Sesame Street Theme

The Sesame Street Theme functions as the famous opening theme song of Sesame Street. It is normally sung by The Kids.

The song has been remade a number of times over the years not only for the show's opening and closing credits, but also for inserts. One of the earliest and most distinctive versions includes a harmonica solo performed by Toots Thielemans.

On The Muppet Show, when the Sesame Street cast made a cameo in Episode 518, the cast of both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show sang a verse of the theme song (this recording can be heard over a montage of Sesame Street clips in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years).

Gladys Knight sang this song in The Sesame Street Special. This recording was also included in the album Sing: Songs of Joe Raposo.

A remix was recorded by Ursula 2000 for Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music. This remix also featured sound clips from various Sesame Street Albums.

Openings
Most versions of the opening just feature Big Bird and a lot of real-life kids playing on location in a park or city (Big Bird was added to the opening in season 3; prior to that, the opening just featured real-life kids). During the 1980s Barkley was featured in the opening as well.

From 1992-1998, the opening featured a lot more Muppet characters, and also featured a lot of computer-animated effects. During this period, the theme song was also given a calypso beat. Muppets who appeared in this version of the opening include Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster, Count von Count, Prairie Dawn, Ernie, Bert, Elmo, and Telly Monster. An alternate version of the opening, with a sequence featuring Baby Natasha instead of Prairie Dawn, was sometimes shown.

In 1998, the opening went back to featuring Big Bird and kids, and also reverted back to the original theme song. In 2002, the opening was changed again, still focused on Big Bird and kids in Central Park, but also including a few clips from the show and an appearance by Super Grover.

Closings
Like the opening, the closing has changed many times throughout the show's run. During the first and third seasons, the action from the episodes that featured closing credits (until season 33, only Friday episodes featured closing credits) continued on as the credits rolled. The season 2 closing featured still shots of a painting that looks like it was painted by a child.

At one point in season 3 and during part of season 4, the closing was an all-illustrated sequence, which scrolled down to various parts of a building, going all the way down to Sesame Street. Various characters were illustrated for this closing. Grover appeared in various areas throughout this closing, while everybody else only appeared once. Muppets in this closing included Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Kermit the Frog, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Little Bird, Herbert Birdsfoot, Lefty the Salesman, Roosevelt Franklin, Roosevelt Franklin's Mother, Herry Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, Professor Hastings, and the Anything Muppets. This closing was used for a few years during the early to mid-1970s.

The mid- to latter-half of the 1970s featured a live action drive through the country. By 1979, a hybrid of closing montages — including footage of the airplane flight from the 1977 "Hawaii" episodes and the country drive — were used.

The longest-lived closing sequence prior to 1992 featured live action of The Kids playing with Barkley. This sequence was first used in 1980 and ran for 12 seasons.

In 1992, in addition to a new opening, a new closing sequence was also produced. Like the opening, this closing featured computer-animated effects, with live action kids dancing. This closing also featured appearances by Elmo, a robin, and Big Bird. This closing is still used on the show, though it has been edited and shortened over the years. This version of the closing originally ended with Big Bird saying that "Sesame Street is a production of the Children's Television Workshop". After the Childrens Television Workshop changed its name to Sesame Workshop in 2000, this part of the closing was cut altogether.

Prior to 1992, some Friday episodes that ended at night featured filmed sequences of New York City and upstate New York recorded during the nighttime and pre-dawn hours. Often, this montage was accompanied by a dreamlike version of the main closing theme, prominently featuring a celesta. The "dreamlike" theme was also used occasionally for the main closing sequences.

Other Appearances
As the shows theme song, it has been featured in many productions related to Sesame Street, in both sung and instrumental form. An instrumental version with a bit of Christmas-sounding music was included at the beginning of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. An instrumental version of the song also appeared in the first and last street scenes in Follow That Bird. This song, usually in instrumental form, has also been included in many video releases.

Album Releases
All versions released are performed by The Kids, unless otherwise noted.


 * The Sesame Street Book & Record
 * The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album
 * Sesame Street LIVE! -- performed by The Gang
 * Sing the Hit Songs of Sesame Street
 * 10th Anniversary Album
 * The Best of Sesame Street
 * Platinum All-Time Favorites
 * Sesame Street Celebrates!
 * Sesame Street Best
 * Bob's Favorite Street Songs -- sung by Bob
 * Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music -- both original album version and a remixed version

Publications

 * The inside covers for Sesame Street Unpaved include sheet music and lyrics for this song.
 * Sheet music was also published in "The Sesame Street Song Book"