Obscure Songs in Commercials
Last night, months after the commercial actually began airing, I finally discovered the name of the song used in that one Saturn commercial. You know… the one that takes place on a college campus and shows a couple of frat boys; it has a quite catchy old-school alternative rock tune in the background, but nowhere could I find any identification of the song. And that discovery got me thinking about the use of relatively obscure songs by independent artists in TV commercials.
It’s been done quite frequently, especially in automobile ads from the likes of Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, and– more recently– Saturn. And it’s actually quite a neat idea: if it’s done right, you end up not only selling your own product, but also influencing the sales of albums by the musician whose music is featured in the ad.
But that’s exactly the problem: though Volkswagen and Mitsubishi did it right, Saturn managed to mess things up.
How so? Upon hearing a song that I really like in a commercial, I’ll often go to the site of the company in question to see if they have any press releases that might identify the song. In the case of Volkswagen, there was an easy-to-find link with quite a clear identification of the background music (and even a CD compilation of the tracks for sale!); in the case of Mitsubishi, the link was buried somewhat in the site, but it nonetheless exists. But whither Saturn? Nowhere on Saturn’s site could I find any identification of the music in the ads; though some of them were downloadable, nothing was to be found about the music used within. In my opinion, that’s the worst sort of sellout: featuring a little-known group’s music in a commercial but doing nothing to actually promote the group.
So, for people who are still curious as to the song IDs from the Saturn Ion commercials, here’s the track listing, as culled from various message board postings:
Prom: “Forever Young” by Alphaville
Childhood: “We’ve Been Had” by The Walkmen
Wedding: a remixed version of Pachelbel’s Canon
College: “Tiny Spark” by Brendan Benson
EDITED 8 December 2003: To make things easier to manage, and to clear up some space in this blog comment thread, I’m closing comments on this post and setting up a message forum for future questions on the topic of music in commercials. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this page has grown just a bit too large…
EDITED 18 July 2004: Some of you who got here via Google are probably wondering what the songs used in the more recent Adult Swim eyecatches are. Well, here’s a forum thread with all the info, direct from Williams Street. You’ll need to register for their forums, but it’s worth it; the thread in question is about 50 pages long now. And I actually tracked down a few of the songs on that thread, too. 🙂
Heh, I too like the songs in those commercials, and spent quite a bit of time looking for that info. I finally found it on some personal site somewhere. Now those are some of my very favorite songs.
Comment by NormalAsylum — 04-Jul-2003 @ 1:50 am
There was an Applied Materials commercial with a song entitled Dream by Hairy Monster.
It’s a really good song, but the song isn’t available at all. The band apparently broke up right after they did the commercial.
The commercial is here:
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/about/information_for_everyone.html
It’s one of those “we would like you to think about buying our stock” type of commercials. I saw it on the Fox News Channel during the O’Reilly Factor…
Comment by brian — 15-Jul-2003 @ 8:57 pm
There really needs to be a site that catalogs these songs. I found one site (www.songtitle.info) but it’s not great.
Comment by Tim — 30-Aug-2003 @ 1:32 pm
what is the name of the song that plays in the “sheet metal” commercial from saturn? it’s instrumental. the commercial shows people walking and running as if they were cars.
Comment by Andi — 01-Sep-2003 @ 2:21 am
Andi: I believe that it was composed specifically for that commercial and isn’t available elsewhere.
Comment by codeman38 — 01-Sep-2003 @ 1:36 pm
what is the name of the song for the volkswagen convertible? it goes something like, “just follow the day” & sounds very much like a symphony. at the end it says, pods unite.
Comment by wendy — 01-Sep-2003 @ 10:34 pm
Wendy: It’s “Light And Day” by the Polyphonic Spree. VW did this one right; the song is actually identified by title and artist in the closed captioning!
Comment by codeman38 — 02-Sep-2003 @ 12:45 am
Whats the song in the saturn commercial where the cars are picking the people? I love that calming tune. It’s driving me !@#$ing nuts.
Comment by joanna — 12-Sep-2003 @ 1:09 am
Joanna: Again, I believe it’s an original composition… sorry to let you down. For some reason unknown even to me, I thought the “people shopping” and “sheet metal” commercials were the same when they weren’t. See Courtney’s post below for the correct answer…
Comment by codeman38 — 12-Sep-2003 @ 2:02 am
Okay- the search is over… the name of the song in the Saturn L-Series “People Shopping” commercial is…. “This Guy’s in Love with You” by Burt Bachrach and Hal David. Woo Hoo, I finally found it!!
Comment by Courtney — 14-Sep-2003 @ 5:58 pm
What I want to know is the name of that music in the Saturn commercial with the water balloon fight. I think it’s by Palanchi or something. It’s frustrating not knowing gja;sdflkgjasdlkfjads
Comment by Branmuffin — 16-Sep-2003 @ 2:38 am
I’d appreciate it if anyone can help me. I want to know the name of the song that was used in the Comedy Central “Jon/Colin/Conan” late nite ads. The song was also used a while back in a commercial for HotJobs or CareerBuilder.com. It starts with an offbeat piano before the beat comes in…it’s all instrumental.
Comment by Greg — 19-Sep-2003 @ 12:29 am
I need to know the name of the song in the SATURN commercial with the people walking on the streets as if they were cars, please email me and let me know the name of the song……..thanx
Lovedoctormatt@juno.com
Comment by matt — 21-Sep-2003 @ 4:17 am
Greg: Holy cow. I just saw the Comedy Central Jon/Colin/Conan ad, and recognized the tune immediately: that’s the old theme from Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim!
I had originally thought the tune was composed for Cartoon Network, but I was sadly mistaken: via a Google search, I discovered that it’s actually a version of Tito Puente’s “Mambo Gallego”, remixed by a stock music company. No, I don’t know where one can find the remixed version…nor does anyone else, from what I can tell.
Comment by codeman38 — 25-Sep-2003 @ 11:20 am
what’s the song in the jeans ad that starts “i got my toothbrush” the guys get out of bed wearing only a pair of jeans.
Comment by terry — 26-Sep-2003 @ 1:02 pm
“WITHOUT YOU” ARE THE WORDS SUNG IN THE CHORUS OF THIS COMMERCIAL. I’VE HEARD IT BEFORE AND THINK IT’S A DANCE MIX. WHAT IS IT?
Comment by JOHN — 27-Sep-2003 @ 2:38 am
Codeman38,
The song in the Gap jeans ad is “tempted” by Squeeze.
Comment by Ginger — 28-Sep-2003 @ 4:28 am
Ginger,
thanks, that’s the song!
Comment by terry — 02-Oct-2003 @ 9:35 am
I am going crazy trying to figure out who is singing “When You’re Smiling” in the McCain’s potato ads. Every search leaves me empty-handed…
Comment by jiminy cricket — 07-Oct-2003 @ 1:51 pm
I have been dying to know what that song is in some commerical that I can’t even remember. The lyrics are something like “I get sad when you’re sad… I get mad when you’re mad” or something. Help help please.
Comment by Kristen — 09-Oct-2003 @ 3:28 am
There is a new commercial for some game that is played on one either xbox, ps2, or gamecube. I have no idea what the game is… but the song says suddenly a lot. The song would be considered rock. Does anyone know???
Comment by Rachel — 10-Oct-2003 @ 1:17 am
Does anyone know the name of the song in the volkswagon ad where a man and woman are driving around with a sofa following the moon? It’s driving me nuts! It’s from either the late 1950s or 60s. Thanks!
Comment by ayesha — 10-Oct-2003 @ 2:45 am
Hey folks…Doing some research re current political situation. Would very MUCH like to find copy of lyrics to 10-15 year old CADILLAC
commercial “SOME PEOPLE WANT MORE THAN JUST A LITTLE BIT…”
It didn’t stay on the air long….Thanks if you can help..
Comment by Burke — 11-Oct-2003 @ 4:14 pm
Hey Folks!
I’m not sure who the commercial is for, but the ad has a bunch of kids singing “I know I can – I know I can, be what I want to be – be what I want to be” etc. to a hip-hopish baseline. Much thanks for any help you might be able to offer!
Comment by Beth — 17-Oct-2003 @ 10:37 pm
What is the song in the Yahoo Search Commercial.
some of the lyrics “i can’t sleep without you…I can’t seem to do anything…”
Who is the performer and what is the song title?
Comment by jessica — 18-Oct-2003 @ 11:41 pm
what’s the song in the new saturn commercial.. the one where all the cars are just the subframe.. there is no exterior body pannels
all i know is that its a guitar solo. kinda sounds wonder years-ish.. any help?
Comment by Anonymous — 19-Oct-2003 @ 12:10 am
the yahoo search commercial with the lyrics, ” i feel sad when you’re sad, etc.” is a barry manilow song called ” I Can’t Smile Without You”, but it’s not Barry Manilow singing in the yahoo search ad….it sounds like Pete Yorn to me but I can’t find anything on the net that says who is singing in the ad. if anyone knows please post it or email it to me!! thanks
Comment by katie — 21-Oct-2003 @ 1:30 pm
what is the name of the song on the Vh1 commercial, it goes something like,”do you realize…that you have the most beautiful face…do you realize…that we’re floating in space…do you realize?
I need to know!!!
Comment by natlaie — 26-Oct-2003 @ 4:26 pm
To Beth about the song with the little kids singing I know I can, can be what I wanna be…it’s by Nas and it’s called I know I can. Also……has anyone heard the song on the new iPod commercial by Apple where all the backgrounds are solid bright colors and the people are just silouettes and they’re dancing around listening to the song? Thanks!
Comment by Katherine — 04-Nov-2003 @ 12:53 am
I’ve been trying to figure out the new starburst fruit and creme commercial. I’ve been looking for the song for days now and it’s driving me crazy. Does anybody now what it is?!?
Comment by Stephanie — 04-Nov-2003 @ 9:22 pm
here is something i found on saturn’s site.
What are the song titles and the song artists featured in your commercials? Beautiful original music by Elias Arts Music Warnings Classic by I Am The World Trade Center Clowns original music by Elias Arts Music Sheetmetal Sonatine Disparue by Gregori Czerkinsky College Tiny Spark by Brendan Benson Prom Forever Young by Alphaville Childhood We’ve Been Had by the Walkmen Trail of Stuff Ghostwriter by RJD2 People Shopping This Guy’s in Love With You (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a re-recorded instrumental version was used in the commercial)
Comment by mike — 05-Nov-2003 @ 11:47 am
I want to hear about two commericals. One is about eh McCain Potatoes “when you’re Smiling” and the other is the Victoria Secret Commerical song. Song ends with “…..the clouds are weeping…”
Comment by Susan — 07-Nov-2003 @ 6:57 pm
Go here to here the song ” When you are Smiling” Sung by Loie Armstrong .. It is a cartoon of a cow singing the song. It’s cute…no nudity in it at all http://www.funnybunch.com/1/groovycow.htm
Comment by Susan — 08-Nov-2003 @ 2:17 pm
welp i finally found the lyrics to that victorias secret commercial, here you can also listen to the first verse. sung by bob dylan!! i would have never gessed that one! http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/lovesick.html
Comment by Susan — 08-Nov-2003 @ 2:54 pm
I’m dying to know what the song is that comes out on Adult Swim on the cartoon network for Hot Topic advertising stuff for Aqua Teen Hunger Force… I’m going koo koo for cocoa puffs!
Comment by Toulon — 11-Nov-2003 @ 4:15 am
the songs for the ipod commercial are “hey mama” by the black eyed peas & “are you gonna be my girl” by jet
Comment by cartsky5 — 11-Nov-2003 @ 7:07 pm
UP
And “natlaie”, the song in the VH1 commercial is “Do You Realize” by the Flaming Lips.
Comment by codeman38 — 25-Nov-2003 @ 10:49 pm
Natalie: The song from VH1 is “Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips It is on Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Comment by Poppy — 27-Nov-2003 @ 2:58 am
the starburst fruit creme commercial song is called the whistle song, you can download it at http://www.startburst.com or get it thru kazaa just type in whistle song
Comment by koops — 28-Nov-2003 @ 12:51 pm
does anyone know the songin teh victorias secret commercial where its like “it’s time” and its got like children singing? email me please- kooopz@isellcars.com
Comment by koops — 28-Nov-2003 @ 12:52 pm
What’s the song, and the group, in the current GM ad that goes repeatedly, “wrap it up, I’ll take it” ? VERY catchy old rock tune. TIA.
Comment by ZR1 bob — 02-Dec-2003 @ 8:45 am
If someone can help me on this one, there isnt much i can do except appreciate the help. what is that crazy magical song in the background of walgreen commericials… it sounds like a choir of kids and its magical 🙂
Comment by Eric — 05-Dec-2003 @ 11:34 pm
Does anyone know the name of the song in the current Honda Civic commercial where a guy is watching girls playing vollyball on the beach and walks into a black Civic in the parking lot. It has a regae feel to it with the vocals morphed down several octaves.
Comment by Steve — 07-Dec-2003 @ 11:15 pm
There are a couple of new songs I’m looking for, but they’re probably just stock songs that are unavailable to the public. Anyway, the first is from the commercial for MARIO & LUIGI: SUPERSTAR SAGA, where it shows home movies of Mario and Luigi as kids. The second is for the AT&T commercial “SUPERMARKET GRAZER” where the guy is walking around eating all the free samples. Any help would be appreciated.
Comment by Greg — 08-Dec-2003 @ 8:28 pm
To make things easier to manage, and to clear up some space in this blog comment thread, I’m closing comments on this post and setting up a message forum for future questions on the topic. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this page has grown just a bit too large…
Comment by codeman38 — 09-Dec-2003 @ 12:10 am