The Pachelbel canon 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^{[citation needed]}. 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 canon was inspired by Handel to make the second movement of HWV 310, Organ Concerto Opus 7 No. 5.
• 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 Netherlands. Later that year, it was adapted by the Greek band Aphrodite's Child on their only international hit, Rain and Tears. In more recent times, Australian-British string quartet bond played a modified, more updated version of the Pachelbel 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 Canon; 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 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 Always Returning. 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, 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").

• 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 Canon in D with lyrics.

• In the television series The Wonder Years, Kevin Arnold practises the piece and is set to play it at his piano recital. His teacher's star student, Ronald Hirschmeuller, is also set to play the same song.

• It appears in the popular anime movie Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. Initially it is played by certain key characters while performing as a string quartet. Later it is used as the Closing Theme. The same chord progression is present in End of Evangelion in the song Komm, Susser Tod. In addition, it appears on the live concert album Evangelion Symphony in three versions.

• In 1996, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet released Pachelbel's Loose Canon on their album For Thy Pleasure. In this version, the familiar Canon is rendered in several modern styles.

• Dr. Octagon samples the Canon in "I Got to Tell You".

• In 1998, French film director Gaspar Noé used the Canon in his film Seul contre tous.

• Third wave ska-punk band Catch 22 (band) adapted the Canon to use in the bridge of their song "On & On & On" on their 1998 debut, Keasbey Nights.

• The German pop band Sweetbox based their hit song Life Is Cool on the Canon.

• 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." (The song is actually a variation composed by George Winston).

• Snapcase, a former metalcore band from Buffalo, New York adapted the melody and chord progression of the Canon for the song "ID/Hindsight" off of their 2002 album End Transmission.

• Banya released a rock version of Canon titled Canon-D (Part of the Memories #1) for the game Pump It Up Exceed 2. The music in the game is accompanied by an anime-style music video background, the song ended up being one of the hardest to play but most loved songs in the game's series

• Also in 2005, the Italian singer/songwriter Morgan (a.k.a. Marco Castoldi) included a portion of the Canon in the song "Un chimico", track 9 in Morgan's remake of Fabrizio de André's album Non al denaro, non all'amore né al cielo, whose lyrics are freely based on Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. The chords of De André's original song, faithfully re-made by Morgan, are nearly the same ones as the Canon. ^[1]

• Another Korean adaptation is a commercial in 2006 with "Bboy Zero-Nine" (Shin Young Suk) dancing to the tune of Canon in D. Using a traditional Korean Instrument, Gaya Geum, It was remixed with added Beat-Box and Scratch to add a little "Hip-Hop" taste in it. The music was remade by "Lee Changyui."

• 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%.

• Rick Wakeman of Yes performs a baroque rendition of the song on his Wakeman 2000 DVD.

• 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.

• In the 2006 animated version of the anime series Kanon Canon in D is played in the café Yuuichi and his friends visit. In a later episode, Sayuri mentions the piece, "When the same melody plays repeatedly, little by little it'd turn into a rich and beautiful music. Just like this, even if a person lives a seemingly unchanging life, little by little things will change."

• The Future Sound of London has song titled "Domain" on their fourth album; Lifeforms, which contains the melody from Canon in D.

• The American rapper Coolio included Pachelbel’s Canon in the song “C U When U Get There” from his "My Soul" CD (1997).

• Zox plays a version of Pachelbel's Canon entitled "Canon" on their 2002 album "Take Me Home."

• In the movie Reno 911!: Miami, Pachelbel's Canon is played during a montage at the motel in which the characters are staying.

• Trans-Siberian Orchestra performs two songs, "Christmas Canon" and "Christmas Canon Rock" found on albums "The Christmas Attic" and "The Lost Christmas Eve", respectively.

• The video game Might and Magic: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum, created for the 8-bit Nintendo, used a variation of Pachelbel's Canon in D as the title theme song.

• The soundtrack for the 1998 film The Thin Red Line, composed by Hans Zimmer, contains a Melanesian children's choir song (track 10) that is based upon the Canon in D. The song is played twice in the movie.

• The song is used as a theme song for Makino Tsukushi and Hanazawa Rui in the Japanese live-action drama Hana Yori Dango 2.

• The tune is used in an old video game named Utopia, that was made for the commodore Amiga series.

The chord progression ("I V vi iii IV I IV V") of Pachelbel's canon has been incorporated into or otherwise influenced many pieces of contemporary popular music.

In 1999, pop artist Vitamin C used Canon in D in her Graduation (Friends Forever) in both the verse and the chorus. Other groups that have used this chord progression are Green Day ("Basket Case"), Coven ("One Tin Soldier"), Spiritualized ("Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space"), Belle and Sebastian ("Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying"), Aerosmith ("Cryin'"), Creed ("One Last Breath"), Dire Straits ("Tunnel of Love"), The Vandals ("People That Are Going To Hell"), DragonForce ("Valley of the Damned"), Augustana ("Boston"), Blues Traveler ("Hook"), The Village People and Pet Shop Boys ("Go West"), Catch 22 and Streetlight Manifesto ("On & On & On"), Goldie Lookin' Chain ("Your Missus Is A Nutter"), Lionel Richie ("Say You, Say Me"), Scatman John ("Scatman's World"), LM.C ("Boys & Girls"), Delerium ("Paris"), Bob James ("In the Garden"), Oasis ("Don't Look Back in Anger"), Bee Gees ("Spicks and Specks"), Kylie Minogue ("I Should Be So Lucky"), McFly ("Memory Lane"), The Kings Dead ("A Symphony at the Wake"), and Phillip Morris ("Level 2" from The Adventures of Lomax game), Puff the Magic Dragon, The Legendary Pink Dots ("A Triple Moon Salute"), as well as others. The Pixies ("{Gigantic") runs a very similar chord progression(I V vi iii IV V vi).

The verses of the 1974 Ivor Novello Award winning song Streets of London by Ralph McTell are based on the same chord progression as the Canon in D.

The frequent use of the progression was parodied in the video "Pachelbel Rant" on YouTube. In the video, Rob Paravonian talks about how the progression follows him everywhere, while playing it on the guitar. The song culminates in a medley of himself singing and playing many songs that use the progression.

The songs used in "Pachelbel Rant", in order, are:

• Creed - One Last Breath^†
• Vitamin C - Graduation
• Aerosmith - Cryin'
• Original Caste - One Tin Soldier
• Blues Traveler - Hook
• Green Day - Basket Case
• Matchbox 20 - Push
• Better Than Ezra - Good (song)
• Bush - Machine Head
• U2 - With or Without You
• Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
• Avril Lavigne - Sk8er Boi
• Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
• Laverne & Shirley Theme Song
• Bob Marley - No Woman, No Cry
• The Beatles - Let It Be

†Used at the very beginning as a lead in.

Let it Be does not in fact use that progression at all.It uses an even more common chord progression found in pop called the I-V-vi-IV progression.

One of the all-time top ten most watched videos on YouTube is guitar^[2], which has been viewed over 20 million times. ^[3] Posted online in December 2005, it consists of a rock music version of Pachelbel's Canon performed on electric guitar by a young man wearing a baseball cap. Since the guitarist's face cannot be seen and he is named only as funtwo in the video, there was speculation about his identity during the first half of 2006.

In August 2006 the New York Times ran an article which named the guitarist as Jeong-Hyun Lim, a 23-year old from South Korea who had taught himself to play. The arrangement used in the video was written by the Taiwanese guitarist JerryC and is called Canon Rock. Jeong-Hyun Lim's version of the song has received widespread media coverage. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

• In the mid-80's, General Electric GE used the music as part of its Soft White® light bulb TV campaign.
• At least one big-city National Public Radio station, during the time of the Taco Bell TV ads involving a "talking" Chihuahua dog, posted a billboard reading, "Yo quiero Pachelbel!".
• The Magyspy theme in the Gameboy Advance Game Mother 3 is a remix of Canon in D.
• The popular videogame Gran Turismo 4 features Canon in D. as one of the tracks listenable during races.
• The strategic videogame Utopia for the Amiga & Super Nintendo, also features Canon in D. as one of the tracks listenable during the gameplay.
• The World Cup 2006 Coca-Cola TV ads feature the melody from Canon D.
• The song has been used as the theme of a Korean film, The Classic（假如愛有天意 in Chinese), and a variation written for piano also appears in another popular Korean movie, My Sassy Girl, starring Jun Ji-Hyun. Both movies were directed by Kwak Jae-Yong.
• In a scene at the mall from the Dragonball Z movie Super Android 13! (English Dub), Canon in D is used as background music.
• In Idoru by William Gibson at page 44, a software agent used to provide musical instruction to the story's protagonist introduces her to DESH 'Diatonic Elaboration of Static Harmony'. This is the common musical pattern of which Johann Pachelbel's Canon is the most famous and classic example.
• Canon in D is featured prominently as background music during the episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series entitled "The Persistence of Memory".
• Chords from 'Canon in D' are heard in the song "Don't Let It Be Love" by the band Bowling for Soup. In reaction to the notes from 'Canon in D', the singer states "If I ever hear that song again I might just kill someone".
• In The World According To Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson claims the song is played in most places in Washington DC.
• In the mid-90's Ford Motor Company used an arrangement with electric guitars in a television ad for its Ranger truck.

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