Does your ringtone blurt out your favorite Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” or is it Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady”? Or maybe you don’t have a song for your ringtone—instead you opt for the silent feature or vibration. Because it’s Christmas I have the theme from “The Nutcracker,”—and thanks to wanting this ringtone so badly I learned I was delinquent in my iOS 5 update!
Before getting my iPhone last year I had a variation of “Canon in C” or “Swan Lake,” and I mostly kept my phone on vibrate so I wouldn’t embarrass myself any further than I had to. But with my new gadget, I couldn’t wait to download iTunes and get personalized ringtones for my friends and family. You have to know I have a certain penchant for movie themes that lean to Westerns and adventure flicks generated from the mind of Spielberg.
Let’s see, my husband’s tone is “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” because that’s what marriage is like after 10 years (get off of my back—he selected it), my friend Dave Baldwin has the theme from Bonanza, because he always calls me with exciting news, my friend Barnsley has the theme from Magnificent Seven, because when we meet she brings optimism and ideas. I feel my endorphins elevate when I hear “Nutcracker” or the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme or CCR’s “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.” What was life like before song ringtones? This summer I had the theme from “Jaws,” but I had to switch to the theme from High Noon: “Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin’” (which hardly anyone is familiar with and I like being obscure) because I started dreading picking up the phone. It’s not good when you cringe every time you hear your phone ring. That’s why you’ll never hear the theme from Psycho or Omen on my phone.
Your Turn
Do you put a lot of effort into selecting your ringtones? If so, tell me what you have! Have you ever been embarrassed when your phone rings and it’s a song you wouldn’t want the other person to know you like? You know like, “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” or “Hello”? C’mon, tell me! It’s just between us:)
I have been trying to find a ringtone version of The Imperial March from Star Wars, but I haven’t managed to find one yet.
Mainly, I like to go for a ringtone that gets laughs. I remember one friend who had Ride of the Valkyries as her ringtone, and I always liked that one. I’ve gone through a bunch of ringtones myself….The William Tell Overture, Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, I Wanna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers…and a handful of others I can’t remember.
Sadly, my new smartphone just rings like a plain old phone for the moment. I’ll have to fix that.
Thanks as always, Dave, for sharing sharing with us! Let me know your new ringtone next time we meet:)
Hi Alice –
Ringtones do say a lot about someone’s personality. I started playing with ringtones during my days at Nokia in Dallas. Now a days, I don’t spend too much time on it (guess I overdid it as part of my job back then!). Now I seek out relaxing and peaceful tones. I currently have an iPhone and one of the preloaded tones is “guitar strum” – I love it. It’s loud and unique enough I can hear it in my purse when I’m shopping (a must for women!).
I did purchase a classical tone but I can barely hear it so maybe I’ll switch to that one when I’m at the beach relaxing.
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn,
thanks so much for your comment! I *love* guitar strum–I used it today for my timer in my memoir class. It’s gentle, yet firm! Sounds like you prefer instrumental tones rather than songs–although songs are good to grab your attention.
Alice