Theme Song
The theme song was written by the songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and sung by Livingston. However, they took a theme of the German Romantic era composer Emile Waldteufel as the basis of their song...After using only the music to open the first seven episodes, a decision was made to replace the instrumental-only version with one containing the lyrics. Livingston agreed to sing it himself, at least until a professional singer could be found; however, the producers liked the songwriter's vocals and kept them on the broadcast.
A joke/controversy concerning the theme song has existed since at least the 1980s: that the tune contains "satanic messages" if played in reverse. This YouTube video suggests that some portions reverse to "sing this song for Satan" and "Satan is the singer". Over the years, many radio stations have kept this rumor alive, mostly as a parody of the whole "backmasking" controversy.
Read more about this topic: Mister Ed
Famous quotes containing the words theme and/or song:
“Children became an obsessive theme in Victorian culture at the same time that they were being exploited as never before. As the horrors of life multiplied for some children, the image of childhood was increasingly exalted. Children became the last symbols of purity in a world which was seen as increasingly ugly.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“I made my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)