C is for Cookie
Encyclopedia
"C Is For Cookie", by Joe Raposo
, is a song performed by Cookie Monster
, a muppet character from the television series Sesame Street
. It was first performed on the show on March 28, 1972, although it had been released on record a year previously, on The Muppet Alphabet Album
. Along with Kermit
's Bein' Green
and Ernie
's Rubber Duckie
, it is one of the show's most recognisable songs.
and his performers teamed with Jerry Juhl
, Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss
to write a sketch
on each letter of the alphabet
". C Is For Cookie derives from this project.
Actress Candice Bergen
sang the song when she visited Sesame Street.
A version was included on Sesame Street Fever
. A 12" promo single included disco remixes by Larry Levan
and Roy Thode.
In 1993/1994, a new operatic version was taped, featuring opera singer Marilyn Horne
as Cleopatra in an Egyptian setting, with a pyramid made entirely out of cookies in the background. At the end of the song once "Cleopatra" is carried away out of sight, Cookie Monster appears in Egyptian clothing and pulls a cookie off the pyramid, causing it to collapse with a huge crash.
Since then, numerous authorized and unauthorized versions of the song have been produced, including "funky" and "sweet" versions released on the 2003 record Cookie Monster & The Girls. Laura Pace's review of the home video Elmo's World: The Street We Live On noted 'the bizarreness of C is for Cookie" done in Aida
-style opera'. A brief reprise of the song is also performed by Cookie Monster and the cast of Sesame Street on the 1975 album Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
. In addition, since the advent of Youtube, there have also been recordings of the song, regular and operatic, in reverse, under the title, "Cheese Good for Fleas" ("Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C" sounds like "Heeeee sniffs nuts, eat cookie cookie cook").
Concerned about increased obesity
rates in children, PBS has announced that for its 36th season Sesame Street will have Cookie Monster promoting a more healthy approach to diet and nutrition. Cookie Monster listened to another character's song about cookies being a sometime food. At the end, Cookie Monster declared 'Now is sometimes!' and ate a cookie. This is nothing new however, as Cookie also did a rap music video called "Healthy Food" in the mid 1980s where he sings with assorted muppets talking about healthy food like bread, fruits and vegetables.
Sheet music of the song has been published by the Hal Leonard Corporation, and others. The toy "Letter of the Day Cookie Jar" features Cookie Monster saying a short phrase about each letter. For "C", he says "C is for Cookie".
Joe Raposo
Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was a Portuguese-American composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie"...
, is a song performed by Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...
, a muppet character from the television series Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. It was first performed on the show on March 28, 1972, although it had been released on record a year previously, on The Muppet Alphabet Album
The Muppet Alphabet Album
The Muppet Alphabet Album is a 1971 Gatefold LP, based on the children's television series Sesame Street. It was reissued in 1975, by Golden Music in the 1980s, and by Sony Wonder in 1996. Sony Wonder's reissue included a bonus song....
. Along with Kermit
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
's Bein' Green
Bein' Green
"Bein' Green" is a popular song written by Joe Raposo in 1970 for the first season of the children's television program Sesame Street. It was originally performed by Kermit the Frog ....
and Ernie
Ernie
Ernie is a fictional character, a Muppet on the Public Broadcasting Service's long-running children's television show, Sesame Street. He and his roommate Bert form a comic duo that is one of the program's centerpieces, with Ernie acting the role of the naïve troublemaker and Bert the world-weary foil...
's Rubber Duckie
Rubber duckie
"Rubber Duckie" is a song sung by the Muppet character Ernie on Sesame Street. The song is named after Ernie's toy, a rubber duck affectionately named Rubber Duckie....
, it is one of the show's most recognisable songs.
History
According to the Muppet Central articles on the Songs from the Street Boxed Set, "In 1971, Jim HensonJim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
and his performers teamed with Jerry Juhl
Jerry Juhl
Jerome Ravn "Jerry" Juhl was an American television and movie writer, best known for his work with Jim Henson's "Muppets".Juhl was born in St. Paul, Minnesota; his family moved to Menlo Park, California, when he was 14...
, Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss
Jeff Moss
Jeffrey Arnold "Jeff" Moss was a composer, lyricist, playwright and television writer, best known for his award winning work on the children's television series Sesame Street.-Early life:...
to write a sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
on each letter of the alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
". C Is For Cookie derives from this project.
Actress Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
sang the song when she visited Sesame Street.
A version was included on Sesame Street Fever
Sesame Street Fever
Sesame Street Fever is a concept album made by the cast of Sesame Street in 1978. It follows the characters as a love of disco sweeps Sesame Street....
. A 12" promo single included disco remixes by Larry Levan
Larry Levan
Larry Levan was a DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. He developed a cult following who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass"...
and Roy Thode.
In 1993/1994, a new operatic version was taped, featuring opera singer Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
as Cleopatra in an Egyptian setting, with a pyramid made entirely out of cookies in the background. At the end of the song once "Cleopatra" is carried away out of sight, Cookie Monster appears in Egyptian clothing and pulls a cookie off the pyramid, causing it to collapse with a huge crash.
Since then, numerous authorized and unauthorized versions of the song have been produced, including "funky" and "sweet" versions released on the 2003 record Cookie Monster & The Girls. Laura Pace's review of the home video Elmo's World: The Street We Live On noted 'the bizarreness of C is for Cookie" done in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
-style opera'. A brief reprise of the song is also performed by Cookie Monster and the cast of Sesame Street on the 1975 album Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
Bert and Ernie Sing Along is a Sesame Street album released in 1975 that involved the entire cast of humans and Muppets doing a sing-a-long in Bert and Ernie's bathroom....
. In addition, since the advent of Youtube, there have also been recordings of the song, regular and operatic, in reverse, under the title, "Cheese Good for Fleas" ("Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C" sounds like "Heeeee sniffs nuts, eat cookie cookie cook").
Concerned about increased obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
rates in children, PBS has announced that for its 36th season Sesame Street will have Cookie Monster promoting a more healthy approach to diet and nutrition. Cookie Monster listened to another character's song about cookies being a sometime food. At the end, Cookie Monster declared 'Now is sometimes!' and ate a cookie. This is nothing new however, as Cookie also did a rap music video called "Healthy Food" in the mid 1980s where he sings with assorted muppets talking about healthy food like bread, fruits and vegetables.
Sheet music of the song has been published by the Hal Leonard Corporation, and others. The toy "Letter of the Day Cookie Jar" features Cookie Monster saying a short phrase about each letter. For "C", he says "C is for Cookie".