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Thursday, January 31, 2013

125th Year Anniversary of the National Geographic Society: The Music

Just as History, Economics, Medical Science, Engineering and other fields of study lack a society with public appeal like National Geographic.  Without a society such as National Geographic its hard for any subject to have an "official" public face.  Without a public face it is near impossible for these disciplines to have a theme song.  Geography has a theme song in the sense National Geographic has a theme song.

National Geographic's theme song is one that can stir up emotions such as exploration, discovery, adventure, and even youthful memories.



Readers of this blog will remember that there was a march from the 1930s which predated this theme.  This one still sounds adventurous but in a 1930s newsreel sort of way.

Keyboard version


These songs can be considered fully canonical National Geographic themes.  There are, however, other songs.  National Geographic Channel, which is jointly owned by both the society and Fox Cable Networks, has commissioned various songs for commercials.  These themes come in three flavors:  modern music to express a world being explored through modern methods and technology, a catchy tune about being surprised about the world, or tribal music to express the exotic nature of the world.  None of these songs match the epicness of the National Geographic theme.

Richard Pike's "Think Again"


Viki Nova's Just Can't Believe It


This is Who we Are

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