Have you ever had a song get stuck in your head without knowing what it was or who performed it?
Even with the Internet’s help today, it isn’t always easy to identify a tune when the only thing you have is the melody.
One of today’s top questions about music is a song that goes “do do dodododo.” Although that’s not enough information to choose something specific, a little background info often helps.
Two songs fit this profile, with a few others that are relatively close.
Do Do Dodododo: What Is This Song? [SOLVED]
The beat and tempo help to determine what song you hear with the rhythm of “do do dodododo.” If it is a slow and melancholy piece, it’s likely a variation of Chopin’s “Funeral March.” When you have a techno piece with pitch variations, it’s likely “Sandstorm” by Darude.
When you look for the song with the “do do dodododo” beat, the first title that pops up for most searches is from The Police. This band recorded a song called “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.” It was released on November 20, 1980.
Sting wrote the song to make a satirical comment about how many people love simple-sounding music. They even re-recorded it in 1986, but the remake wasn’t released until 1995. Although the band received plenty of criticism about its composition, the writers say it is misunderstood.
For “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” the goal was to take about how words get abused in music. Sting compares the work to the popularity of tunes like “Do Wha Diddy Diddy” or “Da Doo Ron Ron.”
If you listen to the lyrics, the goal is to create a hook rather than leave a message for people to understand. Sting says that the title content came from something that his son said one day.
The song would eventually peak at No. 10 on the Billboard charts.
What If the Music Is Techno and from the 1990s?
There was a period during the 1990s when techno music came back with a vengeance. It was a brief time at the end of the decade after the ska revival was over, and people were trying to move on from heavy grunge influences.
That’s when Darude, a Finnish DJ and record producer, released an instrumental called “Sandstorm.” The song would serve as the lead single from his debut album. It was one of the first compositions to get released globally as an MP3 file, and it continues to survive as an Internet meme.
Darude experimented with multiple synths and electronic equipment at the time, generating a following by creating an MP3 artist’s page. The title comes from his Roland JP-8080 synth that displays that text when it starts up.
It’s often included in action sequences in movies and TV shows. Some materials slow the tune for sad scenes because of the unique hook it offers.
Darude said during a 2016 interview that he’d never been in an actual sandstorm. The only thing that was close to it was a dust devil.
What If the Music Has a Classical Vibe to It?
If you hear music with the “do do dodododo” rhythm to it with a classical vibe, the composition could be Chopin’s “Marche Funebre” or “Funeral March.”
The official title for the composition is “Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor.”
Chopin includes four movements in this work, which he completed while living in George Sand’s home south of Paris. The third movement became famous as the funeral march, which he composed about two years before tackling the remaining work for the piece.
The song seems familiar because it contains callbacks to previous releases from Bach and Beethoven.
Depending on the tempo and repetition of the performer for “Piano Sonata No. 2,” it can take up to 25 minutes to complete. If only the third movement is performed, it typically takes about nine minutes to complete. Chopin placed it in B-flat minor with 4/4 time, with the trio in the relative major of D-flat.
It’s often played at funerals today, and it was even part of the ceremonies during Chopin’s own remembrance.
This piece has become the world’s archetypal association with death. It’s unique because Chopin altered the titling when releasing the music in Paris, calling it simply “March.”
Numerous commercial recordings have been released by global pianists over the past century, with some of the earliest releases dating to 1928. Several highly acclaimed editions are also available, including one by G. Henle Verlag.
Could It Be the Hamster Song?
Although “The Hamster Dance” doesn’t have the traditional “do do dodododo” typically associated with the catchy hook, it still has enough similarity for it to be what some people think about with this melody.
This song was created in the late 1990s for GeoCities, which was a web hosting service that published pages for free. It started operations in 1994.
The original “Hamster Dance” showed several different little critters all dancing in various ways when you loaded the page. It was created by Deidre LaCarte, and you can still find the mirror for the page at several online locations.
Many people don’t realize that the original melody comes from the 1973 soundtrack of the animated “Robin Hood.” Instead of having the hamsters singing the song, you hear the voice actors performing the “do do dodododo” as the credits scroll. There’s also a whistling part to the piece.
If it isn’t any of the songs listed here, I’m afraid the results could be almost anything. Although that might be a little frustrating in some ways, it’s also the nature of where we are today. With so much information floating out there right now, a little snippet isn’t always easy to find.
When you add the various parodies and other releases that are heavily searchable, it might be easier to compose your own song with the “do do dodododo” to see if it gets stuck in someone’s head in the future!