The Five: Best Sesame Street songs
Posted Jan 14th 2006 11:43AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Talent, The Five, PBS
I suppose a piece about my favorite songs from
Sesame Street wouldn't be
complete without an initial shout out to the late
Joe
Raposo (pictured on the right), who composed a majority of the songs for the show, including the theme song.
You might not know who he is, but he's the man responsible for planting a lot of those childhood tunes in your
synapses. Let's kick it:
- Bein' Green: Possibly my favorite Sesame Street song, if only for the sentiment.
Kermit's lament about being plain and "not standing out like flashy sparkles on the water or stars in the
sky" is still deeply moving, at least to me, anyway. The song was later covered by both Frank Sinatra and Lena
Horne.
- Rubber Ducky: Ernie's ode to his bathtime friend has the honor of being the song I sing to
myself at least once a day while working around my house. According to David Borgenicht's book Sesame Street
Unpaved, the Boston Pops once performed this song with the percussion section squeaking actual rubber duckies.
- I Don't Want To Live On The Moon: Another sad but uplifting song in the vein of Bein' Green.
Ernie sang about why living on the moon (or under the sea, or in the jungle) would be a nice adventure, but that
ultimately, there's nothing like being at home with those you love.
- Sing: Sesame Street's breakout hit! Well, sort of. The Carpenters certainly
popularized the song with their version. It was a nice reminder that a good song is a good song, whether it's made for
children or not. Besides, only the most jaded among us won't start belting out that "la la la la la" chorus
when it kicks in. Remember, "don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear."
- I Love Trash: This was on a Sesame Street album my sister and I listened to growing
up. Oscar may have been a grouch, but he knew how to love, as long as it was "anything dirty or dingy or
dusty." A fun, upbeat song, and a nice little ode to individuality.
Tags: bein green, composer, ernie, i don't want to live on the moon, i love trash, kermit, rubber ducky, sesame street, sing, television, the five, TheFive, tv
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-14-2006 @ 12:13PM
CraigO said...
HOW could you not mention "Manamana" ? That fantastic song by those strange purple things has become something of a cult phenomenom around my work place. When executives make bonehead decisions, we just look at each other and say "Manamana". When one of our co-workers recently found the original video online, I almost cried. It was made into a Diet Dr. Pepper commercial for crying out loud!!!
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 12:17PM
tvd2 said...
> [Bein' Green] was later covered by both
> Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne.
And most effectively by Ray Charles.
tvd2
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 1:22PM
Mase said...
One of my personal favorites is the pinball machine's counting up from one to twelve. Repeat.
Simple, but brilliant. Just like "Manah Manah" -- here's a link from the Muppet Show of the song performed:
http://www.roykim.net/waste.time/videos/manah-manah.mpeg
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 2:31PM
Walt said...
Manah Manah!??
Thanks for reminding me of the old Muppets performances on the Ed Sullivan show! I just Netflix'd the Muppet centric Ed Sullivan DVD and can't wait to see what's on it. The "inch worm" I know is there... I'm wracking my brain to remember if the "manah manah" was originally performed on the Ed Sullivan show, and I just can't recall...
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 4:34PM
Anna said...
Good list, Adam. There was a lot of Sesame Street in my house as a kid, too.
Here are my top 5:
5. Sing
4. People in the neighborhood
3. One of these things (is not like the other)
2. Rubber Ducky
1. Counting song (pinball)
As a grown-up, I love the Mah Na Mah Na song but I don't remember ever singing it as a child.
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 4:40PM
Danny Edwards said...
Mah na mah na is originally from a 60s Swedish porn film. I have it as my ring tone.
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 5:22PM
Bebop said...
I hate the way it's become so PC
Cookie monster used to sing "C is for cookie"
now because kids are getting more and more obese Cookie monster now sings "A cookie is a sometimes food"
maybe they should change his name to "a sometimes" cookie monster.
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 6:02PM
Kel said...
Alligator King
One two three four five six seven!
Said the Alligator King to his seven sons,
"I'm feelin' mighty down.
Whichever of you can cheer me up
Will get to wear my crown."
...
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 6:55PM
Zarquon said...
Danny Edwards is right, manamana was only popularized by Sesame Street.
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 9:21PM
Nicole said...
My son is 16 months old, so I am now rediscovering Sesame Street, all of my favorite songs from when I was a kid, and some new favorites.
I really dig it when artists from today make guest appearances. Here are a few favorites:
1) "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" with Aaron Neville.
2) "I Don't Know Why Y Didn't Come" with Nora Jones.
3)"Pride" (like their song "Slide) with Elmo and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Any other notable guest stars on lately?
Reply
1-14-2006 @ 10:57PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Some of my faves not mentioned:
- Doin' the Pigeon
- Ladybug Picnic
Reply
1-15-2006 @ 10:37AM
Keith McDuffee said...
Oh another favorite: Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz (said as one word)
Reply
1-15-2006 @ 1:55PM
tuna d'luna said...
I'm so glad that the great Sesame Street songs are getting attention, however little it may be. My FAVORITE, FAVORITE S.S. song of all time is a song about rain. I don't know the name of it (maybe "Rain"?) but I wrote the lyrics down and used to sing it all the time to my little boy when we were living in London (yes, it airs over there) because it was often rainy or wet and it was such a positive song about rain. By the way, my little boy just turned 20 last Wednesday.
Reply
1-15-2006 @ 9:22PM
ALLISON said...
In her TV special "Barbra Streisand And Other Musical Instruments" (just put on DVD), she sang a great version of "Sing"!
Reply
1-15-2006 @ 11:00PM
Canton said...
"I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" is my personal favorite. So sweet and melancholy and memorable.
But I also like the "Hard Workin' Dog" song. Not sure what the proper title is, but that one's a strong link to my childhood (which didn't occur that long ago, though it feels like it). It was the song they played for a live-action segment about Border Collies, a breed of which both my parents are quite fond.
Reply