Middle part of theme song,

[MJTaylor]

I was born in 1972, one year after Sesame Street started being shown in my country. I can only remember back to when I was three or four, and even then, the middle section of the theme song, the part that starts off with, "It's a magic carpet ride", never seemed to be used, except in instrumental form.
I have only heard it in three places:

1. The song as heard on The Sesame Street Book and Record.
2. Elmoplooza
3. A recent show (I kid you not) where Rosemary Clooney appreard singing it.

What I want to know is, was the theme sung complete on a regular basis during, say, the early years?

 

[JaniceFerSure]

SS theme

Oh yes,the extended SS theme song.What a long time ago that was.I'm pretty sure it was played during that time.That's when I watched it too.Nowadays,SS very rarely makes time for the treasures that we remember.I just watched SS the other day.The opening theme was Elmo starting a parade,pretty soon everyone wanted to get into the act.The whole section took about 15 min. of the show's time. I don't get it either. Least we still have our memories of the earlier years & classics.


Sunny day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street

Come and play
Everything's A-okay
Friendly neighbors there
That's where we meet

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street

It's a magic carpet ride
Every door will open wide
To happy people like you
Happy people like
What a beautiful

Sunny day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street...

How to get to Sesame Street

How to get to...

 

[jeffkjoe]

The answer to your question is:

No, they never sang the middle part "It's a magic carpet ride" during the opening theme.

The lyrics have always been sung without the middle bridge since 1969.

The only time you'll hear the middle part of the theme is the instrumental over the end credits or the occasional cast ensemble breaking into the Sesame theme song on a sunny day.

That's it.

 

[Philo and Gunge]

Well, my school band played the full version for a concert. But that kinda dosn't count.

 

[sesamestreetmom]

Now that you mention it, I DO remember that part of the opening song! I definately liked the old SS better than the one on now from beginning theme to ending theme~which is also WAY different. I recently heard the old 70s ending theme~I completely forgot it used to sound that way! My daughter (she's 2) loves Elmo's World and all that, but I'd much rather see the old skits and plenty of them. I agree they spend way too much time on silly things instead of the "learning skits" they used to have.

 

[Barry Lee]

They also sang the full version on "The Sesame Street Special" aka "Put Down The Duckie"

 

[MJTaylor]

Well I finally got to see the start of the very first episode on YouTube and jeffkjoe is right; the middle section was not sung, even then. Mind you, something like that did happen on the Muppet Show. For more on that, follow this link: http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?p=692774

 

[wwfpooh]

The song in its entirely has been heard on albums, though, as heard here.

 

[ISNorden]

The answer to your question is:

No, they never sang the middle part "It's a magic carpet ride" during the opening theme.

The lyrics have always been sung without the middle bridge since 1969.

The only time you'll hear the middle part of the theme is the instrumental over the end credits or the occasional cast ensemble breaking into the Sesame theme song on a sunny day.

That's it.

Not quite it! Whenever the cast went on a trip, the theme song had new lyrics adapted to their experience; those lyrics always included some version of the bridge. (The New Mexico and Montana trips used very different words; the Hawaiian one changed the bridge just barely.) Granted, that used to happen for only one week per season, at best...but it was an exception to the rule!

 

[wwfpooh]

Let us not forget that the extended song was always sang for specials commemorating the Street's longevity.