Top Ten Songs by Sesame Street

Sesame Street has produced an avalanche of songs in its 38-year history. Sesame Workshop has dozens of CDs on the market, including a three-disc set from when the show turned 35.

Almost all of us are familiar with the cornerstone songs from the show, like Rubber Duckie (Ernie), C is for Cookie (Cookie Monster), I Love Trash (Oscar) and Sing (the entire cast). However, most of the best songs from Sesame Street are not the old standbys. 

10 – Ma Nah Ma Nah doesn’t contain any real words or feature any recognizable Muppets, but it’s impossible to get out of your head. Even if you haven’t heard it for 20 years, it’s still in your brain. Let’s get it out of there. Sample lyric: “Ma nah ma nah (Bop Dee Da Dee Dee). Ma nah ma nah. (Bop Dee Dee Dee).”

9 – Pinball Number Count is sung by The Pointer Sisters. Sesame Street produced a series of pinball-machine cartoons illustrating the numbers 2 through 12. The funky tune is the same, but the Sisters will interject “Three!” or “Seven!” during the pinball action. Sample lyric: (Counting to 12)

8 – Fuzzy and Blue is a toe-tapping vaudeville number. Grover comes on stage with a straw hat and cane, singing about how fuzzy and blue he is. Soon, Herry and Cookie Monster join the song, since they share Grover’s texture and color. Frazzle wants to join as well, so the monsters are nice enough to change the song to Fuzzy and Blue (And Orange). Sample lyric, sung by Cookie Monster: “From head to bottom of shoe, me so beautifully blue.”

7 – We Are All Earthlings is a song by a Muppet boy and a group of wild animals. They sing about how we’re all together and must share the earth peacefully. I’m not a big tree-hugger, but the song is so sweet and sincere that it gets to me every time. Sample lyric: “We are all earthlings, spinning around together on a planet of the sun.”