9
Aug
4

Update: ‘Spoonful of Sugar’ and ‘Imperial March’ sound like ‘El Capitan’ by John Phillip Sousa

by Adam Wagner

John Philip Sousa: “El Capitan” (1896)

sounds like imperial march

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Here’s an update to the October 14th 2009 Sound-a-like: “A Spoonful of Sugar” from Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins and the “Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back. Readers commented that both songs share a similar motif from John Philip Sousa’s march “El Capitan”, written in 1896, the same year he wrote the revered “Stars and Stripes Forever”.

So, if you haven’t already, listen to just how similar the “Imperial March” is to “A Spoonful of Sugar”.

Then check out how both of these tunes borrow from Sousa’s “El Capitan”.

Thanks to some well tuned ears for this update. Can anyone suggest other examples of this motif in the history of recorded music?

4 Comments:
  1. Walt Disney’s “Spoonful of Sugar” sounds like John William’s “Imperial March” | Sounds Just Like 9 Aug, 2010

    [...] to comments below, there’s an update to this sound a like that takes us way back to 1896. AKPC_IDS += "64,";Popularity: 32% [?] Share and [...]

  2. susie Q 3 Jan, 2011

    agreed! so i’m not crazy when i thought darth vader likes spoonfuls of sugar with his medicine:)

  3. Adam 2 Mar, 2011

    I hear the parallel between Spoonful of Sugar and El Capitan, but the Imperial March is a stretch for me…

  4. Nikhil Soneja 15 Feb, 2012

    To take it even further back, doesn’t El Capitan sound a bit like Johann Strauss (sr) ‘s Radetzky March?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZL-25906Oc

    Would be an unusual journey if so :)

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