Among the most iconic intro songs to a TV show, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” stands a cut above the rest. Next time you’re at a bar or party, wait until everyone’s a few drinks or puffs in, and start sing-rapping, “In West Philadelphia, born and raised.” See how long it takes until the room starts singing along.
Perhaps that’s what makes the song so ripe for parodies. One of the more memorable parodies in recent memory is SNL’s absurdist crime reinterpretation, where Will Smith’s (Chris Redd’s) past catches up to him. But it goes off the rails near the end, somehow involving the yakuza, FBI, and Philly street gangs.
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A more faithful and delightful parody, in our opinion, is this recent one from “Sesame Street.” Yes, of all places “Sesame Street” decided to playfully use the “Fresh Prince” theme song to explain how the friendship between Bert & Ernie started. Included amongst the reimagined lyrics are bananas in your ear, having a kind attitude, and learning letters and numbers.
In other words, it’s classic “Sesame Street.”
“Sesame Street” also parodied NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” for a Fourth of July theme song, so maybe this is a new thing they’re doing? Apologies for not being completely up to date on plot developments in “Sesame Street”. And if you just want to listen to the original “Fresh Prince” theme song, we embed it for your convenience below.
