Written by Piero Umiliani Date 1968 Source Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso

(Sweden, Heaven and Hell) Publisher Edward B. Marks Music Company

"Mah Na Mah Na" was written by composer Piero Umiliani for an Italian "mondo" film (exploitative pseudo-documentaries) about life (mostly sex-related) in Sweden, titled Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell). It is a nonsense song that achieved widespread fame as a classic Muppet sketch.

Contents show]

Although it was first performed in a Henson production on Sesame Street by the character who would become Bip Bippadotta and two Anything Muppet girls, the most famous Muppet rendition of the song debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969, where it was performed by Mahna Mahna and his back-up singers, the Snowths. This version of the skit was restaged many times on a number of variety shows before being featured as the opening number in the premiere episode of The Muppet Show.

Regardless of who is singing, the basics of the performance remain the same: a central character starts out conforming to the structure of the song, but falls into improvisational scat passages whenever possible. Although the back-up singers attempt to bring order back to the number, their effort is ultimately futile.

The number became popular enough that it was spoofed by the Muppets themselves in a sketch on Muppets Tonight, in which Kermit the Frog complained to his psychiatrist that the Snowths would appear every time he said the word "phenomena."

The Muppets ends with a montage of celebrities performing the classic number with the Snowths. The Muppet Show recording can be heard playing in a car in the official movie trailer.



Performances

Releases

Audio

The Muppet Show version

Sesame Street version

Cover versions

Video

The Ed Sullivan Show version

The Muppet Show version

Sesame Street version

Specials & Compilations

Sesame Street version

The Muppet Show version

Publications

The Muppet Show version

References

The characters on Mystery Science Theater 3000 broke out into the song during their commentary on Jungle Goddess.

The cover of the song performed by Cake, which was recorded as the opening track of the 2002 For the Kids album whose sales proceeds went to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, also appears on the band's 2007 album B-Sides and Rarities.

A line in "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2003 song "Couch Potato" mentions "The Muppet Show where they go 'Mahna Mahna!'"

The song was sung in the style of the Muppets by Gareth, David and Ben in the first episode of the second series of BBC's The Office. After they finish singing the tune, David sighs "ah, Muppets".

A clip of the song and video was used in an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Issue #2 of The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson features Mahna Mahna and the Snowths at Machu Picchu, singing the name of the Incan ruin to the tune of "Mahna Mahna."

A Sesamstrasse film featuring girls on a rock climbing wall is underscored by Cake's cover on the For the Kids album.

Cee Lo Green's 2012 Christmas song with The Muppets "All I Need is Love" feature samples of the song.

Notes

According to his wife Debbie, Caroll Spinney was responsible for introducing Jim Henson to the song.[1]

Sources