Mah Na Mah Na

"Mahna Mahna," originally titled "Mah-Na Mah-Na," was written by composer Piero Umiliani for an Italian "mondo" film (exploitative pseudo- documentaries) about life (mostly sex-related) in Sweden, titled Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell). It is a nonsense song that achieved widespread fame as a classic Muppet sketch.

Although it was first performed in a Henson production on Sesame Street by the character who would become Bip Bippadotta and two Anything Muppet girls, the most famous Muppet rendition of the song debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969, where it was performed by Mahna Mahna and his back-up singers, the Snowths. This version of the skit was restaged many times on a number of variety shows before being featured as the opening number in the premiere episode of The Muppet Show.

Regardless of who is singing, the basics of the performance remain the same: a central character starts out conforming to the structure of the song, but falls into improvisational scat passages whenever possible. Although the back-up singers attempt to bring order back to the number, their effort is ultimately futile.

The number became popular enough that it was spoofed by the Muppets themselves in a sketch on Muppets Tonight, in which Kermit the Frog complained to his psychiatrist that the Snowths would appear every time he said the word "phenomena."

The Muppets ends with a montage of celebrities performing the classic number with the Snowths. The Muppet Show recording can be heard playing in a car in the official movie trailer.

Audio

 * The Muppet Show version
 * The Muppet Show (1977)
 * Mahna Mahna/Mr. Bassman (single, 1977)
 * Mahna Mahna/Sax and Violence (single, 1977)
 * Favorite Songs From Jim Henson's Muppets (1986)
 * Muppet Hits (1993)
 * Music, Mayhem and More! (2002)
 * Best of the Muppets (2005)
 * The Muppets: Original Soundtrack (2011)
 * Sesame Street version
 * Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration (1991)
 * Platinum Too (1997)
 * Songs from the Street (2003)
 * Cover versions
 * Songs from Sesame Street
 * Animal House Sings and Plays Hits from The Muppet Movie and Sesame Street
 * One Potato, Two Potato (Songs from Sesame Street & The Muppets)
 * The Best of the Muppets: 15 Sound-Alike Favourites
 * Favorite Tunes of the Muppets Show
 * For the Kids
 * The Muppets vs. Sesame Street
 * The Arthur Fiedler Legacy - Superstars and Songbooks
 * The Green Album
 * Muppet Street: Favorite Songs from The Muppets and Sesame Street
 * The Favorite Songs from Muppets, Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street and Others

Video

 * The Ed Sullivan Show version
 * Muppets Magic from the Ed Sullivan Show (2003)
 * The Muppet Show version
 * The Muppet Revue (1985)
 * It's the Muppets: Meet the Muppets! (1993)
 * The Muppet Show: Season One (2005)
 * Sesame Street version
 * Shalom Sesame: Show 7: Sing Around the Seasons (1990, brief portion of the song only)

Specials & Compilations

 * Sesame Street version
 * Sesame Street Unpaved
 * A&E Biography: Sesame Street
 * The Street We Live On (introduction edited)
 * The Muppet Show version
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
 * The Muppet Revue

Publications

 * The Muppet Show version
 * The Muppet Show Book (1978)
 * Favorite Songs from Jim Henson's Muppets (1986)
 * The Muppets sheet music book (2011)