Basic Trope: Background music turns out to be In-Universe and the characters can interact with it.
- Straight: When Alice and Bob kiss, romantic music plays, which it turns out Charlie was playing on his iPod.
- Exaggerated:
- All the background music turns out to be in-universe.
- A full orchestra follows Alice and Bob everywhere they go, always ready to play at a moment’s notice.
- Downplayed: Some of the romantic music was playing on Charlie's iPod, but not all of it.
- Justified:
- Charlie is Alice and Bob's host and was playing it deliberately to make the moment special.
- Charlie was trying to wind Alice and Bob up by ironically playing romantic "background music".
- Inverted:
- A scene that usually has music (such as a Chase Scene) happens without music, prompting everyone to stop what they're doing. A character then goes and puts a CD in a nearby boombox, the appropriate music starts, and the scene continues as normal.
- Bob's playing of Amazing Grace leads into a fully orchestrated scene.
- Subverted: Diane thinks the radio is on when romantic music plays at Alice and Bob's kiss, but it's not.
- Double Subverted: It turns out to be Charlie's iPod instead.
- Parodied: The scene is meant to be dramatic, but when the dramatic music plays, Alice says "Did you leave your iPod on, Charlie?"
- Zig Zagged: The characters look for where the music is coming from.
- Averted: Background music is out of universe, or there is no background music.
- Enforced: The writers want background music, but also an explanation for it.
- Lampshaded: "Sorry, I left my iPod on, but it suits the occasion!"
- Invoked: Charlie plays romantic music on his iPod every time something romantic happens, dramatic music every time something scary happens, sad music every time something sad happens, etc.
- Exploited: Charlie's romantic iPod music helps make the kissing mood stronger.
- Defied: Music is against the law in this setting, or music-playing devices are always seen upfront.
- Discussed: "Where is that music coming from?"
- Conversed: "Isn't it funny when background music is in-universe."
- Implied: The music stops when Charlie turns his iPod off.
- Played for Laughs: When Charlie turns his iPod off, Alice says "No, keep going".
Dun dun DUN Dun dun DU- Oops, sorry - I Left the Background Music On!
