Ghost Busters Theme Song

1984

Back to regular programming.

This post is for the 1984 film, the one that started it all, but I guess it also applies to the 1980s cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters.

So anyway, that Ghost Busters (or “Ghostbusters”) theme is such a big hit, right? It is (also) simply called “Ghostbusters”.

It was written and performed by American musician Ray Parker, Jr.

In 1984 it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but it lost to Stevie Wonder’s (no wonder) “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from the film, The Woman in Red. The song also reached number on on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for three weeks. In Europe, it reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. Quite an accomplishment for a theme song.

The song is of course included in an original soundtrack, and here is a reissued version of it, which includes two additional songs.

I guess it would also make sense to mention the controversy that surrounded the theme song back then. Mr. Parker was accused of plagiarizing the melody from the song “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News. Mr. Lewis sued Mr. Parker, but they settled in 1985. It is also said that both “Ghostbusters” and “I Want a New Drug” lifted their bass lines from the song “Pop Muzik” by the British band M.

Care to check out the two songs first? Sure.

Below is “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News.

Come to think of it, the guitar riff sounds awfully the same.

Below is “Pop Muzik by M. Just listen to the bass guitar.

Ghostbusters music video

Now for the original music video of the song.

The girl is not-so-successful actress Cindy Harrell.

Ghostbusters theme song lyrics

If there’s something strange
in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

If there’s something weird
and it don’t look good
Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts

If you’re seeing things
running through your head
Who can ya call?
Ghostbusters!

An invisible man
sleeping in your bed
Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

If ya all alone
pick up the phone
and call
Ghostbusters!

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts
I here it likes the girls
I ain’t afraid of no ghost
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

If you’ve had a dose of a
freaky ghost baby
Ya better call
Ghostbusters!

Lemme tell ya something
Bustin’ makes me feel good!

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts

Don’t get caught alone no no

Ghostbusters!

When it comes through your door
Unless you just want some more
I think you better call
Ghostbusters!

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

I think you better call
Ghostbusters!

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

I can’t hear you
Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

Louder
Ghostbusters!

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

Who can ya call?
Ghostbusters!

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

Let’s also include the opening sequence from The Real Ghostbusters, the cartoon series.

The Polar Express Theme Song

2004

So I’m trying to stick to a Christmas theme here, and since I’m not really much of a Christmas film buff, I’ll stick to those which I actually know. Up next is music from The Polar Express—that Tom Hanks film.

If The Polar Express were to have a theme song, it would be that which helped put the film in the map. “Believe”, composed by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, and performed by Josh Groban, was nominated in 2004 for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Better yet, it won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack contains a title track (obviously) called “The Polar Express”, which you can hear below, but I believe “Believe” still trumps that song for theme song.

And now for “Believe”, performed by Josh Groban.

The Polar Express theme song lyrics

Children sleeping, snow is softly falling
Dreams are calling like bells in the distance
We were dreamers not so long ago
But one by one we all had to grow up
When it seems the magic’s slipped away
We find it all again on Christmas day

Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that’s playing
There’s no time to waste
There’s so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe

Trains move quickly to their journey’s end
Destinations are where we begin again
Ships go sailing far across the sea
Trusting starlight to get where they need to be
When it seems that we have lost our way
We find ourselves again on Christmas day

Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that’s playing
There’s no time to waste
There’s so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe (4x)

Just believe

So there you go. Merry, merry, merry Christmas everybody.

Home Alone Theme Song

1990

Hey, hey, hey!

Hey, so Merry Christmas everybody! As I write this it is already the 26th of December, but I realize it is still Christmas to some of you. So hey, from me and all of us here at Theme Songs, we wish you the merriest, and we wish you the best in the coming year.

So I guess it only makes sense to post a Christmas-themed theme song, so let’s start with one of my favorite (there are only a handful) Christmas films, Home Alone. Yes, that Macaulay Culkin film.

And yes, it has a theme song. Listen to it below and surely you will associate it with the movie. The song, as with almost all of the songs in the film, was composed by John Williams. In the official soundtrack—Home Alone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Music Composed & Conducted by John Williams)—it is entitled “Main Title from Home Alone (‘Somewhere in My Memory’)”. The song segues to “Somewhere in My Memory” sung by a children’s choir.

It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in the 63rd Academy Awards (1990), but lost to the song from Dick Tracy.

So here you go, the theme song from Home Alone.

The Book of Eli Theme Song

Alright, so I just watched The Book of Eli the other night, and there, for me, was an obvious theme song. Obvious because it was repeated, and it had a very repetitive—almost annoying—melody. The song I am talking about is the one played at the end credits. By the way, Mila Kunis rules.

As it turns out, the song is track number one in the official soundtrack. It is entitled “Purpose” and was composed by Atticus Ross. Actually, all songs in the soundtrack was composed by Mr. Ross as it (CD) is branded as Music by Atticus Ross.

Mr. Atticus Ross is an English musician and composer who also composed for the film The Social Network, as well as produced several of Nine Inch Nails’ albums.

Of course, not all songs in the movie itself were classical-ish, as we obviously heard modern songs like the one in the iPod scene. Below is a list of songs (modern/pop) played in the film.

  1. “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” — written by Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb and performed by Al Green
  2. “Once Upon A Time In America” —written by Ennio Morricone
  3. “Greystone Chapel” — written by Glen Sherley
  4. “Ring My Bell” — written by Frederick Knight and performed by Anita Ward

Below is the theme song I mentioned earlier. If you think otherwise, hit the comments.

James Bond Theme Song

The dum di-di dum dum song

I realize, how can this site be an authority in the world of theme songs if it does not have the most iconic theme song of all? Yes, we all know that James Bond, or the James Bond/007 series of films, has but one signature theme. While it is true that most of the films in the series—especially those released in the Pierce Brosnan/Daniel Craig era—have very unique soundtracks (which is a business in itself) and songs written especially for them—case in point: the very cool “Another Way to Die” collaboration of Jack White and Alicia Keys—the main theme is reserved for the opening, cartoon-ish credits.

So if you think about it, this song must have been the original, original theme of the very first film. Correct! The very first film in the 007 series is Dr. No, which of course starred Sean Connery. So in reality, the James Bond theme is the Dr. No theme. Cool.

Many consider the theme as being in the genre of surf rock. This is particularly true since in 1962, when Dr. No was released, surf rock was the thing.

There is quite a ruckus as to who composed the song. Two people are involved in this mess—Monty Norman and John Barry. While Monty Norman seems to be on the winning side of things—he has been receiving royalties since 1962 and have won two libel suits—John Barry is the recognized arranger of the original one used in Dr. No.

The original theme was recorded on June 21 1962. The guitar riff was played by a certain Vic Flick—who will go down in history as exactly that. It is said that he was paid a measly one-time fee of 6 Euros for recording that riff. On the other hand, the saxophone part was played by a certain John Scott.

You know, I just wanted to have this iconic theme in our archives and I know the chances of you ever finding this point through the search engines is slim to none. In fact, Wikipedia has an entire entry reserved for the James Bond theme so that alone means “How the hell can I compete with that?” Anyway, all of this is still worth the trouble.

So, without further ado, I bring you  the James Bond theme. The winner, of course, is the original version used in Dr. No. I would have loved to embed the original opening sequence to the film but you can find none of those in YouTube to any of the films in the series.

The same song is part of the original Dr. No soundtrack.

Michael Myers Theme Song

Michael Myers is the primary antagonist the Halloween series of films, and yes, he has a very scary theme song. In the original movie, he was credited as The Shape so this post also works out as “the shape theme song.” In fact, this can also work out as the Halloween theme song—because yes, the same basic song structure and melody (re-recorded, of course) has been used in each of the films in the series.

As just stated, other Halloween movies feature theme songs that remain true to the melody of the original song. Re-recorded versions have different arrangements, tempo and instruments.

Most of the songs used in the film series is credited to John Carpenter. In fact, the original soundtrack of the the first film is branded as “Music Composed and Performed by John Carpenter,” so there you go. Oh by the way, Carpenter was also the original writer and director of the original movie released in 1978.

Since the franchise spans over 30 years with around 10 films already to its credit, naturally, there are already also a number of soundtracks released. Click here and pick your pick.

By the way, this song makes for an excellent ringtone.

Below is said scary theme song.

The Pink Panther Theme Song

“taran, taran…taran…”

First, and once again, let’s get our facts straight. The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films. The first film, the one officially entitled “The Pink Panther”, was shown in 1963. Since then there had been 11 Pink Panther movies made, with the last two starring Steve Martin as French police detective Jacques Clouseau (the old Pink Panthers starred British actor Peter Sellers).

The animation relationship

As most of you know, there is a literally pink panther cartoon character. The character emerged from the series of films as well, because the first film in 1963 had an animated opening sequence. It became such a success that later on they adapted it into a series of animated shorts, and, used it in all but a couple of the movies’ title sequences.

Now on to the theme song

The Pink Panther theme is, well, as expected, called “The Pink Panther Theme”. It was composed by the late great Henry Mancini for the original 1963 film. The song was nominated in 1964 for the Academy Award for Original Music Score. The song was commercially released as a single by RCA Records in 1964.

Below is the original opening main title credits from the 1963 film. Thanks YouTube user suztakumi.

Additional

  • The cartoon character was created by David DePatie and Friz Freleng.
  • The song was also used by The Price Is Right from 1976 to 1993 for its “Safe Crackers” segment.

Harry Potter Theme Song

Having a single, all-out theme song for the Harry Potter series of films is, I think, impossible. After all, each film has its own soundtrack—making the official soundtrack count eight. Yes, there are 8 official soundtracks, 1 for each film. There are seven books, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, the last book, is split into two parts.

However, if you ask me, and I think many would agree, there is a single standout recurring tune in the Harry Potter movies. The song is “Hedwig’s Theme” from the first soundtrack—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was composed by John Williams, performed by Isobel Griffiths, and orchestrated by Conrad Pope (more on that later).

Listen to the song below and tell me if its the song you had in mind.

Update

I just found out that Hedwig’s Theme is a leitmotif. What that means is it is a recurring theme—it is a musical term. So I guess then, that it is really the one associated in Harry Potter. Besides, the song, or bits of the song, is also heard in the succeeding films.

The Soundtracks

Just in case you are interested, the film series has 8 unique soundtracks—one for each film. The soundtracks are widely available.

The songs from the first three discs—Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone), Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban—were all composed by John Williams. The fourth disc, Goblet of Fire was composed by Peter Doyle. The 5th and 6th discs, Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, were composed by Nicholas Cooper. The seventh, Deathly Hallows: Part 1, by Alexandre Desplat, and the last still TBC.

See each soundtrack below.

  1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (contains original Hedwig’s Theme)
  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture
  3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (Enhanced)
  8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (pending)

Awards & Nominations

  • Philosopher’s Stone’s soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Music Score at the 74th Academy Awards but lost to The Lord of the Rings.
  • Chamber of Secret’s soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy in 2003.

More on this later.

Kill Bill Theme Song

If you ask me, I’d say the Kill Bill theme song is the whistle song. The whistle song is entitled “Twisted Nerve” (yes, it’s a real song!) by Bernard Herrmann. That song is actually older than Kill Bill because it was originally used for the 1968 film of the same name, Twisted Nerve. In Twisted Nerve (the movie), the theme was simply referred to as “Georgie’s theme” as Georgie was the name of the main character.

Listen to “Twisted Nerve”

But…

Many of you, including the official soundtrack, would disagree. Because, officially, the theme song is “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” by Japanese musician Tomoyasu Hotei. “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” was also used in the movies Transformers, Shrek the Third, and Hotel for Dogs, so really, what kind of theme song is that? And, not to mention, it was originally called “Shin jingi-naki tatakai” which was the theme song for the Japanese film Another Battle.

Listen to “Battle Without Honor or Humanity”

Anyway…

There were a lot of songs used in the movie so maybe the official soundtrack will settle all.

Click here to view the list of songs included in the soundtrack.

Ponyo Theme Song

2008

This sure does look a lot like Finding Nemo; even the American poster is Nemo-inspired.

What the heck. Ponyo is an award-winning Japanese animated film released in 2008. The original title is Gake no Ue no Ponyo which literally means “Ponyo on the Cliff.” In North America, Ponyo was released in 2009.

Now for the theme song. In Japan, the theme song title is the same as the film’s—”Gake no Ue no Ponyo.” It was performed by the duo Fujioka Fujimaki, which consists of Takaaki Fujioka and Naoya Fujimaki. Them and eight-year-old Nozomi Ōhashi. Below is the Japanese theme song.

An English version of the theme song was of course created. The song was performed by Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus, who voiced the characters Sōsuke and Ponyo respectively. Below, the lyrics and the song.

Ponyo, ponyo, ponyo, fishy in the sea
tiny little fishy, who could you really be?
Ponyo, ponyo, ponyo, magic set’s you free;
oh she’s a little girl with a round tummy.
tip-tippie-toe, jump-jump and hop, now that I’ve got my legs, I cannot stop
pat-pattie-pat waving ‘hello!’
come and hold hands with me, dancing we go
my feet are skipping, my heart too
happy-happy are we all
maybe I might love you, maybe I might love you
so hold on tight and hold me close,
you’re my hero!
Ponyo, ponyo, ponyo, fishy in the sea
tiny little fishy, who could you really be?
Ponyo, ponyo, ponyo, magic set’s you free,
oh pretty little girl will you swim back to me?

Yum yummy yum I smell a treat
Let’s fill our tummies now good things to eat
Peak peak-a-boo that’s what we’ll do
I see my favorite boy he sees me too.
My cheeks are rosy from smiling
Laughing, laughing are we all
Maybe I might love you, maybe I might love you
So hold on tight and hold me close,
you’re my hero!
Ponyo, ponyo, ponyo, fishy in the sea
tiny little fishy, who could you really be?
Ponyo, ponyo, ponyo, magic set’s you free,
Oh she’s a little girl with a round tummy.

There is also a remix version of the theme song, used in the first half of the closing credits. Below is the remix version.