The other day I found myself whistling a theme from Scheherazade as I pedaled up the ramp in the parking garage, leaving work. And I thought, “Hm.” Not because I was whistling. First of all, the acoustics in the garage are very good. Second, I’ve always made music on my bike. When I did my paper route as a kid, I sang all the latest stuff to stave off the boredom (as long as no one was around). No, I thought, “Hm, why Scheherazade? Where the hell did that come from?” Eventually—very eventually—it dawned on me. We had recently watched two episodes of The Prisoner.
Listen for yourself—first an excerpt from the second movement of Scheherazade (The Tale of the Kalender Prince), then two snippets from the Prisoner theme:
By the way, try typing Scheherazade ten times fast. I must’ve mistyped it five times while creating this entry (I had the broken links to prove it).