19 Songs Based On Classical Pieces 

📌UPDATE: I've had to remove the clip of "Today, Tomorrow & Forever" by Elvis Presley due to copyright issues. Sorry!

Imagine if old music kept its copyright even after a few hundred years. It would be a jurisdictional hell.

David = musical knowledge : on point, sweater game: on point

Wow, I didn’t know my voice was so low

It bothers me sooo much that I didn’t ever make the connection between “For the Damaged Coda” to Chopin’s Nocturne! That was one of my top 3 piano pieces since 2005 when I got suuuuper into Chopin.

I’m also 99,9% sure gemnopede No.1 is used in the soundtrack for Minecraft

That rick and morty one just blew my mind wow

You could probably do a whole video about modern songs based on the Canon in D by Pachelbel lol

"All by Myself" by Eric Carmen was based on Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto n°2 in C minor (great piece too).

I always appreciate how you don't bury the lede and put the song from the thumbnail as the first example in the video

4:21 please tell me i'm not the only one looking out for creepers when this tune plays...

I love this series! One of the underrated things I take away from this channel is that I get to experience more music that I often hold onto and listen to later - both classical and modern!

We need a full video on how many people have borrowed from Holst's "The Planets" and Stravinsky's, "The Rite of Spring."

There’s something poetic about how music is passed down, borrowed, and still inspires new music to be made. Old tunes are modified to fit a new narrative for a new generation. These videos always wow me with how much passes on to new generations and such,

I could not believe how good was for the damaged coda when I heard it for the 1st time. Now I understand... took some Chopin for my own arrangements too... his stuff is too good to be true

I many times tried to figure out the Chopin E minor prelude chord changes and glad you put it in this video!

Sting's "Russians" quotes the "Romance" from Prokofiev's _Lieutenant Kijé_ suite, and Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" uses the "Troika" movement from the same work.

0:35 this explains why I found this music sounds familiar to me upon hearing it for the first time.

"Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" by Spiritualized borrows simultaneously from Pachelbel's Canon in D and Elvis' Can't Help Falling In Love

Chopin's Prelude No. 4, Op 28 sounds a lot like Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)", from OK Computer.

David: 'O Sole Mio Every British person ever: "JUST ONE CORNETTOOOOO...".

Serge Gainsbourg did this a lot. He took the same prelude Jobim used to write Insensatez and wrote Jane B. He took another piece by Chopin (Étude Op. 10, No. 3 in E major) and wrote Lemon Incest. My Lady Heroine is based on an excerpt from In a Persian Market. He even makes a reference in the lyrics ("un marché persan"). And many more.

I distinctly remember enjoying the first piece, then searching for it, then becoming surprisingly obsessed with it, until now. Thank you for revealing Chopin’s melody.

The Beatles “Because” is based on moonlight sonata played backwards

Tchaikovsky is a much-adapted popular song source. Many of his melodies have been set to lyrics. "Our Love" is from Romeo and Juliet; "Moon Love" and "Save Me a Dream" are both from the 2nd movement of his 5th Symphony; "The Story of a Starry Night" is from the 1st mvt. of the 6th Symphony; "On the Isle of May" is the Andante Cantabile of his 1st String Quartet; and there is "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty. Did you mention Chabrier's España, which Perry Como turned into "Hot Diggity, Dog-Ziggity, Boom, What You do To Me"? "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is from Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. Della Reese used to do "Don't You Know?", which is Musetta's Aria from Puccini's La Boheme. You missed Elvis Presley's "Surrender", which is from another Italian street song, "Return to Sorrento." And his "Love Me Tender" is actually "Aura Lee." Barry Manilow uses a Chopin Prelude for his "Could It Be the Magic?" The tune "Easter Eggs" is from a passage in Stravinsky's Petrouchka, but I don't know which came first. These are enough to get you started, David. I'll probably think of more later.

Oh man I never realized I could “steal” from my favorite classical pieces...I suppose that’s just how music works. I can’t wait to play with this idea David. Wonderful video, well researched and well produced I love your work so much 🥲

I just now discovered your channel. This subject has fascinated me for many years, being a music lover of nearly all genres.

Fabulous video Mr B., have shared this on Facebook & my muso-mates are loving it!

David I have three more Chopin songs for you: Hyacine House by the Doors has a direct reference to Chopin's Op 53 Polonaise in A Flat Major. Till The End Time an old Perry Como song is based on the same Polonaise. And Jo Stafford - No Other Love is directly lifted from Chopin's Etude #3 Op 10 in E Major. I hope that helps!

Awesome series! These videos are more like quizzes to me: ‘what song is used in this modern song’ and so many times it’s clear, but when it’s not you can really make the connection between the two

I've no problem with popular music basing their pieces on classics or just borrowing a little here and there. I just wish they would give a little credit where credit is due: "Inspired by..." or "based on..." It would take nothing away from the pop artists and might get their listeners to give the originals a try as well.

10:35 That melody is from an old German Drinking song called "Fuchslied". In 1880, many German university students would have been familiar with the song when they heard the Brahms overture.

Can't forget about Rush's "2112" - a modern 7-movement song which contains a small piece of the 1812 Overture (note the 300 year gap!) in the first movement. I love the fusion of some classical themes with a lot of futuristic qualities too.

Excellent David! I love these comparisons and contrasts. You do a great job explaining them. Cheers!

It was confusing me that "What is a Youth" sounded so much like another song I remembered from long ago, and I realised it was an alternate version, called "A Time for Us", with lyrics by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder, recorded by Johnny Mathis, Shirley Bassey, Andy Williams, and Stevie Wonder - and generally known as "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet".

Love the videos

I never realized It's Now Or Never counts as a song in its own right. I always just thought of it as a translation of O Sole Mio.

Great video again, David. Love the connection between the classical and modern. Makes you wonder if anything is really new.

Difficult To Cure by Rainbow also uses Ode To Joys melody

David, thank you for all your amazing content and insight! I find myself watching and rewatching your videos when I want to learn more about music theory and the amazing interconnected nature of music creation. One recent song that appears to lift from classical music that I really haven't seen anyone mention is "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco. The opening four note progression is identical to the beginning of Puccini's "Vissi d'arte", just lowered by a half tone. I was listening to some opera while doing some work recently, and was like "Wait a second, I've heard this same lick somewhere!"

Yes!! You mentioned Billy Joel! He really has many examples from classic music. He likes It.

This series of comparisons is what brought me to your channel. I think I am sticking around.

Thanks for another well-researched video! An added bonus for me that it includes both Ode to Joy and Tales from the Vienna Woods....

The intro to the song "Will You Be There" by Michaël Jackson is an extract from Beethoven's Ninth ! Great video as always ! I love to hear you talk about classical music being an inspiration to nowadays music. A proof that classical music will live on forever !

There's a fine line between film and classical music, especially when composers, such as Nino Rota, were also 'classical' composers (he wrote a lot of chamber music, some great symphonies, many concertos, and a few ballets, operas and oratorios). I have heard Rota studied from the Italian renaissance long before R&J. Also, at least some music was composed for the Zefferelli (same director as the movie) stage play from the early '60s. I have never heard that music, so I don't know if it is the same, but I think it might be assumed that the music he wrote was originally for the stage, not film.

Pop composers: quoting a couple bars from an older piece is a neat way to pay homage while creating something new. Charles Ives: Hold my beer.

Thankyou you have made me found more tunes for my classical Spotify playlist.

These classic songs inspiring modern music is the reason I’m a subscriber. (Although I watch all your videos and love them) Thanks!!!

Just in case you haven't covered this yet: All Together Now by The Farm is based on Pachelbel's Canon.

Three takeaways here: classical composers can't sue so go right ahead and lift away, if you're an aspiring songwriter start listening to a lot of classical music and it is virtually impossible to write something truly original and unique especially when someone uses two bar snippets for comparison.

Thanks fro your high quality music theory content David, you are outstanding!

Great video!! Thanks you as always for your accurate work, we love it.

There were a lot of eye openers for me, thank you!

Hi ! I'm surprised you never mentionned Serge Gainsbourg in your videos, who wrote dozens of songs based on classical music. I recommend "Lemon Incest", or "Initials BB" as the most obvious and interesting uses, but there are plenty of others

Your videos are always such great quality :)

3:08 Ooooh!!! Thanks!!! XD I was trying to find "that song with one of the Gymnopédie (I'm not big fan enough of Satie to remember exactly which one LOL 😅) as background" and here it is!! Thanks again!!

Glad to see Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst getting some love.❤️

Hey David, really nice Video as always. You could look up the song "Questions" by Manfred Mann. You can hear it is influenced by Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90 No.3

Thank you for these great videos! Two other songs that come to my mind: "Cold is Being" by Renaissance, which uses Albinoni's famous adagio. And then, Billy Joel's "Leningrad" uses, I think Tschaikovsky's violin concerto?

Perfect video, I just add some, Eric Carmen - All by myself (Rachmaninov), Sting - Russians (Prokofiev), Beatles - Because (Beethoven)

Love this series!

5:01 Hey there's another song to the tune of that called Joyful Joyful from Sister Act 2.

You may have previously covered this, but the Sibelius 5th Sympnony lick is also the French Horn bridge in First Class’s “Beach Baby” (1974)

Love these videos! This is kind of a deep cut, but I remember the first time I listened to Many Lives ---> 49 MP by Owen Pallett, the last 15 seconds flipped a switch in my brain because it's a quote from the ending of the fourth movement of Bach's Violin Sonata #1 in G minor. I felt like I knew what I was talking about for like a full 30 seconds when I discovered that one.

Minecraft's music (Sweden by C418) also follows a simmilar chord progression as of Gymnopédie No. 1

Great series!

Love for videos Dave! Cheers from Brazil

You know you are weird when you have never hear any of the songs but you recognize all the pieces

I like how the first names of the read list fell in time with the background music :D

A WHOLE David Bennett video with no trace of Beatles and/or Radiohead? The end is nigh, I tell you... ... but, yes, a great video nonetheless -this channel is a veritable goldmine, thank you for your work and for putting your great musical knowledge to great use.

Great video! For some reason, when I first heard Schumann's Romance in F# major, I thought it had similarities to the piano outro on Derek and the dominos Layla.

"Cans & Brahms" by Yes is a repurposing of the end of the 3rd movement of Johannes Brahms's 3rd Symphony. It is a note-for-note synth adaptation with Rick Wakefield soloing. As for the title, one plausible explanation is that "cans" refers to the headphones he wore in the studio for the recording. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l5h9eJZ48eE.html'

Radioheads "exit music for a film" sounds very similar to the chopin piece in this video.

Awesome to see one of my favorite piano streamers, Sangah Noona, used here as an example!

Very interesting, thank you, David.

I think a good short documentary about the topic is “everything is a remix”

Could Paint it Black by the 'Stones use Ode to Joy?

There’s a Muse song called "I belong to you" that literally shifts in the middle to Dalila’s aria from “Samson et Dalila" by Camille Saint-Saens

Thank you! I basically only know "Can't help falling in love with you"; but upon hearing "Liebesträume 3" I'm somehow always thinking of Elvis. Now I know.

"I know I've probably covered all of them now..." Hahahahahaha!

Someone made a song from my favorite Chopin Nocturne, and I didn't know about until now? Well, at least it's not in 80s metal style which is what is usually done

man, I love how you build up your info on the damaged coda at the beginning of the video and then punch in with the info about how it's based on Chopin just before the climactic verse kicks in. It made me smile and repeat the into several times actually XDXDXD

Great videos/breakdowns. Does David Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes" not seem like a strange song format to you? Could you do a 'breakdown' of that?

There is a part of the song “The Globalist” by Muse which uses the theme from nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Elgar which is so cool!

Very, very educational and interesting..

So I haven't seen the whole series of these videos so forgive me if this has been covered but I've been obsessed for a while with the progression of the song "Daydream" Claude François has "Reveries" which was inspired by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Which then inspired "Daydream" - Wallace Collection Then to "Squares" by the Beta Band Which inspired the popular "Daydream in Blue" - I Monster (where I first encountered it) To then again be re-popularized by Lupe Fiasco in "Daydreamin'" It's just a super cool multi-genre journey of a single theme including Swollen Members and other unnamed versions

Well done, mate! Wow! I have greatly enjoyed your lecture here. Very informative, much of it, and those from your earlier vid, I had known of. I had always been offended my that Eric Carmen rubbish from 1974. In this vid, I annoyed by hearing Lana Del Ray, if only for a second, as she's always flat to me. Yet, what pained me most about your vid was 'Insensitive' As a huge fan of that classic period of 1960s Brasil, I am disappointed in myself for not seeing it. So, again, well done!

The Rachmaninov inversion piece I recognise from the end of Groundhog Day - uncultured swine that I am :D

Lmao, since I’m listening to Japanese Songs, NEWS’s “Yonjuushi”’s intro is based off of Paganini’s Caprice No.24. Now I know.

Hayley Westenra's Never Say Goodbye is lifted from Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess, and River of Dreams is the 2nd movement of Vivaldi's Winter with lyrics added. Both are beautiful, as are the works they're based on.

Great research David!! This must have taken SOME EFFORT to compile this!!

I can't believe that someone to call my lover has a melody from Gymnopedie no 1, I am mind blown

My memory may be a bit faulty, but isn’t Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic?” based on a Chopin death march? (Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20.)

Mick Ronson's guitar solo in Bowie's song "Time" also quotes the Ode to Joy melody.

Really good and informative video. I was wondering though... did you speed up or pitched the version of Tony Martins "There's no Tomorrow" as well? cause i was looking for that particular version you used in your video but it seems that i cannot find it anywhere... while the version you find on YTP is awesome i like the "faster" version thats heard in your video.

In that picture, Billy Joel looks like the son of Paul McCartney and Sylvester Stallone.

oh I love Sibelius 5!

Yesterday I heard a similarity between the guitar in "Underground" by Tom Waits and Tchaikovsky's Seasons, Op 37a: VI. June, Barcarolle. Maybe it's just a coincidence on scales but knowing that Tom Waits is a piano player maybe he took inspiration from there, great video and cheers mate.

VERY COOL VIDEOS! CONGRATULATIONS! ONE SUGGESTION FOR AN UPCOMING VIDEO PERHAPS: HOW WOULD YOU HARMONICALLY ANALYSE DEPECHE MODE'S-BEHIND THE WHEEL? IT WOULD BE COOL TO HEAR YOUR OPINION

rachmaninoff/paganini explanation 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯