Basic Trope: The soundtrack doesn't fit the rest of the scene.
- Straight:
- Boss Battle music plays when Annie and Barry are eating dinner at a table.
- Violin music plays during a war.
- A dubstep song is the only heard music while a jazz band is seemingly playing jazz.
- Heavy metal music plays during a funeral service.
- Exaggerated:
- Real Life footage of a concentration camp is shown where the prisoners are being cut alive. "Don't Worry, Be Happy
" plays in the background. - An animation about Tropia where very cute funny animals live only peacefully and happily, without any conflict, is apparently aimed at young girls. An extremely harsh song, Whitehouse's "Why You Never Became a Dancer", plays in the background.
- A montage of Annie suffering Sanity Slippage after crossing Moral Event Horizon is accompanied by Iggy Pop'sThe Passenger
- A Slice of Life series is full of rising suspense music. Even in sex scenes.
- A scene of Annie and Barry slowly dying and saying their last words to each other is accompanied by extremely happy and cheerful music.
- Real Life footage of a concentration camp is shown where the prisoners are being cut alive. "Don't Worry, Be Happy
- Downplayed: A Lady Gaga remix plays while Annie and Barry are shopping in Abercrombie and Fitch. A true techno songnote would be more appropriate, but it's good enough.
- Justified: The background music is played in-universe.
- Inverted:
- A soundtrack fits perfectly with the rest of the scene.
- Alternately, the music that's playing goes with everything.
- Subverted
- An Arabian-themed song is playing while the setting is in an Amazon jungle. Then it turns out that the jungle was just a backdrop in an Arabian theatre.
- Heavy metal suitable for a battle plays in an otherwise historically accurate music backed Norse setting whenever a mysterious stranger appears. Said character is eventually revealed to be Odin making the 'inappropriateness' foreshadowing of several things about him.
- Double Subverted: A later scene appears where Barry dies to the song "Yellow Submarine".
- Parodied: "Walking on Sunshine" plays while Chris gets stabbed.
- Zig-Zagged:
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" plays while Dana and Eddie are slow dancing. Then it turns out Fran was playing it on her iPod and snarking outside the dance. Then "What A Wonderful World" plays while Dana dies from a drunk driving incident, to showcase how teens are morons. Then it turns out Dana was actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Alpha Bitch, and her death...
- Under normal circumstances, playing the jovial "Frolic" or "Temptation Sensation" wouldn't be appropriate for a scene where Nina and Oscar explain their incredibly bullheaded plan. Then you remember what situations the songs are associated with, and they suddenly become the most jarring and apropos tracks to use for the occasion.
- A song with Lyrical Dissonance plays in a scenario that its background music certainly does not fit, but the lyrics do (or vice versa).
- Averted:
- The music fits the mood of the scene.
- No music is playing.
- Enforced:
- "We can't have just 10 minutes of blood and Gorn! We need pretty music, too!
- "Hey this just isn't scary," "What if we add in some unfitting music to make the audience uncomfortable?"
- The creators hated or didn't care about appropriate soundtracks for their works.
- "Oh for crying out loud, this damn thing isn't working! It's playing the wrong music." "Oh well, just Throw It In! They won't notice."
- Lampshaded: "This part could use better music."
- Invoked: Fran plays "Happy Together" on her iPod while examining how Mr. Stern teaches, to Foil what a Jerkass he is and how happy the music is.
- Exploited: Gina knows Fran plays music that is opposite to whatever is happening, so she asks Fran to share her iPod with her, to make her feel less sad when bad things happen.
- Defied:
- Ed steals Gina's iPod.
- Alternatively, Mr. Stern takes her iPod away from her.
- Discussed: "All these disasters are set to 'Yakety Sax'!"
- Conversed: "Gina's iPod plays rather... strange music for this place. "
- Played for Laughs:
- "Mr. Blue Sky" plays during an over-the-top violent scene as an act of Crosses the Line Twice.
- "Yakety Sax" plays as people try to Outrun the Fireball of a nuclear bomb an Omnicidal Maniac dropped in a city.
- Played for Drama: Barry is walking down the sunny street. A very melancholic song with Heartbeat Soundtrack is playing in the background.
- Played for Horror:
- A slow and creepy nursery rhyme plays while Annie, Barry and Chris are being chased by a serial killer.
- An eerie moaning sound is the only "music" that plays in a show aimed at preschoolers. Sometimes there's a Jump Scare Chord here and there to keep the audience uneased.
Dodge the bullets on the way back to Soundtrack Dissonance as "Mary had a Little Lamb" on toy piano plays in the background.
