mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
Who doesn’t love that great song “Mahna Mahna” from Sesame Street? As funny as it is earwormy, as adorable as it is cool, the song appeals to each generation anew and never gets tiring.
But guess what? Neither Sesame Street nor The Muppet Show can take credit for discovering the song. Penned by the Italian film composer Piero Umiliani (if you haven’t heard of him, it’s okay, “Mahna Mahna” is all he’s really known for), “Mah Nà Mah Nà” as it was originally called in Italian, was first used in the 1968 pseudo-documentary Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso—a film composed of a series of short, soft-focus type segments about—strapped into your parachutes?—sexuality in Sweden! (Hence the paradise and hell, I guess.) Check out the (pg-13) clip below for the original scene underscored with the original Umiliani arrangement.
Sesame Street used it a year later in an episode that was premiered in 1969, then on the Ed Sullivan show later the same year, and again on The Muppet Show in 1977.
The original arrangement (”Mah Nà Mah Nà”) was a huge hit in ’68 and ’69 and made it all the way to #55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also hit the charts again across the pond in ’77, making it all the way to #8 in the UK. In the original Italian version, the song makes about as much sense, lyrically, as it does in English, which is to say, nonsense. If you want to compare the above version to the Muppet version, or just want to feel nostalgic, here’s the latter:
Check out past On Music posts here >>
Comments (22)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
The song was also used in Dr. Pepper commercials a few years ago.
posted by Fran on 4-9-2009 at 8:29 am
Wasn’t this used the The Benny Hill show as well?
posted by Diana on 4-9-2009 at 8:30 am
Cake does a great cover of this song. And now it’s stuck in my head after reading the article.
posted by Amdela on 4-9-2009 at 8:34 am
Wow! A whole sauna full of Ann-Margrets!
posted by ArtW on 4-9-2009 at 8:41 am
Amazing band whose name may or may not be inspired by the song: Menomena.
And no mention of the song being sung in the UK Office Series 2 opener?
posted by Mike on 4-9-2009 at 8:42 am
You just made my day. Thanks!
posted by nutmeag on 4-9-2009 at 8:47 am
They also used it as a Steelers song a couple years ago, changing Mahna Mahna to Polamolu, the safety.
posted by AJ on 4-9-2009 at 9:22 am
If you ever get the chance to see Toxic Audio perform, they do an awesome version of the song. They are an awarding winning a cappella group. Probably worth there own post.
posted by mamamo on 4-9-2009 at 9:35 am
Polamalu!
posted by Amanda on 4-9-2009 at 10:09 am
No Diana, the Benny Hill song was “Yakety Sax” by Boots Randolph.
posted by Pithecanthropus on 4-9-2009 at 12:40 pm
After seeing it on The Muppet Show as a kid, we tortured a girl in our neighborhood w/ the unfortunate name Monelle.
sorry, but it was just too fun!
posted by Jonny on 4-9-2009 at 1:30 pm
I seem to also remember it used in some cigarette commercial in the 60’s. I don’t remember the brand, but the cigarettes were longer than most others and all the commercials focused on the longer cigarette getting smashed or bent somehow, like getting caught in an elevator door and such. Anybody?
recaptcha: 73,527 billion
That’s no longer such a big number. ; )
posted by crocostimpy on 4-9-2009 at 1:41 pm
@Pithecanthropus
@Diana
Actually I do remember Benny Hill using this as the background/theme for several of his silent movie style (all action, no dialogue per se) skits…
posted by Robert in SF on 4-9-2009 at 2:08 pm
it’s stuck in my head now and I blame you >.
posted by heather on 4-9-2009 at 2:16 pm
also, there is a World of Warcraft themed video parodying this song called “roflmao” that can be found on youtube. it uses internet slang in the place of Italian/gibberish.
posted by atro on 4-9-2009 at 5:03 pm
I live near a town called Menomonie, makes me think of this song every time I drive past. Love this song . . .
posted by EMily on 4-9-2009 at 6:24 pm
Does anyone remember a much later muppet show episode featuring sandra bullock as a psychiatrist? i think the gag was that every time her patient said “phenomenon”, little creatures would appear and do the “do, doo, do, do, do”. i think it was funny
posted by Jon on 4-10-2009 at 3:57 am
Jon, you’re thinking of the Sandra Bullock episode of Muppets Tonight.
That said, we’ve got a couple good Mahna Mahna-related articles on my Muppet fan website: ToughPigs.com
posted by JoeH on 4-10-2009 at 11:14 am
It’s hilarious that the muppet singing mahna mahna is wearing sunglasses that open and shut like eyes.
posted by Lee on 4-15-2009 at 1:35 pm
This song is such an earwig of mine, people have started calling me “mahna-ma-mom.” Really.
posted by Christine on 4-15-2009 at 7:21 pm
lol. so funny!
posted by aimee on 4-16-2009 at 3:17 pm
[...] apenas me entero de la historia de esta canción. El autor es Piero Umiliani, y la canción fue creada como tema musical de una serie de documentales de 1968 llamada Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Suecia, Infierno y Paraíso) y cuyo tema principal era [...]
posted by “Mahna Mahna”, de los Muppets, originalmente fue creada para hablar de.. ¡La Sexualidad en Suecia! — Tecnoculto on 7-12-2009 at 4:03 am