The Shocking Backstory of Your Favorite Muppet Song
What To Know
- “Mah Na Mah Na” was originally composed as background music for a 1968 adult film before becoming widely known through children’s entertainment.
- The song gained popularity through various covers and performances.
- Its enduring appeal comes from its catchy, nonsensical lyrics and call-and-response rhythm, making it a memorable and iconic tune across generations.
For decades, the “Mah Na Mah Na” song has been an integral part of many childhoods, whether one first heard it on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, YouTube, or TikTok. The catchy little earworm had a way of burrowing into the brain with its repetitive chorus, nonsensical lyrics, and irresistible call-and-response rhythm that feels both chaotic and comforting.
But did you know it had a naughty origin?
Though the song is now closely associated with funny, furry, family-friendly creatures, the song got its start as background music for a 1968 Italian-Swedish adult film titled Svezia, inferno e paradiso, a.k.a. Heaven & Hell.
Composed by Piero Umiliani, “Mah Nà Mah Nà” was featured in a scene as a bevy of beauties were about to use a bathhouse. The scatting part of the song was sung by Alessandro Alessandroni, who was best known for providing both the guitar and the whistle parts to Ennio Morricone‘s theme for Sergio Leone‘s film A Fistful of Dollars.
Once it premiered, there were multiple covers before the Muppets got their paws on it. Soundtrack guru Giorgio Moroder offered his own version of the song in 1968, as the Dave Pell Singers tried their hand with the tune as well.
In 1969, Sesame Street first performed “Mah Nà Mah Nà” (also spelled “Mahna Mahna” on official sources) in a skit featuring a beatnik character Bip Bippadotta, voiced by Jim Henson, and two twin girls looking for a third to help sing a song. It was then performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, where it was reimagined with two twin monsters known as the Snowths and Bippadotta, who got a makeover into a groovy hippy. It also found its way to The Red Skelton Show in 1969. Then in 1971, the spicy The Benny Hill Show made use of the tune in several cheeky sketches.
It hit phenomena status with The Muppet Show in 1976, where it was made famous in a skit reminiscent of the Ed Sullivan skit.
Since then, the song has enjoyed remarkable staying power thanks to its catchy, nonsensical nature, a call-and-response structure that practically demands participation, and, most importantly, its repeated, iconic use by the Muppets. It also does not help that its inescapable melody burrows into the brain, making it nearly impossible to shake loose. Mah na, mah na.
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