Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D major and popular culture

The Johann Pachelbel's canon in D major may represent the most extraordinary instance of the crossover phenomenon in all of music. During a short period in the early 1970s it went from being a quite obscure work of early music to a universally familiar cultural item. It was played in countless versions in its original notes and instrumentation, as well as in arrangements for other instruments and in adaptations into other musical genres. The process shows no sign of abating.
The popularization is thought to have originated with the release of a 1970 recording of the work (Erato 98475) performed by the Paillard Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jean-François Paillard.

The canon was first adapted musically in a pop song by the Spanish vocal group Pop Tops on their 1968 hit "O Lord,Why Lord?", which made modest chart showings in both the USA (peaking at #79 on the Hot 100) and the Netherland. In more recent times, Australian-British string quartet bond played a modified, more updated version of the Pachelbel's Canon in their song Lullaby on their 2004 album Classified.

The soundtrack of the film The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser by Werner Herzog features the Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D major, it was also used in the film's trailer. The second half of Brian Eno's pioneering 1975 ambient music recording Discreet Music consists of a series of versions of Pachelbel's canon in D major to which various algorithmic transformations have been applied, rendering it almost unrecognisable. The chord progression of the canon also surfaces in Eno's 1983 Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks recording on the track AlwaysReturning. In 1991, RCA released a compilation CD called Pachelbel's Greatest Hit. It contained eight different versions of the piece, including performances by James Galway,

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Isao Tomita, and the Canadian Brass. Also released that year was the P. D. Q. Bach album WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio, a spoof of classical radio and the canon's ubiquity there (WTWP stands for "wall-to-wall Pachelbel").

Mark Knopfler, known to have gone through a classical musical training, seems to have been inspired by the harmonies in Dire Straits' "Tunnel of Love" (1980).
Used as the main theme in the Academy Award winning 1980 film Ordinary People.
In 1984, Japanese singer/actress Togawa Jun's song "Mushi no Onna" was adapted from Johann pachelbel Canon in D major with lyrics.
Also in 1984, The movie Electric Dreams featured a duet between a Cello player and Edgar the sentient computer.
In 1998, French film director Gaspar Noé used the Canon in his film Seul contre tous.

In 2000, The song was featured as part of the opening tune for Arthur's Perfect Christmas. The song plays a prominent role in the 2002 Korean comedy "My Sassy Girl."
In 2005, a video of a young Taiwan guitarist calling himself JerryC, short for Jerry Chang - who arranged and performed an energetic rock version of Pachelbel Canon in D major on electric guitar. Over 50 guitarists have published a "Canon Rock" video. In 2006, a Korean featured a beatboxer, turntables, traditional Korean instruments called gayageum, and b-boy Zero Nine. A slightly modified version of the canon is played on three alto saxes and one baritone sax annually in the Plymouth Canton Marching Band. The song is present in the animated version of the manga Ichigo 100%. A revised version of this song can be found in the Canon Groove, a popular song for the online game Audition Online.Canon in D is featured on the 2006 album, Piano Love Songs, by pianist Bradley Joseph

Musical adaptations of Johann Pachelbel canon in D major

Year	Song	Band, Album	Misc
1944	National Anthem of Russia	Alexander Alexandrov
1965	Pictures of Lily	The Who	the chorus
1965	In My Life	The Beatles	the piano break
1966	Spicks and Specks	Bee Gees
1967	Don't Sleep In The Subway	Petula Clark
1968	Rain and Tears	Aphrodite's Child	minor UK hit, most popular in France
1969	Streets of London	Ralph McTell	guitar and vocals
1970	Oh Lord, Why Lord/Prayer	Parliament
1971	Changes	David Bowie
1972	All the Young Dudes	Mott The Hoople/ written by David Bowie	chord progression and opening guitar melody
1972	Seek Ye First	Karen Lafferty/ arr. Douglas E. Wagner	hymn accompaniment
1974	Wenn ein Mensch lebt	Puhdys	a German version of the Bee Gees's Spicks & Specks with a different vocal melody
1974	In The Garden	Bob James, One	later sampled by Coolio and Die Firma for their "versions" of the "Canon in D"
1975	Three Variations on the Johann Pachelbel Canon in D Major	Brian Eno,Discreet Music
1978	Go West	(Morali Belolo Willis) Village People
1980	Goodbye to Romance	Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz	chord progression
1982	Eyes Of The World	Fleetwood Mac, Mirage	used in the intro and bridge
1985	Variations on the Johann Pachelbel Canon in D major	George Winston, December	album
1986	Hometown	Joe Jackson, Big World	when played live as a piano/vocal
1989	Someday We Will All Be Together	Claire Hamill	single
1989	Decomposing Composers	Monty Python	Monty Python Sings album
1990	Variation on Pachebel Canon in D major / It's Not Too Late	Davy Jones
1991	Lemmings intro	DMA Design	video game
1991	All Together Now	The Farm	single
1993	Go West	Pet Shop Boys	Village People cover
1993	Christmas Eve	Tatsuro Yamashita
1994	Basket Case	Green Day	song
1994	Domain	Future Sound of London, Lifeforms
1994	Whatever	Oasis	single
1994	Pachelbel Canon in D major	Steven Halpern on (Accelerating) Self-Healing	a new age/meditative adaptation based on Pachelbel's Canon
1995	Forbidden Paradise (Deep Trance Mix)	DJ Tiesto
1995	Don't Look Back in Anger	Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?	hit
1995	Pachelbel's Prayer	Sam Rowland
1996	Christmas Time	2 Brothers On The 4th Floor
1996	It's Not Too Late	The Monkees
1996	Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying	Belle and Sebastian
1996	Walking on the Milky Way	OMD
1996	Forever	Stratovarius, Episode	chord progression
1996	Courage	Manowar, Louder than hell	chord progression and similar melody
1997	Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space	Spiritualized	album title track
1997	C U When U Get There	Coolio
1997	Estoy Tan Cansado	Moenia	Spanish pop song
1997	Sugarbabies	Five Tones	By Jake Williams of JX Fame (Son Of A Gun, Nothing I Won't Do)
1997	Je me souviens	Menelik
1997	To Love You More	Celine Dion, Let's Talk About Love /p>	pop hit
1997	(Pachelbel) Cannon	the drapes	The Silent War..., album track 7
1997	The Ring of Steel	Nocturnal Rites, Tales of Mystery and Imagination	Heavy Metal song, used as an intro and bridge (album issued in Europe in 1998)
1997	Pachelbel's Soldier	Standing Room Only
1998	Christmas Canon	Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Christmas Attic	Christmas lyrics
1998	Letthe Music heal your Soul	Bravo All Stars (Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync etc.)
1998	't Dondert en het bliksemt (Meters Bier)	Guus Meeuwis	single
1998	Opus 40	Mercury Rev	single
1998	On & On & On	Catch 22, Keasbey Nights	reference in the middle of the song
1998	Crazy	Maria Lux
1999	Vízöntő	Republic	the end of the song there's a tune from the Canon
2000	Canon in D [Silver Mix] (also entitled Pachelbel's Canon (Silver Remix))	The Cynic Project	Mixed And Remixed Volume 2, album track 15
2000	In Me 너에게	People Crew
2000	An Improvisation on the Canon	Robin Spielberg	bonus track of album Dreaming of Summer
2001	La Belle et le Bad Boy	MC Solaar	track
2001	Crack City Rockers	ska/punk band Leftöver Crack	song
2001	Este Canon	Alejandro Filio	Trova song (Nueva canción)
2002	Can't Stop Loving You	Phil Collins,Testify
2002	Canon in DD	Emocapella	parody
2002	Set This World On Fire	Rage	Heavy metal
2002	ID/Hindsight	Snapcase	melody and chord progression
2002	Canon	Zox,Take Me Home	reggae/punk with violin
2003	Looking For Something	Era, The Mass	album
2003	I Want To Get Married	Showbread, Life, Kisses And Other Wasted Efforts,,	album
2003	Everytime	Britney Spears, In the Zone
2003	Sanctus	Phantom Regiment from Rockford, Illinois	Show title - Harmonic Journey; lyrical variation used.
2003	Love Is Color-Blind	Sarah Connor
2003	Pachelbel 8000	Mars
2003	Storm II	Seventh Avenue
2003	Flourish (DJ Angel & DJ Chucky remix)	DJ Angel	Hardcore/Trance
2004	Pachel Bells	"internet"	jingle bells melody
2004	Life Is Cool	Sweetbox	single
2004	Lullaby	bond, Classified	pop arrangement
2004	Canon-D Part of Memories #1	Banya	anime-style music video, for the game Pump It Up Exceed 2
2004	Canon Ball	Jan Vayne
2004	Classic	Classic OST
2004	Skachabelian Ballad (Lola and Mani)	Three Years Accident Free
2004	Heaven Ride (Canon)	angels
2004	Paris	Delerium
2004	Pachelbel meets U2	Jon Schmidt
2004	Pachelbel Canon in D major	Naturally 7
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