The Simpsons Theme - Alternative Versions

Alternative Versions

In addition to the standard closing theme arrangement, certain episodes have had alternate versions of the closing theme used; some are composed in-house by Alf Clausen in alternate styles or as homages to other musical works, and some are covers by musical artists. Most of the time, these are used to tie into the plot of the episode itself. For example, several police or law-related episodes have ended with homages to the themes from Dragnet, and Hill Street Blues. Most of the Treehouse of Horror halloween episodes have opened with a horror or monster movie-styled arrangement, or with homages to themes such as The Addams Family. Other versions are performed by guest stars heard in an episode, such as a "Psychedelic rock" version performed by Yo La Tengo, a "Grunge" version by Sonic Youth and a Los Lobos version. The "Grunge" version by Sonic Youth, which aired at the end of the episode "Homerpalooza", has been ranked among the best versions of the theme by Matt Groening and also by Chris Turner in his book Planet Simpson. Other performers include Tito Puente, NRBQ, Fall Out Boy, and an a cappella version by Canvas.

In 2007, Green Day recorded a cover version of the theme song for The Simpsons Movie and also released it as a single. It placed as high as #106 on the Billboard Hot 100, #19 on the UK Singles Chart, and #16 on the UK download chart. Also for The Simpsons Movie, Hans Zimmer, who composed the score for the film, arranged his own version of the theme in an orchestral style consistent with the original, and also inserted "tiny fragments" of it into the rest of his score.