One of These Things

"One of These Things" was a song written by Joe Raposo, Jon Stone and Bruce Hart and regularly used on Sesame Street for sketches where viewers would be shown a group of four items, one of which was different from the other three, and they would have to identify the item which didn't belong. Lyrics and pictures from this song were included in Sesame Street Unpaved. In Episode 3824, in which the Dingers plan on having a ding-a-long, the cast sang a variation called "One of These Dings".

A similar game was played to a different song written by Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss in 1970 and called "Three of These Things Belong Together", with variations such as "Two of These Things", "Here Are Some Things That Belong Together", and "Three of These Kids Belong Together". (The last version involved a four-way split screen with three children performing one activity, plus a fourth child "doing his own thing". Sometimes it was called "One of These Kids".) In some instances of the game, kids were encouraged to find more than one different answer, depending on how the things could be categorized.

This game has been used in segments starring William Wegman's dogs, and in animated form, melody only, with footprints. It was the basis for a specific game of Journey to Ernie. A line of the song is included in the theme for the "This is the Game Today" segments, and some of the games from "This is the Game Today" include this song.

Audio Releases

 * The Sesame Street Book & Record (1970)
 * One of These Things/Up and Down (single, 1970)
 * Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street (1970)
 * Somebody Come and Play (1974)
 * Susan and Bob Sing: One of These Things/What Are Kids Called (single, 1976)
 * 10th Anniversary Album (1978)
 * Platinum Too (1997)

Video Releases

 * Play-Along Games and Songs (Cookie Monster version)
 * Old School: Volume 1 (in episodes 0001, 0131, 0276, 0406, and 0536)
 * Old School: Volume 2 (in episode 1056)
 * Let's Play Games (kids with umbrellas version) (on bonus CD-ROM)

Mentions
This song was included in a 2004 Subway commercial, where it was called "One of These Subs". It was also included in a 2000s McDonald's commercial for their chicken strips. It was also parodied in a Robot Chicken segment spoofing Sesame Street, featuring three dancing kids and one dead kid holding a flower.