10 Great Sesame Street Songs

Sesame Street is a cultural icon. It transcends international boundaries to reach children and teach them fundamental skills of life and learning. And there are Muppets involved. Double plus good.

Despite it's Pre-K appeal, there's something timeless and heartwarming about Sesame Street that always makes a nostalgic trip down memory lane worthwhile.

Until this fucker showed up.

Sometime in the mid-to-late 90s, Children's Television Workshop decided to shift the focus of attention away from an ensemble cast of human performers and various Muppets to the red-felt money machine. Elmo was marketable, and that's it. That's all that mattered. It doesn't even matter his puppeteer and voice actor was accused with multiple accusations of pederasty. Elmo was staying. Elmo was untouchable. Elmo was invincible and eternal.


And that's a shame. Because the simple, kid-focused humor and writing has the spectacular ability to reach adults as well. But the music. By god the music. That's in a class all of its own. Sesame Street has an army of 20, 30 and even 40 year-olds singing infectious ditties by the score (pun intended).

Let's count down ten songs I personally remember, and examine why they were (and continue to be) so great.

10)Telephone Rock



What questions did I ask as a kid? What is a telephone booth? Why does the phone have a dial instead of buttons? What is an operator? Nope. I wanted to know why the background singers were cavemen.

Look at them. They look like cavemen! Shaggy hair, furry clothing, saber tooth necklace. I'm not wrong about this.

ELMO SAYS: PLAYSKOOL ELMO PHONE AVAILABLE AT ALL MAJOR RETAILERS FOR $9.99

9) The Word is No



This one's a product of its era, parodying avant-garde music videos of the time, including Talking Head's And She Was and Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. I think somebody at CTW learned how to change the frame rate of their camera, and then pitched the idea in a flurry of excitement.

ELMO SAYS: SOMEONE ONCE TELL ELMO 'NO, ELMO CANNOT HAVE THIRTY MINUTES DEDICATED SCREENTIME.' IT WAS LAST THING HE SAY.

8) You're Alive



For several years, I believed trees and plants were not alive because of this song. Misleading! That'll teach me to trust a Muppet that looks like Sammy Hagar.

ELMO SAYS: EVERYTHING ALIVE IN ELMO'S WORLD. CRAYONS ARE ALIVE. TV ALIVE. TOYS ALIVE. GOOD LESSON FOR KIDS.

7) Put Down the Duckie



Try explaining to a child of three who Andrea Martin or Wynton Marsalis are. Hell, I still don't recognize half these people.

Also, total whiplash switching instantly from Pee-Wee Herman to Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

ELMO SAYS: HEY, THAT'S PAUL REUBENS! ELMO'S FRIEND KEVIN CLASH SEES LOTS OF MOVIES WITH PAUL REUBENS!

6) Healthy Food



Yup. That's Frank Oz rapping. The 90s were weird.

This is why the "Sometimes Food" controversy was such malarkey.

ELMO SAYS: ELMO GONNA HAVE TO POP A CAP IN COOKIE'S ASS. WEST SIDE, BITCH!

5) Dance Myself to Sleep



Bert and Ernie's relationship is hotly debated. Being forced to share my bedroom with a younger brother for many years, I was convinced Bert and Ernie were siblings. With parents who were never seen.

This is why the common urban legend of the duo being gay lovers never sits well with me.

ELMO SAYS: ELMO START THAT URBAN LEGEND. ELMO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BIGOTED RED STATE VALUES TO ELIMINATE RIVALS. IT WORK FOR GOP.

4) Somebody Come and Play



I always remember this song being slower. And acoustic. And performed in a minor key. And I thought Bob McGrath sang it...

Memory's a tragic thing.

ELMO SAYS: MR NOODLES IS DOING PRATFALLS! NOW I'M TALKING TO A GOLDFISH! NOW I'M COLORING! NOW I'M TALKING TO THE GOLDFISH AGAIN!

3) Mary Had a Bicycle



Don Music: World's best or world's worst plagiarist?

My family inherited a piano when I was six. Guess what running gag I repeatedly re-enacted.

ELMO SAYS: ELMO ELMO ELMO ELMO ELMO. ELMO ELMO ELMO ELMO? ELMO ELMO ELMO. ELMO.

2) Do De Rubber Duck



Sesame Street invented the foam party. With a bathtub that big, it was inevitable.

They are all wearing swim trunks. I will hear no other arguments.

ELMO SAYS: ELMO FORCED TO SING IN BACKGROUND WHILE F#@%ING GUY SMILEY GETS A SOLO? GUY SMILEY GONNA HAVE ACCIDENT COMING INTO WORK TOMORROW.

1) Monster in the Mirror



Let's play 'Name That Early-90s Celebrity!'

ELMO SAYS: The law firm of Hooper and Hooper represents the Public Broadcasting Station and Children's Television Workshop. If you are represented by legal counsel, please direct this letter to your attorney immediately and have your attorney notify us of such representation.

      You are hereby directed to:

CEASE AND DESIST ALL DEFAMATION OF
  COPYRIGHTED CHARACTERS AND REPUTATIONS.

For a thorough explanation on why Elmo is terrible, read this.

2012 - The Year of the Bow and Arrow

Every year in Hollywood there's a breakout star. This year, we had the pleasure of a resurgence. A fallen comrade who is now back to grace us with their presence once again. And he brought his old partner back with him. Ladies and gentleman, 2012 was the year of the Bow and Arrow Here are the duo's ten best performances from the past year:

10) The Campaign
 
This scene didn't make the final cut of the movie. I'm still counting it because it's funnier than 90% of the actual film.

9) Wrath of the Titans (Mute this video before playing)

Very clever, uploader. Blow out our speakers to distract us from the Sam Worthington bad acting.

8) Snow White and the Huntsman
Learn to listen. It saves lives.

7) Moonrise Kingdom

The actual scene takes place a little earlier, but frankly, I'm lucky I found this.

6) The Five-Year Engagement  
Man hits woman = Terrible thing.
Woman hits man = Funny thing.
Little girl hits woman in the leg with a crossbow = Very funny thing.

5) The Dark Knight Rises

If Bruce Wayne's aim was a little worse, The Dark Knight Rises would have been a much shorter film.

4) The Hobbit

Couldn't find a clip of this scene. But trust me, it's there.

3) Brave

Pixar, a mister Robin Hood is on line two, something about a plagiarism suit...

2) The Avengers

Hawkeye: Weakest member of The Avengers; still a badass.

1) The Hunger Games

Easy on the suckling pig, Seneca. You won't have any room for the berries.

If You're Wondering Who The Best Boy Is, It's Somebody's Nephew

Here are ten more opening credit sequences I really like. In case you forgot its predecessor, go here.

Again, infer nothing from their ranking or representation over other films. These are just ten I like.

1) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

What better way to get a gaggle of kids to sit down and shut up then to barrage their eyes with a cavalcade of confectionery delights? I swear, one time as a kid, I watched just this opening credits sequence because I was so insanely jealous of all that chocolate.

2) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)


I could have filled this entire list with just David Fincher openings. This is his most recent, and I don't know what I like about it. It barely even fits with the rest of the film (assuming a scene exploring Lisbeth Salander's latex fetish wasn't just edited out), but it's intense, shocking, and Karen O's vocals do the Led Zeppelin classic some justice.

3) Reservoir Dogs (1992)


It's men. Walking down a street. In slow motion. Some are wearing suits, while others are not. And Stephen Wright is talking. It shouldn't be interesting, but it's the most iconic scene in the film, and arguably of the entire Tarantino filmography.

4) Superbad (2007)


Dance, white boys, dance!

5) The Third Man (1949)



While the music is only recognizable to film fanatics of the advanced tier, the score of The Third Man is thrust into prominence with an extreme close-up of a zither (a great Scrabble word, by the way). It wants your attention, and it grabs you by the lapels until it's finished.

6) Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)



There was a period of time when Mike Meyers was considered an innovative comedian, and this movie was at the tail-end of that era. Already rehashing a series of joke that was featured not once, but twice in the first Austin Powers, Austin Powers 2 begins with a bawdy thrust that still evokes a smirk.

7-9) The Naked Gun (1988), The Naked Gun 2 1/2 (1991), The Naked Gun 33 1/3 (1994)


The three Naked Gun films all feature the same joke in their opening credits, but have the decency to reinvent and rework the gags for each installment. They're just as hilarious, off-the-wall and fast-paced as the rest of the movie.

10) Gattaca (1997)




Gattaca is not completely obtuse or misleading, but it does require your full attention. It's a tight-knit science fiction film, and rewards those who make the effort to watch it multiple times. Only those who have seen the film, know the plot, and understand the character can begin to recognize what's going on in this sequence. And for those watching for the first time, they just have to make sense as best they can.

Why WAS there a watermelon there?

This is the greatest closing credits sequence in film history. And that's all.

Cast, Casting, Design, Music, Editors, DP, Producers, Writer, Director

Opening credits are a relic from old Hollywood, when the credits ran before the film in their entirety. Since then, film production has become more complicated. Crews of dozens have ballooned to crews of hundreds. In interest of time, credits were moved to the end of the film, while only a few choice names remained at the beginning. I don't know why.

If you think about it, opening credits are unnecessary and redundant. All they're doing is preventing the movie from starting for two minutes. Some films don't even use them at all, and nobody cares.

But sometimes they're the stuff of legend. Maybe it's an exercise in typography, maybe it's a music video in disguise, maybe they're just trying to set a mood. Sometimes, the opening credits are just awesome.

This isn't a true Top Ten list, these are just ten examples I really like. Don't infer anything concerning rankings or omissions.

1) Enter the Void (2010)

I know nothing about Enter the Void other than the opening credits. I'm actually scared to watch this film because there's no way the actual movie can compare to this technotronic love letter to Adobe After Effects.

2) Catch Me If You Can (2002)

It's tough to categorize Catch Me If You Can into standard genres. But this animated credit sequence does what my words cannot. It exudes the 1960's vibe of the film, while sharing it's sense of whimsy, trickery, and deception. Tell me the opening to Mad Men wasn't slightly more than inspired here.

3) Juno (2007)
A major theme in Juno is music, so the design studio responsible for its opening credits drew inspiration from 1970s-era rock posters. Over 900 photos of Ellen Page were rotoscoped to create this sequence.

4) Watchmen (2009)

If Zack Snyder could make an entire movie in slow motion, he would. I like this sequence as it creates the illusion of still photographs come to life, and introduces us to the world, history and characters of Watchmen without even saying a word. Unfortunately, it's too effective; I like it better than the entire rest of the movie.

For some reason, they won't let me embed the stupid video. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14vTrFyHO94

5) Casino Royale (2006)

Arguably, any James Bond film could be on this list, but I like this one best. The familiar imagery of standard playing cards is electrifying and mixes well with the breakneck action Daniel Craig introduced to the franchise.

6) Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

Back when I was a kid, my only copy of Honey I Shrunk the Kids was recorded off TV. In addition to being edited for time and content, it was interrupted by commercials, and started five minutes in. As such, I didn't see this credits sequence until years later. Which is a shame, because it's actually pretty neat. Too bad the animators had no clue what Nick and Amy actually looked like.

7) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Every time I watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I forget just how insane these credits are. They start off silly and gradually progress into full-fledged lunacy. From the Python's, I'd expect nothing less.

8) Zombieland (2009)

People see zombie movies for one reason: Zombie effects. Zombieland serves us this insatiable desire on a silver platter. I also like how the credits are treated like physical objects. A nice touch.

9) Thank You For Smoking (2005)

Typography and product recognition. It's amazing how many brands I can identify, and I don't even smoke.

10) Do the Right Thing (1989)

Fight the Power is an inseparable element of Do the Right Thing, and you hear snippets of this song throughout the entire film. It only makes sense to hear the song in its entirety before the movie begins proper. Plus Rosie Perez can dance like nobody's business.