Top 10 Muppets Songs
It's time to play the music! It's time to light the lights! Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Muppet songs. For this list, we're taking a look at the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational and Muppetational musical numbers featuring this timeless band of puppets. Keep in mind we're excluding songs that weren't originally written for the Muppets like Mahna Mahna, as well as tunes that exclusively appeared on Sesame Street as they deserve their own list.
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#10: “The Big House” “Muppets Most Wanted” (2014)
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If more prisons had Tina Fey as a singing guard and inmates providing backup, we’d all be inclined to commit more crimes. That being said, Gulag 38B is far from the luxury resort Nadya pitches in this tune from “Muppets Most Wanted.” After being wrongfully imprisoned, Kermit finds that his new home is even murkier than a swamp, but at least he gets an entertaining song to go with his gruel. With a catchy beat and doo-wop harmonies, this Bret McKenzie-penned number will have you snapping your fingers all the way to the big house.
#9: “Happiness Hotel” “The Great Muppet Caper” (1981)
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If you didn’t enjoy your stay in the big house, you might prefer the Happiness Hotel. On the surface, this dank English inn might not look like much, but it packs in a lot of heart, spirit, and Muppets regardless. The staff and residents will even play you a song upon checking in, as exhibited in this scene from “The Great Muppet Caper.” Like a warm welcome from a country cousin, “Happiness Hotel” overwhelms you with its cheerful hospitality even if the home in question is tacky and rat-infested.
#8: “We’re Doing a Sequel” “Muppets Most Wanted” (2014)
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Everybody knows the sequel is never as quite good as its predecessor – let alone better! – but “Muppets Most Wanted” is one of the few sequels that actually pokes fun at this. Literally picking up where the previous film left off, the Muppets plan their next movie through a satirical song. Along the way, they take shots at less successful follow-ups like “The Godfather: Part III,” foretell Disney’s plan to make “Toy Story 4” and jam in a couple of quality celeb cameos for good measure. As clever as it is triumphant, “We’re Doing a Sequel” demonstrates that the Muppet franchise truly has no end in sight.
#7: “Can You Picture That?” “The Muppet Movie” (1979)
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The Muppets are no strangers to self-referential humor, acknowledging plot devices as if they’re elephants in the room. Reading the script for “The Muppet Movie,” Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem try to think of a way to get their new friends from point A to point B. Their solution: Painting their car via a musical montage. It might not be the smoothest transition into song, but that’s part of the joke. “Can You Picture That” is nevertheless a bubbly, energetic, and immensely fun and funky number about believing in yourself.
#6: “Pictures in My Head” “The Muppets” (2011)
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2011’s “The Muppets” reminded audiences just how much they’d come to miss characters like Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, and the Swedish Chef over the years. The film hit us especially hard when Kermit takes a trip down memory lane, looking back on all the cherished times he had with his friends. “Pictures In My Head” perfectly captures the sentiment of nostalgia, making you feel right at home one second and then empty inside the next. No matter how much the world changes, though, characters like the Muppets will never be forgotten.
#5: “Movin’ Right Along” “The Muppet Movie” (1979)
Driving in a Studebaker, the unlikely duo of Kermit and Fozzie sing of their showbiz dreams and the long road to Hollywood. Throughout their travels, they encounter a number of visual gags like a fork in the road and a certain larger than life bird. In some respects, “Moving Right Along” feels like a number out of a “Road to…” movie with Kermit as Bing Crosby and Fozzie as Bob Hope. Full of lighthearted puns and Kermit’s upbeat banjo stylings, this is the ideal tune to accompany any road trip.
#4: “Man or Muppet” “The Muppets” (2011)
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With a knack for quirky lyrics and whimsical music, Bret McKenzie was born to write the songs for “The Muppets.” He won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the hilarious “Man or Muppet” in which brothers Gary and Walter face an identity crisis. Looking in the mirror, Gary is confronted by hisMuppet equivalent while Walter is confronted by his human equivalent, Jim Parsons of course. Singing their hearts out, both come to sudden realizations as one declares himself a Muppet of a man and the other stands tall as very manly Muppet.
#3: “The Muppet Show Theme” “The Muppet Show” (1976-81)
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What better way to get things started every week than with this iconic theme song, written by Sam Pottle and Jim Henson himself? Through its large-scale opening number, “The Muppet Show” established upfront that it wasn’t some kiddie puppet theater. It was an extravagant variety show with dogs playing pianos, monsters dancing, and bears telling jokes. The sequence would shake things up each week with Statler and Waldorf delivering a new wisecrack and Gonzo blowing his bugle of infinite sound effects. From episode one, however, the theme song has always maintained the same energy, humor, and charm – no matter where it appears.
#2: “Bein’ Green” “Sesame Street” (1969-) & “The Muppet Show” (1976-81)
This classic song not only speaks to those born with a green complexion, but to anybody who’s ever felt different. Originally performed on “Sesame Street,” but sung many times since in other Muppet media, “Bein’ Green” expresses Kermit’s greatest insecurity – but it has become even more meaningful, with its message applying to race, environmentalism and more. In the context of the Muppets, the melancholy frog sometimes wishes he possessed a more appealing skin color like red or gold. By the song’s conclusion, though, Kermit realizes that being green is nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, a lot of beauty can be found in green. After all, it’s one of the many diverse colors that make up a rainbow. Before we close the curtain on our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - “Life’s a Happy Song” “The Muppets” (2011) - “He’ll Make Me Happy” “The Muppets Take Manhattan” (1984) - “Thankful Heart” “The Muppet Christmas Carol” (1992) - “Couldn’t We Ride” “The Great Muppet Caper” (1981)
#1: “Rainbow Connection” “The Muppet Movie” (1979)
Rainbows are beacons of hope and so is this Oscar-nominated song from “The Muppet Movie.” Written by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, Kermit the Frog’s heartwarming trademark number establishes his desire to seek out something greater in life. His dream of finding the rainbow connection might seem impossible. If this banjo-playing amphibian has proven anything, however, it’s that no dream is unattainable – and that enduring message has gotten the song reprised by the Muppets on several occasions. Whether you’re looking for stardom, friendship, home, or all of the above, your first step is tracking down that rainbow and following it to the very end. Do you agree with our list? What's your favorite Muppet song? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
