The Crossroads of Pop and Classical: A Playlist

When I was growing up, my younger sister would spend every car trip begging my mom to change the radio station from KUSC – our local classical station in Southern California – to something a little more modern, with thumping beats and a chorus she could sing along to. In her eyes, it was like there were two different worlds of music – the good stuff, and the boring stuff (in my mind, those categories were swapped). She almost had me convinced, too: how could I possibly reconcile my Bruch violin concerto or my Mozart symphony with the drums and the synthesizers on the radio?

Then two videos came into my life – the Pachelbel Rant and the Four Chord Song – and my world was changed. Suddenly, those separate musical worlds were not so separate after all, and I was finding classical in everything I heard, from pop tunes to classic rock hits to sleepy indie ballads. Classical music, I found, is all around us. All you have to do is listen.

Here’s a playlist I’ve compiled of popular songs based on classical music:

1. Procol Harum – Whiter Shade of Pale (Bach’s Air from Orchestral Suite No.3)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUtCC5VPwBs

    

2. Bright Eyes – Road to Joy (Beethoven's Ode to Joy)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37r9aqTxhBQ

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlSR8Wlmpac

3. Lady Gaga – Alejandro (Monti's Czardas)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-mKgj7SW4E
    

4. Eric Carmen – All By Myself (Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN9CjAfo5n0

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJpJ8REjvqo

5. Xzibit – Symphony in X Major (Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGwmuBtb_VU

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLj_gMBqHX8

6. Beyonce – Ave Maria (Bach/Gonoud's Ave Maria)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgxfthPHTwc

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OopipwYpYlo

7. Nas – I Can (Beethoven’s Fur Elise)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvVfgvHucRY

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fttyra958vM

8. Jem – They (Bach's Prelude in F minor from Well-Tempered Clavier)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k53NGe64RBU

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSObxUxUl5k

9. Janelle Monae – Say You’ll Go (Debussy's Clair de Lune)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXMeVVK71ik

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY

10. Vitamin C – Graduation (Friends Forever) (Pachelbel's Canon in D)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyAOoVagWw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkSp8wc8lKw

11. Janet Jackson – Someone to Call my Lover (Satie's Gymnopedie No.1)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ1GwDkfliI

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU

12. Little Mix – Little Me (Fauré’s Pavane)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXhMqDotfLk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhiVuIRw4tM

Also, just for fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk

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