the club had provided for music was a lone pianist who had no idea what kind of piece might accompany such an exotic dance. Bloom thought a moment, hummed a tune, then plinked it out on the keyboard one note at a time: Over the next century this tune and its variations would be deployed in a succession of mostly cheesy movies, typically as an accompaniment to the sinuous emergence of a cobra from a basket. It would also drive the schoolyard lyric, "And they wear no pants in the southern part of France." Bloom regretted his failure to copyright the tune. The royalties would have run into the millions.
by Erik Larson
(0 Reviews)

In the story, a club offered little in terms of musical accompaniment for a unique dance, featuring only a pianist who struggled to fit the atmosphere. Bloom, in response to this challenge, composed a tune on the spot by humming and playing it on the piano, unaware of its future impact. This catchy melody would later be featured in numerous films, often associated with dramatic snake charmer scenes.

Over time, the tune became synonymous with playful schoolyard lyrics that highlighted its popularity. Bloom later lamented missing the opportunity to copyright his creation, realizing it could have earned him substantial royalties. His spontaneous composition turned into a cultural hallmark, illustrating how creativity can unintentionally shape cultural references.

Rate the Quote

Add Comment & Review

User Reviews

Based on 0 reviews
5 Star
0
4 Star
0
3 Star
0
2 Star
0
1 Star
0
Add Comment & Review
We'll never share your email with anyone else.
More »

Other quotes in The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

More »

Other quotes in book quote

More »

Popular quotes

Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.
by Mitch Albom
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins.
by Mitch Albom
You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.
by Mitch Albom
The nun said, I can forgive the language. I'm not sure I can forgive your making an obscene gesture at your mother. Ya gotta know her, Holland said. If you knew her, you'd give her the finger, too.
by John Sandford
But an ink brush, she thinks, is a skeleton key for a prisoner's mind.
by David Mitchell
There's lying," says Mum, fishing out the envelope she wrote the directions on from her handbag, "which is wrong, and there's creating the right impression, which is necessary.
by David Mitchell
Ain't you supposed to have peace when you die?'You have peace,' the old woman said, 'when you make it with yourself.
by Mitch Albom
Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.
by David Mitchell
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
by David Mitchell
But love takes many forms, and it is not the same for any man and woman. What people find then is a certain love.
by Mitch Albom