For real. I do remember bits and pieces of the movie (the one with the magic lamp) but virtually nothing about the show itself ... except that damn theme song.
When I was a kid, I would often, while lying in bed, literally HEAR the song. It was stuck in my head so intensely that it gave me actual auditory hallucinations. The first few times it happened I would get out of bed and go to the living room, to see if someone left the TV on.
I had to take it off of my mp3 player because of something similar; whenever it would pop up on my playlist, I couldn't hear any of the songs afterward because the Ducktales theme would overwhelm my subconscious. Normally, the cure for that would be to hear the song again, but in this case, it would only reinforce the earworm nature of the song and make it last longer.
@@angelamahnken2116 Same here, EXCEPT it's when the 2017 cast is singing it and then I can't get the image of Scrooge dressed like the 10th Doctor and holding a Sonic Screwdriver outta my head. THANK YOU, DAVID TENNANT!
It's DuckTales. it's the one song that you can hum or softly start to sing and by the fifth line have seventeen other people randomly singing at the top of your lungs. Why? Because it's DuckTales. Don't test it's power.
Fun fact: This song is similar enough to "You Make My Dreams Come True" that it's a freaking miracle Hall & Oates never sued over it, given that they sued both Haulin' Oates & Holland Oats for brand infringement. They even both have some variation of "Woo hoo!"
@AnimeSunglasses this is it right here. Disney would just Disney the crap out of them. Take them to court and file continuance after continuance until the opposing team either dropped the suit or filed bankruptcy.
Disney probably got permission to use it or payed royalties . As it would have been easy for Hall and Oats to squeeze every penny out of disney . As so many other movies and artist got sued years after the fact , and got backpayed royalties .
Despite being fairly young and never have seen Ducktales, the first time I heard this song in the trailer of the remake of Ducktales' game, I immidiately loved it. So, nostalgia doesn't have much to do with it, Ducktalales' theme really is simply a masterpiece
Divinity is achieved by practicing one's art to the point that none supersede you in skill. We can't all be gods, since ascending to godhood within this model most often means taking the mantle from another, but each person could become a god with enough effort.
I believe that what makes it so catchy to me is the high amount of energy and passion that they pour into their performance, seeing as how I don’t particularly prefer versions that feel more calm and lazy
Another key element that I feel got overlooked: "crowd participation". The whole "Woo-ooh" is DESIGNED to have the listener INTERACT with the song. I think the feeling of contribution turns the person from a PASSIVE listener into an ACTIVE listener, which in turn makes the song more memorable and catchy. Let's face it, we look forward to getting to chant along "Woo-ooh" :-)
That "Woo Hoo" part is the part that unifies everyone. You may not know every lyric to a song but youre bound to join in on that part. Just like "5 golden rings!!!, or that part in bohemian rhapsody that everyone sings at once.
3:30 Actually!!! In the Arabic version "Bat'tutiyya" is not a random "Woo-Hoo" like sound. "But'tutiyya" actually means "Duck-y". "Qes'us" which means stories (or tales) is a bit long, so the second word was moved over to the "Woo-Hoo" phrase. Thus, you get "Qes'us Bat'tutiyya" which gives you "Ducky Tales" lol xD instead of an entire "DuckTales Woo-Hoo".
No one seems to have commented on the chord sequence in the chorus. That’s a big part of what makes the song feel exciting. That Db - Eb - F is so money!
Another element that *really* makes this theme is that b6, b7, 1 chord progression in the chorus. It’s juuust unusual enough to grab you…something that’s usually used as an outro cadence or an emotional high point (like toward the end of champagne supernova).
dixolnoasea In Finland se have this legendary video, where we have misheard the arabic lyrics, and it is subbed, for example, the clip in the video sounds like this to us: "Cock is my daytime job, FUCK THIS! ELF!
It's honestly stuck in my head because of the instrumentals during the "D-d-d-danger lurks behind you" bit. I don't even know why, but that part is pure bliss for me.
It's that staccato stutter of the word "danger". It might seem obvious, but that technique has been used in music for decades with incredible success. Something about how the sung word matches the beat with a syllable.
The whole text is part of the reason why it resonates so much....there are the double rhymes mentioned in the video, but they are also working a LOT with word association. Ie "live is like a Hurricane" is a very strong line, because a Hurricane is associated with something big, dangerous and live changing, so there are immediately a number of associations attached to it. The "D-d-d-danger" immediately resonates because we associate stuttering with fear, giving the word more weight than it would have if it were just sung. Especially if you have a singer who puts the fitting feelings into the words.
I can attest to it being more than nostalgia. My 3 year old loves the song and could care less about the new or the old show and only wants to hear the intro. She can't get enough of it.
So my brain recently made the connection that the turn signal on my car clicks at the same beat as this song. Therefore, every time I make a turn or change lanes, my traitorous cranium chimes in with "Life is like a hurricane... here in, Duckburg..." It's been pretty horrible, lol
I feel so sorry for you and to be honest, laugh out loud at the thought of it. Now I just need to add Duck Tales to the play list of my (so far) friend with a car who drives the rest of the team around for geocaching.
In all honesty, your brain can slightly alter the speed of any given song when you think about it, without you noticing. So theoretically, any song with a similar tempo will fit, you just have to adjust it slightly...
Felicia Barton’s take on Ducktales is the freshest, purest cover on the original. I just spent the last hour searching UA-cam for different covers. The original and the 2017 official remake are the absolute best
This video is pure gold. For whatever reason, at age 48.5 I've had the Duck Tales theme song in my head for the past week. And now I know why!!!! THANK YOU!!!
the NES / Famicom rendition of the track, especially in the second game, is too catchy AF and it doesn't have the horns or vocals, just the melody and backing instruments as 8-bit chiptune
A few years ago, I was taking a swing dancing class. The instructor turned on the practice song and it was freaking DUCK TALES. I exclaimed, “OMG we are gonna dance to Duck Tales!” and looked around me, but everyone else in the class was too old to know the show. So yeah, we swing danced to Duck Tales and it was one of the most surreal and awesome moments of my life and I couldn’t share it with ANYONE because no one else even understood what was happening.
Too old?! Were they all grannies and grandpas? At this point it's way more likely to not know the show and the song because of being too young than because of being too old because the original DuckTales show is almost... 40 years old! (yeah, sorry 😅)
As a kid, I never did try to memorize the lyrics. It just got stuck to my brain. At age 42, I can still remember the lyrics pretty well and get gets excited when I hear it. Hence, I downloaded it as a ringtone. My contemporaries always get pleasantly surprised when they hear my phone ringing.😊
As someone who watched DuckTales (2017) every week I've had a hard enough time trying not to sing this song and then you went and did this. Thanks a lot Scott.
I've never seen Game of Thrones and I don't care to, so I'll have to take your word for it. However, immediately after watching the series premier, did you remember all character names and their tropes? Or did it take you a few times of watching it before recalling everything and everyone in that first scene?
@@ChicagoRetroGamer Not a fan of all of "You Make My Dreams", and other than in a few superficial elements, I don't think it sounds at all like Duck Tales.
@@LocalMaple Hey thanks for more interesting info. Could you please elaborate a bit on the Robert Lopez and Dies Irae part, please? Or is there a video about that topic on YT. 🖖
I live in Australia and have never seen an episode of duck tales, yet after hearing the theme song for the first time last year it gets stuck in my head all the time. It may have a nostalgia factor for some, but for me it’s more so the songwriting and the energetic music.
My parents have all the DuckTales DVDs so my sister and I watched them, along with Rescue Rangers when we were growing up. Definitely some nostalgia for me.
3:28 I'VE DECIPHERED IT. Before the 'Batta'eya', they say 'qesas', which means stories or 'tales'. Batta'eya is derived from 'Batta', which is duck in Arabic. So instead of the 'woo-hoo', they just took a longer time to sing the title of the show in Arabic
Between this song/show and Rescue Rangers, I honestly cannot tell you which song sticks in my head more. I loved both growing up and still watch them to this day.
I remember what some of the opening of Rescue Rangers looked like, but can't bring the song to mind. Watched them both, but Ducktales was definitely my fave. I also had the singing harp episode on VHS, which I watched a lot, so that probably helps.
Can't forget the horns by Jerry Hey. The master who arranged the horn parts and played high trumpet on almost every major pop song from the 70s,80s, and 90s
Am I the only one who noticed the inclusion of "aeroplane" (UK) rather than airplane, and the lyricist apostrophised myst'ry (removing the e). Them at Disney's astute folks.
This specific example comes from the German ohrwurm which literally translates as "earworm." The ear is the part of the body that hears and listens, and the worm being a thing that burrows and also being vermin: the result being a metaphorical vermin that burrow into the ear and causes annoyance. More generally, Earworm is an example of a rhetorical form called a kenning where two nouns are pushed together into a single word meant as a metaphorical meaning that lands betwixt the domains of two words individual connotations. Common examples include flamethrower, bookworm, mouth breather. The construction is most popular in Nordic and Germanic languages.
I usually just call them bubblegum songs (as they get stuck to your brain as the namesake candy on your shoes). English is not my language, but earworm... learning something new every day. Anyway, you can always get an earworm out of your brain... with another one! My pick is ALWAYS Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. 😊
Thank you Brianna. I clicked on the video fully expecting the correlation to be made. No mention of it and at first there were no comments on how both sound alike. I thought I was the only one on Earth that thought they sounded the same.
Rod Kim from RKVC is mine and my mom's former coworker. He's such an awesome guy! I totally did a double take when suddenly RKVC was being name-dropped here, hahaha.
Never fails. If there's one thing Finns love, it's other people confirming that Finland _is_ a place that exists, thus proving that they aren't all crazy. Same with the Poles and Brazilians, for some reason.
So true. I die little inside every time I read "Torilla tavataan!" tai "Suomi mainittu" in the comment section. Yes, Finland is a country, most people are aware. Get over it.
This video was recommended to me even though I watched it 6 years ago when it was new. Started watching it again. paused it at 0:39 to check my text when the sheet music is shown. THERE'S A SECOND VERSE!?! I never knew that! :)
It ISN'T Woohoo in Arabic. It's part of the title of the show. DuckTales wouldn't make sense translated literally, so they say the word for Story/Tale in the part where they yell "DuckTales!" in English. Then, for the "Woohoo" part, they say the title which is the "Duck" part translated roughly. It's a smart way to get around the difference in language constraints.
Instrumentation really plays a role too. The funky bass line played by a slap bass electric bass, the brass and saxes are nostalgic, but eh singing style is decidedly 80s and 90s placing it in different generations and genres - 60s and 70s with the instruments and 90s with the voice. The introduction of a flat 7 in the beginning harkens to blues and jazz and the Db in the melody - flat 3? in Bb are jazz and blues notes as well.
EPS5000 Nor did I. I saw a remix of the song and that was a lyric and i thought "Oh that's not right." But it is. I feel like one of my childhood memories was a lie.
1. That bass intro is so funky! 2. The singer absolutely nails the emotional flow of the song. 3. The vocal mix is very reminiscent of “Wake Me Up” by Wham! Which already sets a “feel good” atmosphere... 4. The horn lines are very much in the style of Jerry Hey, something that you would hear on a Michael Jackson recording. 5. When I first heard this song I thought it was produced by Quincy Jones, it’s that level of quality. 6. It sounds like the team had so much fun recording this. Almost as is if it were to be released on the radio. 7. They basically caught “lightning in a bottle”...
Disney had incredible talent working on all aspects of its animated shows in the late 80’s going into the early 90’s. Ducktales had two episodes regarding currency creation, one of which succinctly demonstrated hyperinflation.
actually, the arabic version does not include "Woohoo" no, in fact it's actually replaced with "duckies" which implys that the placements of the words "Duck tales" is the opposite , **Tales of, Duckies!!** i hope you understand what i was trying to explain, i was kinda nervous if i didn't properly explained myself and what i was trying to say.. appreciate you..
when You compared the "Woo-hoo" part, youmade me sing out loud the Finnish part of theme😂 this song is forever melted to my brain, and I'm okay with it
yep, writing a catchy tune that will run in loop in a human brain is like writing a computer virus that will duplicate endlessly using a buffer overflow and all the CPU's workload. it's programming.
Maybe it was just me..but that Ms. Marvel Comic seems to be glowing with power... Kinda reminds me of a teaser from a Marvel movie... Scott is gonna do a Ms. Marvel episode!! (Insert Half life 3 confirmed joke here)
That's normal. You're supposed to introduce all the major characters in that first half hour as well as any minor characters that are going to play a significant role in the plot. So, you wouldn't necessarily introduce a train station ticket taker in the beginning, unless the character was going to do something more than just take tickets and you needed the character to step beyond the typical role of taking tickets. Now, if just taking the tickets resulted in a plot point, you wouldn't usually bother to introduce the character earlier. It's a way of limiting plot holes and deus ex machina moments when a character drops in just long enough to solve a problem and doesn't fit in the rest of the story.
I’ve always been curious who sang the original version and what he looked like. I loved the sound of his voice, but never knew who sang it (prob could’ve looked it up at this point lol). I love both versions, though. One of the best shows growing up!
I think thr writer pulled alot of inspiration from Hall and Oates. When I hear the beginning of the song I'm almost always ready to go, " what I want you got and it might be hard to handle". Even that song has the woohoo, and it was 6 years before Ducktales. Surprisingly they didn't sue. Lol
It's a super common opening, very basic chord series. It's more likely he deliberately chose a common chord structure to make it catchy. I hear the opening in a ramones song from 1979 and a Dead Kennedys song from 1986. So yeah I don't think it's hall and oates. It's just a common refrain.
There's LITERALLY an entire vid where someone goes over common chord progressions, a scale that helps to explain the difference between plagiarism and influence, some examples, and why some artists don't sue.
This explains a lot... this is a great freakin' song! I can't help but sing along when watching the show... Does this also apply to the Fresh Prince theme? 🎶West Philadelphia...🎶
I think that some of the principles apply, like how the song begins with just the symbols before introducing a baseline, lyrics, trumpets, and another thing that I can't identify because I'm not a music person: I don't think the double rhyming applies and that the song employs a different rhetorical method; but, I'd have to sit down with it for a few hours to figure out how it's doing what, and I just don't have an interest in doing that.
Scott, I love almost everything you've done, and have been watching you nearly from your inception. Maybe I'm just old...but...a blazer and hoodie at the same time? Really?
Honestly this is one of your most intriguing vids and one that I come back to once a year or so. This theme has always smashed (second only to the power rangers theme) and this upload is something all 90’s kids should see. Love you bro
Hello, person born in 2000 here. I'd just like to say that the catchy/goodness of the song is definitely not based on nostalgia. I haven't even seen an episode of the show yet listen to the song unironically at least once a month. It's just a great song.
Dilly Dally Watch the show from the 80s (I heard the new one is good too) but I'd start with the original. Duck Tales was one of my favorite shows growing up.
"Pato-Aventuras hay en paaato-laaandia" "Con los chicos malos y tambieen-loos,bueenoooos" "Habra misterioos, ... historias reaaaleees Patos whooo-hooo"
This is my first video of yours and I'm subscribing. I always, and I mean always, watch at least two before I subscribe. Great job. The content was tightly done, nothing too extraneous. The editing was superb and slick. Your voice is really calming yet engaging and just pleasant overall. All around great job. I'm moving on to watching your vid on Wonder Woman and if she's wearing pants. I love videos about things I never wondered about but suddenly must know the answer to, so that's great! Kudos!
I looked it up again the other day, I was born in 1987, we had old vhs tapes of the show and I used to watch it so often as a kid. The theme makes me feel so incredibly nostalgic, probably more than anything else and I wasn’t even a particular fan of the show, though I did love the episode we had on tape (Scrooge and the boys go on a treasure hunt and almost get killed in boiling gold when all these traps activate).
Wow. Great video! Even if I didn't already love that theme song (and I did), I would have been completely sold by your enthusiasm, clear technical explanations of some music theory, fascinating historical bits, and even the subtle delights in the video editing. Fantastic!
AH HA! can't remember listening to the norwegian version as a kid. Thought it was Wohoo there as well.. in the new edition of duck tales the "wohoo" is also in the norwegian version (my nephews watch it from time to time). I learned something new - I am Norwegian. - Thanks!
excellent job, Scott! most vids on UA-cam trying to break down music like this are so cringey. You did an excellent job in presenting the info in an authoritative yet accessible manner (and most importantly, it was ACCURATE). Kudos! signed, a dude with a degree in music theory and composition
It is weird to listen to the extended version of this song, it takes away the familar moments of the song. Also, my 10 year old niece and hearing impaired father can enjoy this song for so many different reasons.
man i wish they taught us this stuff in music class; all we did were sing-alongs of folk songs and occasionally copying the notes of a song on our notebook; such a huge waste of time and a missed opportunity; i also find it fascinating how the whole "gradually introduce stuff" applies to other media, like video games, for example, where in, say, a platformer, an obstacle is introduced, it's quite easy, then it gets modified to be more complex and challenging, or it's mixed with previous ones.
radu nicolae I got taught how to play an african drum and the super mario bros on a keyboard before the school realised that if 3 people are interested in music then it is bad for business. Luckily college has music yay
Okay you've done a Ducktales video now can you do one exploring the comics like which McDuck and Duck family trees are the true canon family trees and the differences between the Barks and Rosa canons of the Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck comics. There's so much comics stuff to explore surrounding Scrooge and Donald and their families.
For me it was always the horns that hooked me, brass and strings always make a pop/rock-ish theme sound more grand. Same vibe with the Masters of the Universe and Thundercats themes.
2:38 Damn! I didn't know that actually had a name. ''The Millenial Whoop..'' I've always been annoyed that modern music replaces actual lyrics with the ''Ah Ah'' and ''Woo'' and ''Woooooh'' etc etc. (Start)(Lyrics)(Whoooo whooo oooo ooooo)(Lyrics)(End)
that word is old lol....but hey wanna have some more fun just look up "the wilhelm scream" (in movies, NOT the song) and wait to be amazed at how many times youve heard it!
I am literally a full time band director in the public schools because of this song!!! When I was in 5th grade a random guy gave an assembly at my school in Colorado Springs where he played the duck tales theme on a keyboard complete with all the sequenced drums, bass, horns, etc... that was absolutely the moment that made me want to play music. I'm 38 now and still hold a special place in my heart for this song even though I've taught HS Band for a decade.
Watch our video about the X-Men cartoon theme song right here! 👉 ua-cam.com/video/IbLbEYuDZEA/v-deo.html
There's a little dirt on your neck/chest...
Could you do the Thundercats theme song next? Great videos, btw
@@Rafusdibarbarius yess!!!
NerdSync is amazing
The show DuckTales is my favourite
i dont remember a single SCENE of the duck tales show but i can sing the song word for word...
Ben Masta please check out “A seamonster ate my ice cream” if you never watch another Ducktales clip in your life
For real. I do remember bits and pieces of the movie (the one with the magic lamp) but virtually nothing about the show itself ... except that damn theme song.
Ben Masta same
Dargonhuman xD
@@mowilliams9555 that story arc was epic!
When I was a kid, I would often, while lying in bed, literally HEAR the song. It was stuck in my head so intensely that it gave me actual auditory hallucinations. The first few times it happened I would get out of bed and go to the living room, to see if someone left the TV on.
I had to take it off of my mp3 player because of something similar; whenever it would pop up on my playlist, I couldn't hear any of the songs afterward because the Ducktales theme would overwhelm my subconscious. Normally, the cure for that would be to hear the song again, but in this case, it would only reinforce the earworm nature of the song and make it last longer.
Chris Engelhard that happens to me too
It does that to me, but with the reboot theme...
091234567890
@@angelamahnken2116
Same here, EXCEPT it's when the 2017 cast is singing it and then I can't get the image of Scrooge dressed like the 10th Doctor and holding a Sonic Screwdriver outta my head. THANK YOU, DAVID TENNANT!
It's DuckTales. it's the one song that you can hum or softly start to sing and by the fifth line have seventeen other people randomly singing at the top of your lungs. Why? Because it's DuckTales. Don't test it's power.
Fun fact: This song is similar enough to "You Make My Dreams Come True" that it's a freaking miracle Hall & Oates never sued over it, given that they sued both Haulin' Oates & Holland Oats for brand infringement. They even both have some variation of "Woo hoo!"
I knew it sounded similar! What a cool fact!
I wonder how much that had to do with the fact that it's _DISNEY_ they would have to sue...
@AnimeSunglasses this is it right here. Disney would just Disney the crap out of them. Take them to court and file continuance after continuance until the opposing team either dropped the suit or filed bankruptcy.
Disney probably got permission to use it or payed royalties . As it would have been easy for Hall and Oats to squeeze every penny out of disney . As so many other movies and artist got sued years after the fact , and got backpayed royalties .
“Girlfriend in a Coma” also starts with a very similar sound!
Despite being fairly young and never have seen Ducktales, the first time I heard this song in the trailer of the remake of Ducktales' game, I immidiately loved it.
So, nostalgia doesn't have much to do with it, Ducktalales' theme really is simply a masterpiece
Same.
I was 6 when it premiered. Being an 80’s kid was awesome.
ye same
This song was written in 45 minutes?!?!?
I am officially failing at life.
we can't all be gods
Divinity is achieved by practicing one's art to the point that none supersede you in skill. We can't all be gods, since ascending to godhood within this model most often means taking the mantle from another, but each person could become a god with enough effort.
ua-cam.com/video/EErSKhC0CZs/v-deo.html it doesn't take long if you start out with the song half written
Kyle Towers true
If it makes you feel any better, "My Shot" took a year to write, and that one is just as catchy.
I believe that what makes it so catchy to me is the high amount of energy and passion that they pour into their performance, seeing as how I don’t particularly prefer versions that feel more calm and lazy
Another key element that I feel got overlooked: "crowd participation". The whole "Woo-ooh" is DESIGNED to have the listener INTERACT with the song. I think the feeling of contribution turns the person from a PASSIVE listener into an ACTIVE listener, which in turn makes the song more memorable and catchy.
Let's face it, we look forward to getting to chant along "Woo-ooh" :-)
My favorite ones are ones I can sing along with.
Love this track. So catchy!
Sheet Music Boss ayy you'rw here
Hey, i know you, you’re that cool guy
Can u make a tutorial for it?
But can you make it ｒｕｓｓｉａｎ？
GamerGodYT I'm sovite Russia, everything is Russian
That "Woo Hoo" part is the part that unifies everyone. You may not know every lyric to a song but youre bound to join in on that part. Just like "5 golden rings!!!, or that part in bohemian rhapsody that everyone sings at once.
3:58
"Full Octave"
*shows us a 7th*
Fruzzinoid ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED
Searched the comments because I was about to post the same thing
Thank you. I thought I was the only one who noticed
The theme song is also being played a half step down from the note that are being shown on the screen.
Lol, I saw that and was like HEY
3:30 Actually!!! In the Arabic version "Bat'tutiyya" is not a random "Woo-Hoo" like sound. "But'tutiyya" actually means "Duck-y". "Qes'us" which means stories (or tales) is a bit long, so the second word was moved over to the "Woo-Hoo" phrase. Thus, you get "Qes'us Bat'tutiyya" which gives you "Ducky Tales" lol xD instead of an entire "DuckTales Woo-Hoo".
DETahaX thanks! I love knowing that! I also loved your profile pic. ☆
That is absolutely fascinating!!!
After all these years I still have trouble believing that Niswander is his real name
It is! I swear it is!
NerdSync yeah, yeah...
That's exactly what a non-niswander would say to trick us!
I have a harder time believing you pic is still on the air. No hate, but that trump wanderers, nice or otherwise, in my book.
At day I am Scott Niswander... But at night I become fear... I become vengeance... I become the night...
THE NIGHTWONDER!
No one seems to have commented on the chord sequence in the chorus. That’s a big part of what makes the song feel exciting. That Db - Eb - F is so money!
Another element that *really* makes this theme is that b6, b7, 1 chord progression in the chorus. It’s juuust unusual enough to grab you…something that’s usually used as an outro cadence or an emotional high point (like toward the end of champagne supernova).
English: "Woo Hoo" 😊
Norweign: "Ah Ha" 😊
Finnish: "Oh Oh" 😊
Arabic: Bat'tutiyya 😑
The arabic one is a translation of duck tales, not an actual woo hoo
Denmark also woo hoo
dixolnoasea In Finland se have this legendary video, where we have misheard the arabic lyrics, and it is subbed, for example, the clip in the video sounds like this to us: "Cock is my daytime job, FUCK THIS! ELF!
I was expecting allahu akbar
France: Lou Lou 😨😲😓
I love how you made Disney a bunch of deadeyed people in suits with mickey hats
we said the same!
MineKynoMine haha thank you! I was pretty proud of that visual tbh 😅
MineKynoMine *deceased
Abraham Mireles I don't think you know what deadeyed means
It's honestly stuck in my head because of the instrumentals during the "D-d-d-danger lurks behind you" bit. I don't even know why, but that part is pure bliss for me.
It's that staccato stutter of the word "danger". It might seem obvious, but that technique has been used in music for decades with incredible success. Something about how the sung word matches the beat with a syllable.
I remember in the research that that part was the singer's favorite thing to record for the reboot of DuckTales!
The whole text is part of the reason why it resonates so much....there are the double rhymes mentioned in the video, but they are also working a LOT with word association. Ie "live is like a Hurricane" is a very strong line, because a Hurricane is associated with something big, dangerous and live changing, so there are immediately a number of associations attached to it. The "D-d-d-danger" immediately resonates because we associate stuttering with fear, giving the word more weight than it would have if it were just sung. Especially if you have a singer who puts the fitting feelings into the words.
staccato is musical crack, that's why :P
Shock Vox
Literally, same
The drums, bass and melody much of the time plays at the exact same timings as eachother, making it really catchy and easy to follow.
6 years later, and still one of my favorite videos of yours, Scott.
The way you guys integrated the theme makes me way happier that it should.
I can attest to it being more than nostalgia. My 3 year old loves the song and could care less about the new or the old show and only wants to hear the intro. She can't get enough of it.
So my brain recently made the connection that the turn signal on my car clicks at the same beat as this song. Therefore, every time I make a turn or change lanes, my traitorous cranium chimes in with "Life is like a hurricane... here in, Duckburg..." It's been pretty horrible, lol
No. NOOOO! Y U do dis to me?!
I feel so sorry for you and to be honest, laugh out loud at the thought of it.
Now I just need to add Duck Tales to the play list of my (so far) friend with a car who drives the rest of the team around for geocaching.
Noooooo! FU!
AHAHAHAHA WTF DUDE now that you made me notice it, it's the same for me!
In all honesty, your brain can slightly alter the speed of any given song when you think about it, without you noticing. So theoretically, any song with a similar tempo will fit, you just have to adjust it slightly...
Felicia Barton’s take on Ducktales is the freshest, purest cover on the original. I just spent the last hour searching UA-cam for different covers. The original and the 2017 official remake are the absolute best
This video is pure gold. For whatever reason, at age 48.5 I've had the Duck Tales theme song in my head for the past week. And now I know why!!!! THANK YOU!!!
I think specifically the vocals and the horns give the song it's energy. The voice carries a lot of power and the horns are like a revving engine.
the NES / Famicom rendition of the track, especially in the second game, is too catchy AF and it doesn't have the horns or vocals, just the melody and backing instruments as 8-bit chiptune
There's a girl at my school who has never seen any DuckTales yet always sings the theme song
lol
*conspiracy music doth intensifies*
I've been called out . . .
Rickey Barnes interesting
Aye
That’s me
Lmao
We need a Ducktales multilanguage medley. That would be awesome.
I know, as a kid I grew up with the Latam version of the song, and let me tell you its just as catchy
The Latin Spanish version is great.
It was fantastic to hear the theme song in other languages!
A few years ago, I was taking a swing dancing class. The instructor turned on the practice song and it was freaking DUCK TALES. I exclaimed, “OMG we are gonna dance to Duck Tales!” and looked around me, but everyone else in the class was too old to know the show. So yeah, we swing danced to Duck Tales and it was one of the most surreal and awesome moments of my life and I couldn’t share it with ANYONE because no one else even understood what was happening.
Too old?! Were they all grannies and grandpas? At this point it's way more likely to not know the show and the song because of being too young than because of being too old because the original DuckTales show is almost... 40 years old! (yeah, sorry 😅)
As a kid, I never did try to memorize the lyrics. It just got stuck to my brain. At age 42, I can still remember the lyrics pretty well and get gets excited when I hear it. Hence, I downloaded it as a ringtone. My contemporaries always get pleasantly surprised when they hear my phone ringing.😊
As someone who watched DuckTales (2017) every week I've had a hard enough time trying not to sing this song and then you went and did this. Thanks a lot Scott.
Marvel. Thalia I need to watch ALL the old series
"You cant introduce ten characters in the first scene"
U HEARD THAT, GAME OF THRONES S1E01?
And that's exactly the reason why I thought Robert and King Baratheon were different entities until episode 6 xD
I've never seen Game of Thrones and I don't care to, so I'll have to take your word for it.
However, immediately after watching the series premier, did you remember all character names and their tropes? Or did it take you a few times of watching it before recalling everything and everyone in that first scene?
That's a terrible example. That's why I didn't know who most of the characters until much later. The first episode just was just overwhelming.
joemann7971 depends who you ask, I found it quite easy to remember who everyone is.
Damn. That was impressive. So basically we love all of the new pop songs because they remind us of Duck Tales. 😐
And we love the Duck Tales theme song, because we love Hall and Oates. Check out the song You Make my Dreams Come True!
Funny, then, because I love the Duck Tales theme song, but HATE 99.999999% of today's pop music.
@@ChicagoRetroGamer Not a fan of all of "You Make My Dreams", and other than in a few superficial elements, I don't think it sounds at all like Duck Tales.
Frozen 2: Ah ah, Ah ah...
Us: Millennial Whoop! Sing along!
Robert Lopez: Actually... Dies Irae. It’s supposed to invoke danger and death.
@@LocalMaple Hey thanks for more interesting info. Could you please elaborate a bit on the Robert Lopez and Dies Irae part, please? Or is there a video about that topic on YT. 🖖
I live in Australia and have never seen an episode of duck tales, yet after hearing the theme song for the first time last year it gets stuck in my head all the time. It may have a nostalgia factor for some, but for me it’s more so the songwriting and the energetic music.
@@radyperry you're in your 30s mate?
My parents have all the DuckTales DVDs so my sister and I watched them, along with Rescue Rangers when we were growing up. Definitely some nostalgia for me.
3:28 I'VE DECIPHERED IT. Before the 'Batta'eya', they say 'qesas', which means stories or 'tales'. Batta'eya is derived from 'Batta', which is duck in Arabic. So instead of the 'woo-hoo', they just took a longer time to sing the title of the show in Arabic
No, it’s stuck in my head because ive watched brendon urie sing it 40 times today
Taylor Dente Y E S
YAAASSSSSSS
Samee
I've watched the new cast sing the original theme at least 100 times in the past 2 days. I freaked out upon seeing David Tennant.🙂
3:20 Finnish is going to be here, right?
3:33 ANKAT *OO OH*
Mainiota.
MENKAT, WOO-O
Torilla kakataan
Suomifinlandperkele, torilla tavataan.
You Taco Nazi.
KYLLÄ
Between this song/show and Rescue Rangers, I honestly cannot tell you which song sticks in my head more. I loved both growing up and still watch them to this day.
Gummy Bears!
I remember what some of the opening of Rescue Rangers looked like, but can't bring the song to mind. Watched them both, but Ducktales was definitely my fave. I also had the singing harp episode on VHS, which I watched a lot, so that probably helps.
Can't forget the horns by Jerry Hey. The master who arranged the horn parts and played high trumpet on almost every major pop song from the 70s,80s, and 90s
Am I the only one who noticed the inclusion of "aeroplane" (UK) rather than airplane, and the lyricist apostrophised myst'ry (removing the e). Them at Disney's astute folks.
I think they did it to fit. But maybe also because Scrooge McDuck is Scottish
Derek Zhang that's exactly why tbh
Few American dialects don't pronounce mystery like that. Same as with history, which is often "histry".
When you played the part of the Norwegian theme I almost died of nostalgia
Not Not Teodor I'm glad. I put that in there for you, bud!
I find it funny how they get an Aha. A-ha is a norwegian band from the 1980's , so nice reference.
Hahaha, good catch! I didn't piece that together!
I feel you
Not Not Teodor I got goosebumps when I heard the finnish part
When I get an earworm it usually helps to sing the song all the way through, Scott
Brandon Allen earworm?
This specific example comes from the German ohrwurm which literally translates as "earworm." The ear is the part of the body that hears and listens, and the worm being a thing that burrows and also being vermin: the result being a metaphorical vermin that burrow into the ear and causes annoyance.
More generally, Earworm is an example of a rhetorical form called a kenning where two nouns are pushed together into a single word meant as a metaphorical meaning that lands betwixt the domains of two words individual connotations. Common examples include flamethrower, bookworm, mouth breather. The construction is most popular in Nordic and Germanic languages.
I usually just call them bubblegum songs (as they get stuck to your brain as the namesake candy on your shoes). English is not my language, but earworm... learning something new every day.
Anyway, you can always get an earworm out of your brain... with another one! My pick is ALWAYS Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. 😊
Hi
I want to say this is a spongebob reference so much...
I'm very surprised you didn't mention the elements of the trumpet, It's like there, driving the song, building it up and having a liftoff.
I literally just heard this song today on Spotify and it has been stuck in my head ever since
So we're not gonna talk about how it also sounds almost exactly like "You Make My Dreams" by Hall and Oates??
I thought for sure he was gonna mention that.
Its easier to write a song in only 45 minutes when you completely rip it off of a huge hit pop song.
Whoa! You're right! I never noticed that, no wonder it sounds so good.
Thank you Brianna. I clicked on the video fully expecting the correlation to be made. No mention of it and at first there were no comments on how both sound alike. I thought I was the only one on Earth that thought they sounded the same.
I clicked it thinking it would be the number 1 reason too haha
Rod Kim from RKVC is mine and my mom's former coworker. He's such an awesome guy! I totally did a double take when suddenly RKVC was being name-dropped here, hahaha.
Sean McGuire Hey Sean!
Nice that you had the finnish version in the examples.
LuffyMcDuck suomi mainittu
ALLAHU AKBAR KANSALAINEN
torilla tavataan ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Never fails. If there's one thing Finns love, it's other people confirming that Finland _is_ a place that exists, thus proving that they aren't all crazy. Same with the Poles and Brazilians, for some reason.
and the rest of the world -_-
So true. I die little inside every time I read "Torilla tavataan!" tai "Suomi mainittu" in the comment section.
Yes, Finland is a country, most people are aware. Get over it.
This video was recommended to me even though I watched it 6 years ago when it was new. Started watching it again. paused it at 0:39 to check my text when the sheet music is shown. THERE'S A SECOND VERSE!?! I never knew that! :)
“It will never leave, IT WILL NEVER LEAVE!” - Nostalgic Critic (2009)
Wohoo in arabic is... Interesting.
Uncouth what
allahu akbar! BOOM OOHH!
Really?
It ISN'T Woohoo in Arabic. It's part of the title of the show. DuckTales wouldn't make sense translated literally, so they say the word for Story/Tale in the part where they yell "DuckTales!" in English.
Then, for the "Woohoo" part, they say the title which is the "Duck" part translated roughly. It's a smart way to get around the difference in language constraints.
The K-Bros Then again, it's an even more interesting way to say duck.
Instrumentation really plays a role too. The funky bass line played by a slap bass electric bass, the brass and saxes are nostalgic, but eh singing style is decidedly 80s and 90s placing it in different generations and genres - 60s and 70s with the instruments and 90s with the voice. The introduction of a flat 7 in the beginning harkens to blues and jazz and the Db in the melody - flat 3? in Bb are jazz and blues notes as well.
Due to the melody staying the same, I never noticed before the word "duck" changes to "luck" - I’m amazed. I had no idea "luck tales" was a lyric.
EPS5000 Nor did I. I saw a remix of the song and that was a lyric and i thought "Oh that's not right." But it is. I feel like one of my childhood memories was a lie.
I always heard "D-d-d-danger watch behind you" as "D-d-d-danger *lurks* behind you". It made more sense to me as a kid but now I'm questioning myself.
1. That bass intro is so funky!
2. The singer absolutely nails the emotional flow of the song.
3. The vocal mix is very reminiscent of “Wake Me Up” by Wham! Which already sets a “feel good” atmosphere...
4. The horn lines are very much in the style of Jerry Hey, something that you would hear on a Michael Jackson recording.
5. When I first heard this song I thought it was produced by Quincy Jones, it’s that level of quality.
6. It sounds like the team had so much fun recording this. Almost as is if it were to be released on the radio.
7. They basically caught “lightning in a bottle”...
Disney had incredible talent working on all aspects of its animated shows in the late 80’s going into the early 90’s. Ducktales had two episodes regarding currency creation, one of which succinctly demonstrated hyperinflation.
Hope you are happy NerdSync, I been listening the duck tales Arabic version like for half an hour
rodrigo arellano as the editor of this video I went through so many different languages of DuckTales... So yes, this pleases me.
Settle this debate once and for all:
Woo-oo?
Woo-hoo?
A-woo-oo?
WHAT IS IT?!?!?!
NerdSync Ah-Ha
NerdSync The classic Woo-oo!
NerdSync woo-oo like the title of episode 1 of the new series
Rocket Animations I didn't know that the Theme Song from Ducktales made in dofferent Languages. I am blown away
NerdSync How many different languages did they made that theme song from Ducktales?
actually, the arabic version does not include "Woohoo" no, in fact it's actually replaced with "duckies" which implys that the placements of the words "Duck tales" is the opposite , **Tales of, Duckies!!** i hope you understand what i was trying to explain, i was kinda nervous if i didn't properly explained myself and what i was trying to say.. appreciate you..
when You compared the "Woo-hoo" part, youmade me sing out loud the Finnish part of theme😂 this song is forever melted to my brain, and I'm okay with it
yep, writing a catchy tune that will run in loop in a human brain is like writing a computer virus that will duplicate endlessly using a buffer overflow and all the CPU's workload.
it's programming.
I'm writing a sci-fi series. Can I PLEASE use this as a quote? It's hilarious and ridiculously clever.
Maybe it was just me..but that Ms. Marvel Comic seems to be glowing with power... Kinda reminds me of a teaser from a Marvel movie... Scott is gonna do a Ms. Marvel episode!! (Insert Half life 3 confirmed joke here)
"You can't introduce ten characters in the first scene"
Guy Ritchie can introduce 40 characters per half-hour.
That's normal. You're supposed to introduce all the major characters in that first half hour as well as any minor characters that are going to play a significant role in the plot.
So, you wouldn't necessarily introduce a train station ticket taker in the beginning, unless the character was going to do something more than just take tickets and you needed the character to step beyond the typical role of taking tickets.
Now, if just taking the tickets resulted in a plot point, you wouldn't usually bother to introduce the character earlier.
It's a way of limiting plot holes and deus ex machina moments when a character drops in just long enough to solve a problem and doesn't fit in the rest of the story.
I thought of Suicide Squad, for some reason.
But do you remember all of them right off the bat
Literally the BEST breakdown of the most catchy and sing-along-able theme songs! DUCKTALES! WOO-OO!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!
The comic book imagery tidbit is especially interesting, since the new theme song animation is completely centered around that design concept.
I’ve always been curious who sang the original version and what he looked like. I loved the sound of his voice, but never knew who sang it (prob could’ve looked it up at this point lol). I love both versions, though. One of the best shows growing up!
I think thr writer pulled alot of inspiration from Hall and Oates. When I hear the beginning of the song I'm almost always ready to go, " what I want you got and it might be hard to handle". Even that song has the woohoo, and it was 6 years before Ducktales. Surprisingly they didn't sue. Lol
I hear the opening riff to this everytime my local oldies station plays "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" by Jim Croce.
It's a super common opening, very basic chord series. It's more likely he deliberately chose a common chord structure to make it catchy. I hear the opening in a ramones song from 1979 and a Dead Kennedys song from 1986. So yeah I don't think it's hall and oates. It's just a common refrain.
There's LITERALLY an entire vid where someone goes over common chord progressions, a scale that helps to explain the difference between plagiarism and influence, some examples, and why some artists don't sue.
The pointer sisters neutron dance.
This explains a lot... this is a great freakin' song! I can't help but sing along when watching the show...
Does this also apply to the Fresh Prince theme?
🎶West Philadelphia...🎶
*born and raised*
playground
Brandon Allen most of my days
I think that some of the principles apply, like how the song begins with just the symbols before introducing a baseline, lyrics, trumpets, and another thing that I can't identify because I'm not a music person: I don't think the double rhyming applies and that the song employs a different rhetorical method; but, I'd have to sit down with it for a few hours to figure out how it's doing what, and I just don't have an interest in doing that.
Brandon Allen chillin out, maxin, relaxin, and shootin some bball outside of the school when a couple of guys who were up to no good....
I love how enthusiastic the explanation was. Really lovely.
Aaannnddd, now you've gotten it stuck in my head.
The real reason it's so catchy occurs before the vocals are laid. You hear the beat and see three Ducks shaking their butts to the Rhythm.
Love the R&B and new jack swing liteness of it, Jeff’s soulful vocals are just the icing on the cake
how did you do a whole video about this without mentioning the Hall and Oates song you make my dreams come true which is the obvious inspiration
Ever since Brendon Urie sang the theme song I had it stuck in my head
Scott, I love almost everything you've done, and have been watching you nearly from your inception. Maybe I'm just old...but...a blazer and hoodie at the same time? Really?
Fashion police?
I was thinking the same
LOL going around looking like some kind of sticky bandit
Matt John
He thinks he's Zuckerburg.
Honestly this is one of your most intriguing vids and one that I come back to once a year or so.
This theme has always smashed (second only to the power rangers theme) and this upload is something all 90’s kids should see.
Love you bro
And Ghostbusters and Transformers themes always stuck in my brain!!!!
Oh no
What about the X-men theme
Same.
Hello, person born in 2000 here. I'd just like to say that the catchy/goodness of the song is definitely not based on nostalgia. I haven't even seen an episode of the show yet listen to the song unironically at least once a month. It's just a great song.
Dilly Dally Watch the show from the 80s (I heard the new one is good too) but I'd start with the original. Duck Tales was one of my favorite shows growing up.
The new one is surprisingly good. I was a little worried, but ended up not being disappointed.
Probably because I've broken the repeat button while listening to Brendon Urie singing it live...
Peace OH SAME
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYEEESSS
WHAT A MOOD
Peace SAME *TEARS UP* I KNEW I WASN'T ALONE
Peace SAMEEEE
"Pato-Aventuras hay en paaato-laaandia"
"Con los chicos malos y tambieen-loos,bueenoooos"
"Habra misterioos, ... historias reaaaleees Patos whooo-hooo"
Now is it stuck in my head! Before not. Ty
You showed the norwegian language first? You've got my respect!
This is my first video of yours and I'm subscribing. I always, and I mean always, watch at least two before I subscribe. Great job. The content was tightly done, nothing too extraneous. The editing was superb and slick. Your voice is really calming yet engaging and just pleasant overall. All around great job. I'm moving on to watching your vid on Wonder Woman and if she's wearing pants. I love videos about things I never wondered about but suddenly must know the answer to, so that's great! Kudos!
I like the Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers theme equally!
I think that song is better.
I remember the theme, but I also remembered that little ditty from the Coocoo Cola thing for years.
Yeah i put *Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers* in 1st
*Denver The Last Dinosaur* ua-cam.com/video/sLlibrF5DRM/v-deo.html in 2nd
And *Ducktales* in 3rd
It will never get out of your head. Never.
I looked it up again the other day, I was born in 1987, we had old vhs tapes of the show and I used to watch it so often as a kid. The theme makes me feel so incredibly nostalgic, probably more than anything else and I wasn’t even a particular fan of the show, though I did love the episode we had on tape (Scrooge and the boys go on a treasure hunt and almost get killed in boiling gold when all these traps activate).
Wow. Great video! Even if I didn't already love that theme song (and I did), I would have been completely sold by your enthusiasm, clear technical explanations of some music theory, fascinating historical bits, and even the subtle delights in the video editing. Fantastic!
AH HA! can't remember listening to the norwegian version as a kid. Thought it was Wohoo there as well.. in the new edition of duck tales the "wohoo" is also in the norwegian version (my nephews watch it from time to time). I learned something new - I am Norwegian. - Thanks!
excellent job, Scott! most vids on UA-cam trying to break down music like this are so cringey. You did an excellent job in presenting the info in an authoritative yet accessible manner (and most importantly, it was ACCURATE). Kudos!
signed,
a dude with a degree in music theory and composition
It is weird to listen to the extended version of this song, it takes away the familar moments of the song. Also, my 10 year old niece and hearing impaired father can enjoy this song for so many different reasons.
Kinda reminds me of the movie The Little Mermaid when Sébastien gets all the instruments to come in one at a time
Thanks for this video. It's extremely contagious in Spanish as well. Whoever did the Spanish lyrics is also a genius.
man i wish they taught us this stuff in music class; all we did were sing-alongs of folk songs and occasionally copying the notes of a song on our notebook; such a huge waste of time and a missed opportunity;
i also find it fascinating how the whole "gradually introduce stuff" applies to other media, like video games, for example, where in, say, a platformer, an obstacle is introduced, it's quite easy, then it gets modified to be more complex and challenging, or it's mixed with previous ones.
radu nicolae I got taught how to play an african drum and the super mario bros on a keyboard before the school realised that if 3 people are interested in music then it is bad for business. Luckily college has music yay
30 minutes and 0 dislikes... it's beautiful!
Okay you've done a Ducktales video now can you do one exploring the comics like which McDuck and Duck family trees are the true canon family trees and the differences between the Barks and Rosa canons of the Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck comics. There's so much comics stuff to explore surrounding Scrooge and Donald and their families.
For me it was always the horns that hooked me, brass and strings always make a pop/rock-ish theme sound more grand. Same vibe with the Masters of the Universe and Thundercats themes.
Well...since Brendon Urie recently did a cover, it DEFINITELY got stuck in my head!
Comics and music theory? What more could I want from a UA-cam channel.
2:38 Damn! I didn't know that actually had a name. ''The Millenial Whoop..'' I've always been annoyed that modern music replaces actual lyrics with the ''Ah Ah'' and ''Woo'' and ''Woooooh'' etc etc. (Start)(Lyrics)(Whoooo whooo oooo ooooo)(Lyrics)(End)
me too
Same here.
Pretty much all of Max whatisname's cookiecutter industrialized music is absolute trash.
It's the kind of thing popularized by people like Michael Jackson.
that word is old lol....but hey wanna have some more fun just look up "the wilhelm scream" (in movies, NOT the song) and wait to be amazed at how many times youve heard it!
yeah, ducktales!
Nosrep Suomynona woo hoo
I remember when i had this profile pic :U
Kawaii potato
I am literally a full time band director in the public schools because of this song!!! When I was in 5th grade a random guy gave an assembly at my school in Colorado Springs where he played the duck tales theme on a keyboard complete with all the sequenced drums, bass, horns, etc... that was absolutely the moment that made me want to play music.
I'm 38 now and still hold a special place in my heart for this song even though I've taught HS Band for a decade.