List of Songs that Represent "Smart Music"

[@BigJoel]

Please god don’t do this to the well tempered clavier, I’ve been using it for years and need it to be my thing. Thank you

[@JamesTAbernathy]

Big Joel what are you doing here lol jk this is exactly the sort of video I'd expect you to watch. Keep up the good work.

[@shenpai3544]

I knew I would find either Tom Nicholas, hbomberguy or you under this video

[@yonatanbeer3475]

It's so over

[@tychoclavius4818]

I've never been bothered my music choices in video essays, EXCEPT ONCE, when YOU completely unironically put in für Elise somewhere. I feel so fkn vindicated right now, I might finally be able to let go, a memory trapped for years like ghost in limbo, now finally at peace. But the world knows, mister big "little" Joel.

[@XiremaXesirin]

I literally posted a comment under the first version of the video asking if it was just an extended subtweet of your video output, since I'm pretty sure _all_ of these songs you've used in your videos at least once. 🤣

[@JacobGeller]

Just put me on the damn thumbnail Ian

[@jatsko3113]

The entire time I was waiting for Dies Irae to show its face in a special subsection related to fascism being mentioned in the Leftist Video Essay Cinematic Universe

[@nicolasdiaz1542]

@@jatsko3113 Which Dies Irae? Verdi's?

[@jatsko3113]

@@nicolasdiaz1542 I've heard both used, so both!

[@egg80]

@@Ray-mj5mj I can’t tell if this a bit or not

[@edwardnewtonLA]

​@@egg80Yeah, that's the world we live in now.

[@JackgarPrime]

Every single video essayist currently in editing is now scrambling frantically to change their music after this one.

[@InnuendoStudios]

GOOD

[@billhicks8]

Please change all to Charles Mingus. Any will do.

[@henry8302]

​@@InnuendoStudioswe're doing these pieces a disservice

[@chemiczny_bogdan3467]

And they should be. This video is a challenge!

[@blake9746]

​@@billhicks8 Let the Children Hear Music.

[@small.clover]

"just popular enough to signify obscurity to a large number of people" dang that's good. you probably felt clever coming up with that. and you should.

[@BrutalSnuggles]

Little known fact: tommy tallerico actually wrote moonlight sonata

[@Aloddff]

His mother would be so proud

[@BrutalSnuggles]

@@Aloddff real talk, is there anything you think a KZbinr fears more than hearing "hbomberguy is making a video about you?" 🤣

[@CarrieCole09]

These are the comments that I come for.

[@luckyshot3950]

Actually I wrote moonlight sonata

[@zdelrod829]

​@@BrutalSnugglesHe will either make you or delete you.

[@IanZWhite00]

“just popular enough to signify obscurity to a large number of people” unprepared for how close this shallow paradox reflects actual decision making processes in my life. fuck this

[@mikekachur1002]

I think this is the first time you've brought up FEZ since your first video essay, almost exactly 10 years ago. I bring this up because you're not allowed to mention FEZ again until 2034.

[@adambenson4204]

he mentioned fez and its developer in his video about gamergate

[@mikekachur1002]

@@adambenson4204 oh, you're right

[@JETAlone12]

This feels like a particularly mischievous intern snuck into a recording booth at my local NPR station for a couple hours.

[@Noms_Chompsky]

I found out why they all talk like they do on the NPR, they actually use a filter to cut down on speaking range so that all the programming can be broadcast on cheap equipment.

[@typhoonthunder]

The lack of the File Select music from Super Mario 64 disturbs me.

[@Alshra]

Or the Mii Channel theme

[@Aloddff]

@@Alshra a modern classic

[@EvdogMusic]

"An A press actually has three parts to it"

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

Or like, the entire Yoshi's Island soundtrack

[@Rubberman202]

Now that's the kind of music for a video essay I can get into!

[@Crusader1089]

I find this video fascinating because I disagree with basically everything you say but I am so glad we're having the conversation. I would have placed this list completely differently. And the final song sounds too much like a bank advert to possibly become mainstream in video essays. However I am fascinated by the subject and do very much appreciate your perspective. I have never thought to think about this before. Brilliant

[@InnuendoStudios]

"I love the concept but disagree with every single placement" is what I was going for

[@nate567987]

@@InnuendoStudios because in the end ego music is a strange thing

[@Killericon]

Some day, video essayists will discover Phillip Glass, and a new era will dawn.

[@tukoijarrett9155]

i can like perfectly envision a video on Cannibal Ox dramatically transitioning from Lady Day into the opening lines of Scream Phoenix

[@shayneweyker]

I never got tired of Anthem Pt. 2.

[@jacefairis1289]

I want to see a video essay scored to Metamorphosis: Two

[@RedXiongmao]

I am a dancer, that is to say a conduit etc etc

[@douglaspantz]

always leaned more towards Steve Reich myself

[@HardCodedGaming]

On my first time watching this, I got to when he said, "We are not ready for spiegel im spiegel." And then the video was taken down, like, seconds later. Yeah, apparently, we were not.

[@roecocoa]

I watched it on Nebula, then I watched it on KZbin via my Watch Later list, and I think I got to the end just minutes before it was taken down. It messed with the playback for the rest of the list until I did the multi step process to reveal and remove it. Now I have the reupload in my Watch Later list and it feels like I'm playing with fire.

[@thrownstair]

Now I want to see someone try and sneak Mozart's "Leck mich im Arsch" into their video essay.

[@thrownstair]

(I posted the exact same joke on the first upload, the joke is still good, sue me.)

[@Respectable_Username]

My favourite example when people think classical musicians are all pretentious just because they're old 😂

[@arenomusic]

I don't speak German but I have a feeling I know what this one translates to

[@emdivine]

@@arenomusic English's large repertoire of Germanic words serves you well in this case, yes. Particularly the vulgar ones.

[@KitKitsuneVixen]

i just gained +20x respect for Mozart

[@Name-ql7jf]

The intersection of music, film analysis, and leftist snark in this video really speaks to me, in a way that only a video essay with clair de lune in the background can capture. Stay tuned

[@Sjors_]

What I've noticed is, if someone's going to portray pretend-smartness, pretentiousness in music form... They almost always default to Luigi Boccherini's Minuetto. It is inescapable.

[@hughcaldwell1034]

I had to look this up but as soon as it started I knew you're correct.

[@Reubel]

Oh, THAT piece. I've only ever heard it used parodically.

[@Aeiouaaaaaaaaa]

I didn’t even know the title of that piece and still knew exactly which one you mean. Searched it up to check and you’re absolutely right

[@sloshed-rat]

How did you... I've been looking for this piece for years! Now I have the perfect tea party song to give to my niece and her stuffed animals!

[@wirelessbaguette8997]

Funnily enough, Minuetto just makes me think of Violin students. My mom taught private Violin lessons, and I heard this piece poorly played over, and over, and over, for years. Played by professional musicians, it's actually a lovely piece.

[@rebeltraitor3543]

I was recently the sound designer for a play, and the director wanted a piece of music for one scene. Told me it should be something obscure. Sent me Flower Duet, and I had the exact reaction you described. I knew I had heard it somewhere just couldn't quite place it.

[@mattpaxton3528]

It will always be that goddamned British Airways ad from the late 80s for me >.

[@miss1of2]

Does thinking that the Flowers Duet is not an obscure piece makes me pretentious...

[@car-keys]

tommy catching strays killed me lmao (said out loud)

[@EvdogMusic]

His mother's very proud.

[@chantolove]

I was like what does this mean and then immediately it happened

[@CraftIP]

I am Italian and we say "lmao" out loud... We don't really care english speakers think it's dead

[@davitdavid7165]

Clair de lune works wierdly well both in a video essey and as a contrasting prelude to the bombastic music as you fight your rival

[@ThatOneEnder]

yeah yeah I played ultrakill too

[@sol_ARG]

unfortunately for my brain, clair de lune will ALWAYS be the "slow motion car crash" song to me no matter what context it is played in

[@daishoryujin95]

And for hacking into a train.

[@EmaAlvarado_iku]

and for skating your way across a stellar highway!

[@FLY1NF1SH]

For me itll always be the "just pulled off the heist of the century w the homies" song

[@Noname72105]

I happen to like Gymnopedie, and also happen to say lmao out loud.

[@Idran]

But do you pronounce it "el-em-ay-oh", or do you pronounce it "la-mao"

[@Noname72105]

@@Idran luh-mao

[@soupalex]

as a huge satie mark i'm okay with 1er gymnopédie being lightly roasted here, if it means it might not become tarnished from overuse (if perhaps that hasn't happened already… tbh i recognise it very quickly, but it seems to appear-in any kind of media-far less frequently than most of the other items on the list). but yeah, give me some _flabby preludes for a dog_ (or even just one of the other gymnopédies… there _are_ three of them!), the dude wrote a lot of good piano music.

[@camponotus219]

this is the first video that has genuinely left me stumped on whether or not its a shitpost, it feels on one hand a level of pretentious that cannot be not self aware, and yet it seems so genuine, like i feel the passion in the editing and writing, and the comments just make me feel like ive stumbled into a group of people passionate over something that i dont understand help me. im lost.

[@mikeymullins5305]

Sometimes things are outside your level of expertise and you must just let it wash over you

[@chemiczny_bogdan3467]

It's an effort shitpost.

[@daishoryujin95]

It's good natured ribbing of his peers. It's a joke, but it's rooted in a real criticism.

[@monoverantus]

The subtle, mischievous comedy of 100% nailing the pronunciation of foreign words and names like "Bach" and "Spiegel", and then ending with whatever 16:50 is

[@CraftIP]

Well he did not nail Debussy perfectly at 3:24 although that may also be on purpose

[@RS-zp1we]

Spiegel was not perfectly pronounced. He did get the german sh right in spie-. But the -gel part was more like eagle or smeagol. The german -gel definitely sounds different

[@hhoopplaa]

@@RS-zp1we Let him be. He said in some video something about not pronouncing German words because it comes off pretentious which is fair

[@small.clover]

How did I only notice the Fuer Elise come in at the very end as your voice was fading. You snuck it in. Hang on, going back. ... Yeah you snuck it in 20 seconds after you said not to use it. _Precisely_ long enough for your previous warning to leave short term memory. You genius trickster.

[@Bridget4President]

If it weren't for Content ID I'd suspect we see Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works cropping up in video essays with comedic regularity

[@themarky2714]

Would like to ask if Thal has been used in a video essay before?

[@emilyhelms-tippit4053]

using a metaphor for falling to inappropriateness due to overexposure, and then making that metaphor Icarus, was a brilliant move. Legit had me laughing out loud.

[@brutalbunny]

this feels like walking into the middle of a conversation i had no idea was going on

[@IkomaTanomori]

the line that should've been in Kindergarten Cop: "OK kiddies, today we're going to play baroque composers. You be Telemann, you be Vivaldi, and I'll be Bach."

[@lunarasteroidofficial]

This is a video that makes me go “I will understand this in 5 years”.

[@ESALTEREGO]

Thankfully i dont need to wait 5 years

[@monoverantus]

You see, "Bach" kinda sounds like "back". So it's like he's saying "I'll be back"!

[@MackenzieChandlerDunnavant]

Funnily enough, I don't remember hearing Bach's "Air" until this video. Maybe to more seasoned listeners, it's old and tired, but she could make a comeback yet.

[@MrAsdf12347]

They're good songs, Brent.

[@Aloddff]

yes

[@Nikkiflausch]

I can‘t believe you did not once namedrop On the Nature of Daylight. That piece is EVERYWHERE, AND it‘s fucking beautiful.

[@kagitsune]

Yesss, literally anything by Richter or Glass

[@AlexMaskill]

Was just about to mention this, it especially has the right profile thanks to being very prominent in one of the big Movies That People Who Only Watch Hollywood Movies Think Is Smart, Arrival.

[@queztocoaxial]

You forgot Who Let The Dogs Out by Baha Men

[@AnacondaHL]

I've been sporadically hearing Vivaldi's Winter more often recently, as a dark horse to make the top 10 soon

[@Karreth]

I was thinking about that one too, though in the end I went with something else.

[@anomieminalminds]

I blame Chef's Table

[@ShroomiusTheWise]

Plup catching strays in a video about "smart music" was not what I expected

[@StudebacherHoch]

Actually insane

[@AnarchoCatBoyEthan]

y’all know about Innuendo’s melee video right? Cause he’s been a fan

[@StudebacherHoch]

@@AnarchoCatBoyEthan yea but it’s still a wild stray lmao

[@0852657luis]

I knew that Clair de lune was going to be the first one, it's literally the most generic song use for smart people.😊

[@lancesmith8298]

Meanwhile my first proper exposure to it, the one where I actually learned the name of the song and started to seek it out, was from a soft spoken Irish streamer being convinced to turn a toy train simulator that played the song into a particle accelerator

[@wigglypfff]

@@lancesmith8298 Me when the rtgame

[@Respectable_Username]

@@wigglypfff@lancersmith8298 Do either of you know the name of the game? Because I _need_ to find that VoD now!

[@somethingsomething9006]

It's sad because it's a genuinely beautiful song that a lot of people use to make themselves seem intelligent and I'm here yelling "STOP RUINING THIS SONG'S REPUTATION"

[@billhicks8]

I'm using your comment to mourn for this piece. I first heard it when I was 12, and while my parents played classical music, I'd never heard a piece as beautiful as this at the time. Since then I've seen it used in so many contexts in media, it has been almost destroyed. I honestly, sincerely, hate it. It's almost as if there needs to be some sort of cultural preservation bar on using pieces like this. It is used to deliberately extract cheap emotion out of such a simple, lovely piece of music. I even got annoyed when Janelle Monae used it on her best album. I love that album, but please, God, let Clair de Lune alone for just a second.

[@thegadflysnemesis4102]

As a former cellist I am absolutely oversaturated of Bach's cello suite >_> anyways I'm hoping the next smart people music is a Liszt, because there's just something added to a piece when you know the performer wants to strangle the composer with their bare hands

[@janetestherina7169]

make liebestraum popular

[@InfoInfo2o9-d3d]

*slams fist on table* Liebstraum! Liebstraum! Liebstraum!

[@KingBobXVI]

"Don't use Fur Elise" Exception: if you only use parts from the second half that no one recognizes.

[@andriypredmyrskyy7791]

I once opened a book of Chopin songs, only to realize the song I couldn't read very well was actually a really common video essay song; made it a lot easier to learn lol thanks lonerbox

[@MaxMarriner]

I love this new “unhinged era” of Innuendo Studios

[@jerrodwendland]

The score at 11:09 is like the uncanny valley of scores - Who is the person that reads music well enough to want a score of this piece, inexperienced enough to be unaware that dozens of existing editions can be had for free online, determined enough to make their own bespoke typeset version of the piece, but perverse enough to systematically set every beat one eighth note to the left? Who does this? Also, re Spiegel im Spiegel, who else remembers the video "KZbinrs"?

[@wirelessbaguette8997]

It's also missing the ornaments for some reason! It's a very strange edition for sure.

[@xboxgamer474246]

Love Clair de Lune. After thousands of albums across ~100 years of music it’s still my favorite song. I love the left handed melody, the suspense between each chord, the gorgeous resolve & it’s ability to endlessly bring a tear to my eye.

[@tiramusubi]

I WAS NOT READY FOR "THE PLUP"

[@lbcyber]

In the original screenplay for John Wick, Alfie Allen's character uses Für Elise in his video essay, which is what spurs John Wick to act.

[@apian0]

Prelude in C is a great choice. Another thing about it is the variety in its recordings with the tempo, which would allow you to pick and change the type of mood it illicits. For me, if I wrote a video essay, the best prelude to use would be the F minor prelude, but its probably not well known enough.

[@Patrick-Phelan]

I feel like someone said, "Hey, Mr Studios, your work is deep, intelligent, and sad-making! I bet you can't even make something dryly satirical that, while certainly of substance, goes down smooth and witty while leaving a pleasantly fizzy aftertaste!", and Innuendo Studios - like, the KZbin channel itself - responded "I'll show you, you horsematron". I laughed out loud numerous times. ...Also I still love Gymnopedie no 1. But I cannot deny that it's done. You can't put Ride of the Valkyries on a helicopter or cavalry charge any more.

[@daishoryujin95]

It's like putting Fortunate Son over the Vietnam War. or putting London Calling in a scene where characters go to London.

[@nate567987]

@@daishoryujin95 or werewolves of london

[@cptroot]

I appreciate the tasteful fadeout at the end. Just enough info to make wonder if i now need a video essay listing what songs represent sex in movies.

[@AlRoderick]

I remember "Air on a G String" as the museum music from MegaMan Legends.

[@aidanklobuchar1798]

It peaked in End of Eva and that's ok.

[@jademcdra9437]

That's where my mind immediately went to when I heard this

[@DrZaius3141]

@@jademcdra9437 Anno 1602 for me. That video game soundtrack had banger after banger of class.

[@Tybis]

Moonlit Sonata is 100% "video game music" to my brain, primarily because of EWJ2, secondarily because of Resident Evil.

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

Which is good, because if you're not a coward, you will use video game music for your smart video essays

[@lemonoreo5762]

Came to the comments for an RE mention, and damned if you didn't deliver

[@gorimbaud]

@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 if you're _really_ not a coward, you use drakengard music

[@exotic-gem]

Maybe I’m biased but prelude in C is just waaaaay to well known to be the next thing. I feel like everyone’s heard it millions of times, there are even baby toys that play it as a lullaby !

[@apalinode3859]

It’s used so often in children’s educational toys and video games that my primary association was “classroom”

[@blitzrep1654]

"...cool person's alternative to Schubert." It's been a while since the last time a sentence made me feel cool AND lame. Seen AND called out. This feeling... is this love?

[@seaoftranquility7228]

_Carmina Burana_ had a brief moment in the sun, but it has definitely fallen into the abyss of gaucherie. The _Duo De Fleurs_ aria will be forever etched into the minds of men who were teenagers in the 1980’s due to its use in the movie ‘The Hunger’. I feel the use of _italics_ is the KZbin commenter’s equivalent of using a beautiful piece of music to add profundity to what might otherwise seem a bit _basic_ .

[@wackjobius1588]

The moment of absolute pure unrestrained joy when hearing you mention Disasterpeace's Fez soundtrack... Continuum is such a gorgeous version of prelude in e, blasting that shit at max volume through some good headphones or speakers will make you feel like your very existence is being wholly unmade by the cruel apathy of a black hole until all that's left is just an echo of your soul... god i love this song so much...

[@chloezaffran3552]

the funniest video on youtube imo, i'm a classically trained musician and this was a riot lol

[@ratratratratratratrat777]

INNUENDO STUDIOS IS NOW PROPERTY OF THE PLUP CLUB

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Thank you for using blurry Rob Paravonian for the Pachabel bit. He' deserves more respect for starting that whole thing.

[@Durnathi]

I feel like Air has acquired a feel of slight menace in addition to its beauty over time just because of how it is often used.

[@nate567987]

I mean its the ASUKA song in end of eva

[@ThatSkiFreak]

Gymnopédie No.1 lives in my head in a similar space to the minecraft ost, and I don't think it's leaving that spot anytime soon. It pings more as nostalgic than smart, and I think that's better in any case.

[@adversary22]

Let's get at least one Rachmaninoff song into the limelight. Not because I'm very invested in the music itself, I just find his name fun and satisfying to say.

[@annathiika5755]

Elegie in e flat minor let’s gooooooo

[@hughcaldwell1034]

Same!

[@benjaminallisonii724]

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is great especially Variation 18 if you're interested in listening to his work.

[@InnuendoStudios]

the second piano concerto gets a mention at the very end of the sponsor read, hehehe

[@aidanklobuchar1798]

Vocalise?

[@colinedgar6742]

This is hilarious. What a parade of "fuck off not this one again" tunes. Each new tune was a mix of laughing and groaning.

[@legoking2116]

Unironic music nerd rant but prelude in c is such a perfect piece. bach wrings so much drama and beauty out of constant eighth notes and the same arpeggio shape for basically the entire thing, changing only the harmony

[@Skrillfreak]

This is such a good meme.

[@telivan776]

Whirling in rags 8am/Fire escape in the sea deserves an honorable mention for being in every fucking video essay

[@shinyminunthetheatregeek2036]

I was wondering where i had heard Spiegel im Spiegel before and then you put up the The Good Place clip and now I'm crying again.

[@RobertJW]

The Good Place uses Spiegel im Spiegel perfectly.

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

5:40 My brain 10000% thought for nearly 5 whole seconds that this shot was of a bare-back woman in a g-string squatting in the woods. Please send medical help.

[@santoriomaker69]

wtf my dude, you need more than help 💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

@@santoriomaker69 I legitimately thought "oh wow, this is an extreme way to set up a visual joke for this channel, but okay" and then I realized and just sat there like "... oh".

[@TheSandurz20]

Ok no I see it. You're wrong for making me go back, but I understand.

[@gerunkwon2598]

GYAT

[@VeryScaryGhosts]

I was actually going to suggest Gounod's version of Ave Maria. My mom's a piano teacher and I grew up playing piano too and the prelude in C Major is one of our favourites. This is also why I completely agree on Für Elise. You cannot! YOU CANNO-

[@slothking1014]

Fun fuct: Bach's Air on G string was used as a the opening tune for an italian science tv program that was so popular that both the name of the host and the music piece have become THE standard shorthand for intelligence in italian pop culture

[@michaelneedssleep]

Damn. I can identify half of these by composer and less than a quarter by name, but still recognized them all within a few notes.

[@slightlynerd]

Great video! As a musician, I love watching videos analyzing classical music. However, I think that Bach's "Prelude in C" is just a bit too popular to be a fitting conclusion. At least in a concert setting, Bach's "Prelude in C" is overplayed more than Chopin's "Nocturne in Eb major" or Debussy's "Clair de Lune". Personally, I think that piece is just too overfamiliar to fit your requirements. I would suggest Debussy's "First Arabesque",, Beethoven's "Sonata Pathetique- Mvmt 2", Chopin's "Etude no. 3 in E major", or even Liszt's "Liebestraum". And also, you are 100% correct for the Fur Elise bit at the end. YOU CANNOT EVER USE FUR ELISE!

[@Multi-Waves_Music]

You did it You used all of them in one video appropriately

[@fatburdo]

Für Elise is used in the whole country of Brazil to announce the gas truck is coming - as in, gas for a gas stove, not gasoline. It's a very ingrained association and I would laugh my ass off if used in a pretentious way.

[@alexroselle]

amazing! Because of Samsung, Schubert's "Die Forelle" ["The Trout"] is now the song people associate with their washing machine finishing its cycle, so it will probably not have its moment of pretentious usage for a long time

[@Packbat]

I think the primary thing I have learned from this video is that I don't notice the soundtrack to *anything* I watch, because I have no idea what "smart music" is or how anyone would use it in anything.

[@Kagomai15]

Smart / dramatic music in films

[@Kagomai15]

Also cartoons and anime sometimes, and even video games

[@Packbat]

@@Kagomai15 okay but like ... I understand what the Wily's Castle 1 theme is doing in Mega Man 2: it's creating at atmosphere of excitement and intensity to mark a transition in the game from fighting the Robot Masters one by one to going after Doctor Wily himself. I can't remember a single piece of music from a fight scene outside of "Don't Stop Me Now" in Shaun of the Dead, but I understand theoretically what it's for: it is maintaining tension and energy - or comedic energy - as punches and people are thrown. I even understand the music *I've* written for PICO-8 carts - there was a science fiction space exploration game that I could barely play and never win that I created a minimalist, bleak, haunting chiptune for, something which could withstand being heard for ages but which would suit the many, _many_ times players like me would die before getting anywhere. I *get* that music is something you use to score things, and that it has a real impact. but what is smart music for? why is Gymnopédies No. 1, one of the most bleak and agonizing pieces of music I have ever felt, on the same list as Cello Suite No. 1, an intense but unquestionably _alive_ experience? who is this list for or from, and what are they doing? am I just not pretentious enough?

[@Kagomai15]

@@Packbat "am i not pretentious enough" that might actually be it, because "smart music" is categorized together this way because that's what it's doing, when people use it that way. It's a list of "here's songs people have used when they're trying to sound more important/smart/sophisticated than they might otherwise be". Which is the definition of pretentious. If you're making/writing a scene you want people to know you think is #deep then this is the kind of music that's historically been used to the point where it's become a trope to critique and update.

[@Packbat]

@@Kagomai15 okay, so, lemme see if I get it. regular film scoring is us having been in a tiny part in a production of Fauré's Requiem, thinking the fifth movement ("Agnus Dei") is very beautiful and powerful, and using one of the more dramatic bits of it to represent a character wrestling with their grief but ultimately finding their anger and determination. "smart music" is using Fauré's "Agnus Dei" under our rant about the Snyder Cut because it shows that we have enough education in rich white snob culture to both *know* Fauré and his Requiem and that we take ourselves too seriously to be willing to use, idk, Bolcom's Second Sonata.

[@AlexanderOnFire]

I fully agree with Prelude in C. It is the go to music when someone is just discovered as a (musical) genius in a movie.

[@android19willpwn]

I can't help but feel like this is all an elaborate in-joke that I lack some crucial context for. Which is to say, this essay sounds like it must be really smart.

[@TyGuy9001]

Saw this early on Nebula, very fun little niche video here.

[@olgabecci6685]

I think at least in Italy air on the g string will always be the top "smart music" because it was used as the soundtrack of the most popular educational show here. But to be honest, it is used more as a joke, I can't think of anyone who uses it seriously apart from the show itself, it's more the joke "when you explain something you put that music there because that is THE explanation music"

[@renatocpribeiro]

I spent the whole video thinking "they'll never spotlight Gounod's Ave Maria" Actually shocked at the end.

[@m.fraguelaxd2546]

Claude the Bussy 😳😳😳

[@Zettabyte7]

This video walks the line between shitpost and seriousness so tightly, that I had to make sure it wasn't posted on April 1st.

[@aturchomicz821]

Im guessing Pokemon Black & Whites "An Unwavering Heart" is at this point so overused its acres away from the scale right?😅😅

[@hideshiseyes2804]

After seeing Jacob Geller in the comments here my money is on a breakdown of the divide between video game-specific essayists and general pop culture ones, resulting in Christopher Larkin’s “Crossroads” from the Hollow Knight OST taking the top spot.

[@Squeeky42069]

The final song you suggest as overdue.. in the 2000s that piece was like the go to "cello" song. It's kinda like "fur elise" for cellos.

[@8lacKhawKtheRIPPER]

Oh god, you actually got it back up. Good job there, YT!

[@alexanderhammil6754]

always fun to see a video that is clearly about something pervasive and specific that you have never ever personally encountered

[@daishoryujin95]

For me, I'm sure I've encountered this, but no specific examples come to mind.

[@ElGoro]

I find myself in a Poe's Law variant situation, where the parody of insufferable elitism is indistinguishable from the real thing.

[@Overcrox]

I will not accept this for Gymnopedie no. 1, because I haven't heard it in very many things (personally) and I like it too much.

[@austincde]

Yes

[@-droid-j7-225]

Song? SONG??? We are talking about classical music, it's a piece, my good Sir. A Piece, not a measly song! A PIECE!!!

[@Andizottel]

Phew, waited a bit to watch this when it was uploaded the first time and when it vanished I thought I would never get a chance to see this

[@alfalfascout]

i like all of the video except the sudden noise ceiling hit when you yelled about fur elise

[@JB-fp3fb]

On mention of anything from Tchaikovsky's Seasons? There's at least two pieces from it that I've heard getting around the video-essay-sphere.

[@roryaphunter]

This is so niche it hurts. Goddamn it’s beautiful

[@tristanmoore9653]

Been waiting for this video for a long time and didn’t even realize it.

[@Ninjaeule97]

Looks like I'm now finished binging all your videos. Have to say apart from the Always a Bigger Fish video (which you clarified better in Endnote 3 so the point was better) all of them have been spot on. I haven't watched the Handmaden yet so I skipped that video but knowing your track record I'm certain it will also be a hit. Will watch the movie in a couple of days so if it isn't I will have to edit my comment but that will be pretty unlikely.

[@bogwog]

tangentially related but if i hear In The Hall of the Mountain King one more time i will go absolutely ape shitt

[@daishoryujin95]

I second this. It's become terribly cliche.

[@casersatz]

We have a whole genre for that. It's called IDM.

[@pozsoz]

I'll take a BoC album every 20 years over that crappy stock clichéd music presented in this video

[@YellowJelly13]

​@@pozsoz Most Boards of Canada tracks aren't actually IDM, but Downtempo instead

[@dolorsitametconsectur]

You’re telling me an intelligence danced this music?

[@AntsanParcher]

And here I expected something about the general weirdness of the term IDM existing. Also just genuinely surprised *still* that neither Aphex Twin nor Boards of Canada showed up on this list. I've heard them in essays before, and I always did the pointing meme.

[@Jman0163]

i love idm, but what a weird name for a genre.

[@AntsanParcher]

@@Jman0163 Yeah. I cringe when I remember I used to use that term unironically.

[@Jman0163]

@AntsanParcher SAME OMG. we've all been cringey and pretentious...

[@imrastar7055]

I don’t know about prelude in C, it might just be because I took piano lessons but it feels more like it falls in the “moonlight sonata” category and stands out too much. I think it would take me out if I heard it in a video essay. Seriously though, absolutely hilarious and also potentially useful if I ever make that video essay I keep meaning to.

[@ghostdunk]

I asked the piano player at the church for my Grandmother's funeral to "play something by Chopin, she loved Chopin". He played Prelude in E, and I bawled.

[@cdbbuchanan]

It's back!!

[@meditalisoo7]

but what changed?

[@MartianSantas]

​@@meditalisoo7 my guess is copyright shenanigans

[@meditalisoo7]

@@MartianSantas I think I read on Twitter that he made a mistake but that can mean many things.

[@voidify3]

It went down WHILE I WAS WATCHING IT the first time so I’m glad to see it’s back up

[@Andizottel]

*bach

[@beb1684]

My favorite use of Air by Bach is in A Bride for Rip Van Winkle. It brings me to tears every single time, what a special film.

[@starmantheta2028]

NGL I was expecting this video to be about which genres of music are considered the most and least smart for video essays and movies instead of individual songs in the same genre.

[@anselmenator]

Honestly? I permanently associate Ave Maria with the last episode of Cowboy Bebop. When I hear it, I imagine Spike Siegal being falling out of a window.