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in: Sesame Street Songs, Sesame Street Jazz

Put Down the Duckie (song)

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PutDowntheDuckie
Music by Christopher Cerf
Lyrics by Norman Stiles
Date 1986
Publisher Splotched Animal Music (BMI)
Sesame Street, Inc. (ASCAP)
First Episode 2310
ER-p0009-ST

"Put Down the Duckie", performed by Hoots the Owl and Ernie, encourages one not to let possessions get in the way of other activities. Ernie wants to play the saxophone, but due to the presence of Rubber Duckie in his hand, he can only produce a squeak.

Shortly after the song's first airing, it was re-edited to feature a montage of celebrities singing along — a first for the show. The song has also been remade numerous times.

Origins[]

According to lyricist Norman Stiles:

“I also came up with the idea for song “Put Down the Ducky” [sic] one night while eating dinner by myself at a restaurant. The phrase, “You’ve got to put down the ducky if you want to play the saxophone,” came to mind after one vodka on the rocks. Chris Cerf and I wrote the whole lyric around a week later and then he wrote that great tune. The idea to include cuts of celebs came soon after it was recorded and shot. Any celebrity who came to do Sesame Street did their version. I got goose bumps when Ladysmith Black Mombassa [sic] did it.[1]”

On the celebrity version, Christopher Cerf said,

“I think probably what made that song so popular was an idea that Norm and I first had. We thought it would be fun if a whole bunch of celebrities sang “Put Down the Duckie,” very much the way celebrities sang “We Are the World,” which was coming out at that time. But that seemed like an impossible dream.

Jon Stone, the really brilliant creator of Sesame, said, “Well, are you a patient guy?” I said, “Why do you ask?” And he said, “What if we asked each celebrity who came on the show for the next couple of years to sing one line of this song? Within a couple of years, we’ll have an all-star piece.” And that’s exactly what happened. Everybody sang a different line in the song, and then Jon edited it all together.[2]”

Celebrity Version[]

Ernie and Hoots in the song's epilogue from Sesame Street, Special.

Ernie and Hoots in the song's epilogue from Sesame Street, Special.

During the season that this song premiered, every time a celebrity appeared on the show, the producers would tape a special verse to be sung by that celebrity, and these verses were then edited into the song for later re-airing.[3] Not every celebrity in the montage made other appearances on the show that season, such as Itzhak Perlman and Danny DeVito, and for others this was their only appearance, such as Jeremy Irons, and Gordon Jackson alongside Jean Marsh. Another celebrity included is Rhea Perlman, appearing alongside her husband, Danny DeVito. Perlman would later guest-star in a season 22 episode.

The celebrity version was first used in the pledge drive production Sesame Street, Special (first airing on the show in Episode 2534). The closing credits of the special featured another celebrity montage for this song, including alternate takes/verses of the featured celebrities (including a verse from Jane Curtin, who appeared but didn't sing in the insert) as well as other celebrities who appeared in the special. The credits were followed by a brief scene in which Hoots the Owl reveals to Ernie that he gets a funny sound whenever he wants to squeeze his Rubber Duckie, and Ernie offers a solution: "You've got to put down the saxophone if you want to squeak your duckie!"

A second version of the celebrity montage was also made, where some celebrities were replaced with others (mostly borrowing from the closing montage of Sesame Street, Special). This version was first shown in Episode 3076.

Celebrities included:

Additional changes[]

Sesame_Street_-_Ernie_Puts_Down_The_Duckie

Sesame Street - Ernie Puts Down The Duckie

The second celebrity edit, which includes Phil Donahue, Robert MacNeil, Barbara Walters, and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Aside from the added celebrities, a number of other alterations have occurred between the original and the celebrity-included versions.

  • The celebrity version features an alternate take of the opening introduction and Ernie's first verse. The music heard at the start of the sketch, played by the back-up musicians warming up before Hoots speaks, is changed. Hoots' dialogue is also slightly different; In the original, when he calls Ernie in, he says, "Come on in, Ernie!" In the celebrity version, he says, "Come on in, Ernie, my man!" However, the original take is reinstated in the celebrity version as included on Sing Yourself Silly!.
  • At one point, Hoots lists some alternatives to putting down the duckie ("Don't have to put it on a train, don't have to wash it down the drain..."). In the celebrity version, footage of Rubber Duckie in these situations were shown along with Hoots singing. This footage appeared when a portion of the song was included in Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years and Shalom Sesame: "Kids Sing Israel," though otherwise the clip is of the non-celebrity version.

Other performances[]

Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration

Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration

  • In a Play with Me Sesame insert, Ernie uses the song during a game of "Ernie Says" about being happy, sad, and angry.

References[]

  • In a segment from season 27, Ellen DeGeneres listened to the song on a Walkman, explaining to Elmo how portable music players work. (First: Episode 3448) This occasionally led into the original segment (segueing straight into the opening vamp).
  • In a Vine video during Sesame Street's 45th anniversary, Ernie acknowledges how long his and Bert's friendship had gone for and Bert notes that Ernie still hasn't "put down the duckie."

Notes[]

  • The album releases of the song omit the second bridge.

Releases[]

Audio
Video (original version)
Video (celebrity version)
Online
Publications
Specials

Sources[]

  1. ↑ Muppets Gone Missing: Norman Stiles at GraphicPolicy.com
  2. ↑ The Atlantic "The Songsmiths of Sesame Street" by Julie Beck, March 29, 2019
  3. ↑ Cerf, Christopher Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music booklet, page 12
  4. ↑ Email communication with David Rudman and fan, July 16, 2013
  5. ↑ Facebook communication with Noel MacNeal and friend, August 7, 2014

See also[]

External links[]

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