and we cut to the Constructicons, holding trumpets, looking confused as to what they did wrong. Immediately afterward, Starscream's crowning gets interrupted by the fanfare again, and he decides to quell it by shooting the trumpets clean out of the Constructicons' hands in mid-song.
- In Cats Dont Dance, Danny and Pudge start dancing on the deserted sound stage, and mood music swells up behind them. It's not immediately clear that this trope is going to be used, which makes it somewhat mind-screwy when Danny looks up and says, "Wait...where's that music coming from?" Turns out it was Woolie the Elephant playing his piano in a trailer across the street.
- Hey Arnold "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.
- In the first Screwy Squirrel cartoon, 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.
- Shaun the Sheep has one episode where he tries to get Timmy off a tightrope by swinging on a trapeze. His attempts are accompanied by a drumroll and cymbal clash, which we then see is being played by one of the sheep.
- In the Earthworm Jim episode "The Book of Doom" any time said book is mentioned, and referred to as "the book," there is a jarring electric guitar chord that accompanies it. This goes on repeatedly until Evil the Cat gets sick of it and hits the henchman who had been playing the guitar off-screen.
- In a horror-themed episode of the Italian produced Rat-Man animated series, Rat-Man is in a bathroom of a cinema. He goes to open a bathroom stall while some dramatic chords gets louder and louder in the background...and as soon as he opens the door, we see a violinist practicing in the stall, which bows and then leaves the scene. The joke is replayed later after Rat-Man gulps a cup of poisoned tea, as the same violinists appears on the scene playing the same chords.
- Phineas And Ferb
- "MOM! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!"
- One episode has Dr. Doofenshmirtz plotting to squash Perry the Platypus with a piano suspended over the door, accompanied by piano music. We pan up, and see someone playing suspended the piano, who then turns around and gives a creepy yet hilarious slasher smile.
- In "Bowl-O-Rama Drama", each time Baljeet mentions "The World's Most Pointless Book of Records", a trumpet fanfare is heard. After a while, it is revealed to us that Buford has been playing a trumpet right behind him.
Baljeet: Is that absolutely necessary?
Buford: Why, does it bug ya?
Baljeet: A little.
Buford: Then yeah, it's necessary.
- In "Attack of the 50-Foot Sister", which takes place during the Tri-Stare Midsummer Fair, Doofensmirtz's usual "Doofensmirtz 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.
- In "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted", after Candace has finally busted her brothers but starts to miss them after they're sent to reform school, there is a sad montage of memories of them, set to a song. Cut back to Stacy playing a guitar and singing the song; Candace tells her to stop bumming her out.
- In the special "Summer Belongs to You", Phineas is inspired, resulting in the musical equivalent of the Idea Bulb. Just as it chimes, what appears to be a Commercial Pop Up ("You're Watching Television!") cuts off the bottom third of the screen. It goes away when Phineas notices it, revealing Ferb holding a triangle.
- In the title sequence, Phineas conducts Ferb and a group of penguins on horns for a few bars and on guitars a few bars later. In "Thaddeus and Thor," they build a treehouse where one floor has a scoring section.
- In "Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Max Modem", as Dr. Doofenshmirtz explains his evil plot to stage an alien invasion, spooky theremin music starts playing... and then we see Doofenshmirtz walking away from an actual theremin.
- An episode of The Emperor\'s New School has a dramatic chord sounding whenever Kuzco or Kronk say "Condor Patch". Kuzco, amused by it, says "Condor Patch" several times in order to make the chord play.
- WordGirl
- 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."
- Also parodied in "The Young and the Meatless", where The Butcher and one of Lady Redundant Woman's duplicates fall in love. Each time they see each other, they Meadow Run accompanied by romantic music, which is revealed each time to be the result of the same malfunctioning boombox.
- Teen Titans has one in the episode where Mad Modd traps them in an elaborate school. When they chased him to the music, Robin upturns a statue head (of Mad Modd) and turns a switch to stop the music after a Scooby Dooby Doors Sequence.
- In Storm Hawks, Dark Chick Ravess is often accompanied by minions who play her Leitmotif on violins.
- Spongebob Squarepants
- In an early episode, Plankton pulls out a tiny record player from Hammerspace so his Evil Laugh 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.
- This happens a few times in the episode "Clams" (a parody of Jaws/Moby Dick), ominous orchestral music plays every time the giant clam is approaching. Eventually, Mr Krabs opens the door to the hold, revealing a live orchestra inside, causing the clam to show up.
- When Mr. Krabs takes Mrs. Puff on an expensive dinner date, there is "imported" piano mood music playing in the background. As soon as she mentions it, the scene cuts to live-action footage of a scuba diver playing the piano in a tank of water.
- 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.
- In Duckman the family is trapped in their basement by an overzealous security system with gun turrets. When they finally decide to make a break for it, suitably epic music starts up as they burst out of the stairway. As gunfire and the camera follow them past a record player, it's promptly shot to bits and the music fizzles out.
- The animated Mother Goose And Grimm series did one episode where Grimm and Attila went to look for Mother Goose's ex-fiancée (in order to restore Humpty Dumpty). Everytime a dramatic moment occurred an organ music would play, leading Grimm to go to the other side of the room and tell the lady playing it to stop. This went on for several times.
- In the Raggedy Ann and Andy short "The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile," Raggedy Ann is trying to help Aunt Agatha remember how much fun Halloween was while a slow banjo tune is played in the background. The scene then cuts to Raggedy Andy, who is playing said banjo. He even throws in a harmonica solo near the end of the scene.
- In one Futurama episode, Zapp Brannigan is called to the Whitehouse while patriotic American music plays. It is shown to be Kif playing as a one man band.
- Used in multiple episodes of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, usually in relation to the chase song. Furthermore, the gang is always shown dancing while the chase song is playing. Usually they are shown to turn the music on, however.
- A Running Gag in a Jimmy Two Shoes episode is the constant dramatic "dum-dum-dum" 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' heart-to-heart moments, with the violin music being played by an in-universe source. At one point, Jimmy tells the players "Whoa, not that serious." and they do something a little more up-tempo.
- Played hilariously in Chowder, where in one episode, Endive is trying to force Schnitzel into marrying her. When things go awry, she yells at Margret to "Cut the music." We then see Margret literally cutting a stereo system in half with a pair of oversized scissors.
- Played straight in Daria, a show that typically used mostly-contemporary pop music as incidental music during scenes and establishing exterior shots. Occasionally the source of the music would be revealed to be Jane or Quinn's CD player.
- In one episode of 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 an episode of American Dragon Jake Long where Jake is summoned before the Dragon Council because of his tendency to go outside rules, his grandfather explains that despite his rough edges, Jake does have what it takes to be a true dragon. As he speaks, emotional violin music is playing in the background until Jake's grandpa yells "Fu!", to which the talking dog playing the violin replies "What? I thought you were trying to create a mood".
- The Tiny Toon Adventures episode "C Flat or B Sharp" is set to the Hungarian Rhapsody. Partway through the cartoon, the out-of-control piano is shown to be playing as it careens down the hall... presumably the rhapsody in question.
- There's also the episode "Prom-Ise Her Anything", which had Sneezer playing romantic music on a sax to bring the right mood to a scene twice. The second time, he turns to the camera and remarks, "I also play at bar mitzvahs."
- Rocko's Modern Life 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 the Adventure Time episode "Dungeon", a upbeat xylophone tune plays whilst Finn and Jake escape from a cage... only for it to be revealed that the Guardian Angel is playing it, who's then promptly cut off as the cage lands on top of her.
- The first episode of the Martha Speaks TV show does this with a Suspiciously Similar Song version of "Yakety Sax".
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated once had a scene where after a few second we see it's Mr. E playing the background music on a keytar.
- In Thundercats 2011 Wandering Minstrel Wilykit is often revealed as a provider of previously atmospheric flute music, particularly while playing an appropriately mournful tune in the smoking ruins of her home city of Thundera.
- An episode of Arthur has a singing narrative when Buster returns from extended traveling with his father. Twice the singing Moose is aknowledged.
Moose: (upbeat tune) He's a sad sad Bunny, A sad sad bunny, TV isn't funny when you're a Sad Sad Bunny.
Buster: Hey, that's not very sad music.
Moose: (slower and more solemn repeats the song)
Buster: So how long has the singing guy been here?
Arthur: I thought he came with you. MOM! THERE'S A SINGING MOOSE IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE!
- The music playing when Sasha dancers her way into the hangar in the first episode of Titan Maximum turns out to be Leon's copy of her latest album.
Real Life
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