When 17th Century Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel died, he cursed the descendants of his jailers with his last words: “Death is but a door. Time is but a window. I’ll be back.”

No, wait, those were the last words of Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters 2. I don’t know what Pachelbel’s last words were. Probably something like “Nuremberg Wild Cats rule!” or “Organists do it with their hands and feet!” Maybe it was, “If it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it!”

Canon in D’s influence in popular music is sometimes felt directly; sometimes it’s hinted at during a chord progression. Recently, I was paling around with my good friends Carla and Andrew. I was playing “Hook” on guitar when, with the aid of a change in time signature, tempo, and good ol’ fashioned Fleischman’s Whiskey, I wound up playing “Cryin’.” Carla and I wondered just who thought of this chord progression first, when Andrew mentioned both progressions seemed based on Taco Bell.

“Taco Bell?” I asked, suddenly craving nachos (remember, whiskey was involved).

“No, Pachelbel. Now start blogging, Dexter.”

Top 5 songs where Canon in D rears its head (but first, a special message on Taco Bell Pachelbel from theFiver):

1. “Hook,” Blues Traveler
2. “Cryin’,” Aerosmith
3. “Piano Man,” Billy Joel
4. “Basket Case,” Green Day
5. “Fullness of Wind (Variation on Canon in D),” Brian Eno

Canon in D Variations

Runners Up: “All Together Now,” The Farm; ” “I’ll C U When U Get There,” Coolio.