Reply To: Todd the T1000
The I vi IV V progressions is standard enough I think I can say with almost full certainty that he wasn't thinking of any specific song. Heck, in the show I'm working on now, I know I use the progression minus the V chord as the break between verses(I've linked it before, but at http://www.putfile.com/Khavall listen to "Son of a Virgin"). It's also used in songs like "Is it written in the stars", "Lucky", etc.
It's similar to how "Basket case" from Green day has the same progression as Pachabel's Cannon in D, except Basket Case is in Eb. A while back I did an arrangement of Basket case for an a capella group, but when we realized that we started with Pachabel's cannon, and then transitioned into Basket Case.
You'll find the I vi VI V a lot in Elton John types of music, Andrew Lloyd Weber also uses it pretty often(side note, "Heaven on their minds" has the same progression as "Re: Your brains" for the beginnings of the verses).
Also, Wings for Marie(part 1) by Tool pretty much copies the X Files score at times.