3 Songs for People Who Say They Don’t Like TV Theme Songs

Today, there are more television shows available than ever before—by a wide margin. And each of them has an opening theme song. Sometimes they are short, like that of the jazzy theme from the award-winning Fleabag. Others are long and drawn out, like the blues song for The Wire. But some of them are especially good, no matter their length.

Here below, we wanted to explore three excellent television theme songs, some with words and some without, that continue to compel no matter when they first hit the scene. Three songs that could be hit singles on their own. Indeed, these are three songs for people who say they don’t like TV themes.

Videos by American Songwriter

[RELATED: The Making of Danny Elfman’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Song “What’s This?”]

“The Simpsons Theme” by Danny Elfman

This song has become perhaps the most popular television theme in history and Danny Elfman, who has written for movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas and has performed in the band Oingo Boingo, has said it’s the most well-known thing he’s ever made. He wrote it in the car driving home after a meeting with The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and it played when the show first aired in 1989. Since then, the lush sweeping Emmy-nominated song has been covered many times, including by the rock band Green Day.

“Succession (Main Title Theme)” by Nicholas Britell

The opening theme for HBO’s hit show Succession, which is a show about the transfer of power, this 2018 song is a modern marvel. It marks an evolution of theme songs, in a way, more resembling the beat of a track that could play in a dance club at 1 a.m. than a traditional show opening. To use modern vernacular, it slaps. The Emmy Award-winning song, which uses the traditional hip-hop instrument Roland TR-808 drum machine, was written by Nicholas Britell, who has also written for movies like The Big Short and Moonlight. But while the beat sounds like it could be in a Beastie Boys song, it also paraphrases the Beethoven composition Pathétique Sonata, making it a crossover delight.

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” by Fred Rogers

Composed in 1967 by the show’s titular host Fred Rogers, this piano-based song for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is as welcoming and gleeful as it is classic. Rogers would sing the theme as each episode began, often taking off his sport coat and putting on one of his more comfortable signature sweaters and changing his shoes. Since the show became a popular one for children around the world, the track has been covered many times, including by these three women from Seattle.

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