FLASHBACK: DAYS Theme Music Through The Years

"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." DAYS OF OUR LIVES has changed a lot through the years. But its iconic theme music has virtually stayed the same. Here you can read about the origin of the theme music, listen to the slight variations of the theme through the years and see NBC's official music use sheet, from the pilot episode that aired on November 8, 1965.

When songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were first approached to write the theme to DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Ted and Betty Corday asked them to come up with something that sounded similar to "Sunrise, Sunset", a song which the Cordays had just seen performed in the Broadway play "Fiddler on the Roof."

Boyce and Hart's first two submissions to the Cordays were quickly rejected. Boyce was ready to call it quits, but Hart told Boyce he had one last idea before they abandoned the project. They went to a recording studio, and Hart played music on an organ that sounded like music he remembered hearing when his mother listened to various radio soap operas. Boyce gave some additional suggestions and they returned to the Cordays for their third and final attempt. This time, they were a success. Announcer Ed Prentiss spoke the following lines over the instrumental theme: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. DAYS OF OUR LIVES, a new dramatic serial starring Macdonald Carey." The "DAYS OF OUR LIVES" theme was heard for the first time by the American public on Monday, November 8, 1965. It has been heard daily ever since, over 11,000 times.

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