Added: 3 years ago
From: aarnisbin
Views: 200,924
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (204)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Does anyone know what year this episode is from????

  • I found this on The Guardian "10 Best Guest Stars" list. The was one of Jim Henson's favourite episodes because of this song and Belafonte played this at Henson's funeral.

  • I did this with my after school club for harvest and it was liked so much we had to do it 3 more times at different venues, such meaningful lyrics, love it

  • Amazing, one of my favorite muppet songs, but from the point of views of two of the dislikers- Statler : "I'm speechless." Waldorf: "Why's that?" Statler: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!" Both: "Do ho ho ho ho ho ho!"

  • This goes to Obama as X-mas gift. (Didn't mean Muppet, I said Obama)

  • Wow, not even Statler and Waldorf could dislike this!

  • Unquestionably one of the best moments of the Muppet Show.

  • One of the best Muppet songs ever. Jim Henson really had a brilliant mind for these things.

  • Does anyone remember the Muppets 30th Anniversary Special? That's where I first heard this song.

  • this is a seriously incredible presentation. lyrics, music, design, and muppeteering in perfect harmony. whoever "disliked" this, you really have problems.

  • Love all of this, the song, the muppets created for it (and how they move, and the presentation of it.

  • I did this for a University level performance chorale class. Amazingly fun and a surprisingly difficult song. I still get warm in my stomach thinking about it.

  • How can anyone dislike thsi??? This shuld have ZERO dislikes

  • when i went to my music class someone was trying to sing that song an he sang so loud that he got a sour throat

  • 1:25 I was NEVER able to see a tribal mask the same way again after seeing this scene as a child.

    It actually TERRIFIED me at first XD, then that fear it slowly transformed into awe and joy. That's what real art does, and that's the true magic of Jim Henson... Taking art and giving it a living, singing soul.

  • Inspired. The Muppets at their ultimate best.

  • GAGAGAGA

  • First time I heard this song was this presentation. I just saw Belafonte's tribute at Henson's funeral. It's appropriate because it has a circle-of-life theme.

  • 0:52-1:15, Profound statement, Mr. Belafonte! Spiritual musical journey follows that very inspiring comment.

  • Eight people need to turn their world around and pay attention to the pure JOY of this song!

  • A beautiful message Harry is sending out here through this song, only if the message would get spread a lot more and faster we could change the world around!!!

  • It's like joy in audio form!

  • I just heard this song yesterday at the District 9 IMEA concert. I played in the band and as soon as I heard this I wanted to get up and start dancing. Since I heard it yesterday I have listened to it 15 times. I am on my 16th time now. It is such an inspirational and enjoyable song. I can't stop listening to this song it is soo awesome!! It is just so much fun to listen and sing along with the video. This song is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @ChristianB102 haha i was in the chorus singing this!

  • I absolutely love this. The muppets all based on African masks are so fun and Harry is such a beautiful human. Thanks for sharing.

  • give it up for gonzos awesome but short trumpet solo at the end

  • I use to watch the Muppet Show, and this was like my jam as a little girl! lol Love this song! :)

  • happy birthday, jim. thanks for making the world a brighter place. this was one of my favorite muppet show moments as a kid. man is it great to see again.

  • This video is joy. Happy birthday, Jim Henson. We miss you.

  • my choir teacher showed us this and a kid in my class saw the girl puppet and said "thats me" (because he thought the girl puppet was a boy). but then she sang and my whole class burst out laughing. and my choir teacher said "hey thats you colten"

  • Man how can u not enjoy that piece! How wonerful!

  • From what I've learned, Belafonte and Henson had a history before in terms of musical interests, and Belafonte had a close share on this ep's script. No wonder this end sequence turned out to be so splendid!

  • Ai que lindo, mano <3

  • wow i sang that in my senior concert last year

  • the African mask muppets were created specifically for this song just for Harry Belafonte. He had such a magical voice.

  • We would sing this at my camp and go crazy, best time ever. :)

  • This song was sung at jim hensons funeral. 7 people don't know that.

  • I used this song for my after school clubs harvest festival performance, the kids loved it, we went down a storm and had to repeat the dance

  • Comment removed

  • absolutamente bellísimo!

  • Loved this since chilhood

  • I saw Harry Belafonte the other day at Yankee Stadium. I wanted to tell him that this episode is one of my favorites. Alas, I never got near him, but it was neat to see him in person. He looks good for his age.

  • Everybody who voted this down, that better have been gripes over sound quality. If not... prepare to be run off the internet.

  • this is from 1978. this episode was one of jim henson's favorites and belafonte sung this piece at henson's memorial in 1990.

    i don't want to be a nostalgia fan but what a great show, what a great man!

  • This was my favorite performance. Still is <3333333333

  • I get goosebumps -- every...single...time I hear this. Amazing.

    I want this played at my funeral.

  • I sang this song in my elementary school years. I think I sang this song in 3rd grade.

  • My little sister just texted me and reminded me of this. We use to sing it together when she and the other lil' bros' and sis' were little. Good times

  • in my opinion this is the best musical number in muppet history, with the possible exception of It's not easy being green, even waldorf and statler are singing!

  • It is nice how harry belofonte sang this song at jim henson's funeral. and the african puppets where made specially for the song. 

  • 7 people are not from the mountains

  • I was so young when this came out. 4th or 3rd grade and I was sick. I watched Johnny Bench and then this Sick as a dog. I was so moved. I fell in love with music at that exact moment. Turns out my best friend was sick also. We called each other and just went on a tangent how cool this was. White Kids suburban suburbs never saw stuff like this! Amazing! We didnt have VCR's and DVD's in those days so it was pretty heavy and moving!

  • TV Land show air the Muppet Show.

  • I miss you Jim.

  • he forgot air!!!!! or also known as wind!!!!! XD

  • The muppets in this are beautiful.

  • Jim said this was the greatest thing he ever did on the Muppet Show

  • @arouska

    And I believe Harry Belafonte had a lot of fun on this show, too, considering that he sang this song at Henson's funeral.

  • I love this version!!!! :) Finally I found it.

  • Harry Belafonte is NOT African. He is an American of Jamaican and Martinquan decent.

  • @airshotsphotoco and where did Jamaicans come from again...well the last time i check...Africa...so he is African

  • @lamijoe they techniaclly are native Jamaicans who have lived on that land for many centuries. They may look African but the bulk of Jamaicans are native Jamaicans who have lived their for ages. So techniaclly your wrong :) I like proving people wrong!

  • I miss the Muppets! Harry Belafonte is my all time favourite guest. I am so thrilled that my 9 year loves to watch them as well. Really quality family entertainment.

  • I havn't seen this since I was five or six years old. Thanks for posting it!

  • wow. this is great!

  • I love this me and Chours have to learn this!

  • one of my fav moments from the muppet show! jim henson really loved this song too

  • @miss09lauren Harry sang it for him at his memorial

  • I only heard this for the first time yesterday and I have visited this video about 25 times since then.. Incredible!

  • This Is So Much Better Than The I'm A Map Song From Dora The Explorer.

  • @tictixtiv OMG, have you seen comedian Brian Regan's bit on that. Look up Brian Regan Dora the Explorer and check it out-too funny :)

  • computer prostating! you will see that if you put on the captions!

  • Its so funny that I love the Muppets then yesterday at All County Rehearsal she tells us this song was on the muppet show! That was true Music!

  • the rythmin, is so good feeling ''Ooo so is light'' ''Aaahaa, so is light'' its so great rythmin=3

  • DAMN IT I MISS THIS SHOW!

  • Things like this were what made Muppets so very special.

  • hahaha were singing this song fro choir!

  • I LOVED this song so much when I was a kid, it makes me tear up a little seeing it now!!

  • @chloenightingale >i know that feel bro :')

  • Too bad Sam Eagle wasn't around to see this. He would've been very happy to finally see some "culture" actually being injected into The Muppet Show without any muck-ups at all.

  • I saw this when it first came on the air. I was always a muppet fan and the show had many great moments, but even at the time I knew I was seeing something special when I saw Harry and the gang sing this song. Truly a great moment in television.

  • da lil warrior things freak me outt

  • This was the item the producers were the most proud of and Harry sang it at Jim Henson's funeral because he loved it so much. Awesome.

  • I was super freaked by this as a kid. But i love it now.

  • love it!

  • Those mask - puppets were designed and created specifically for this one sketch and never used again. Somehow....I think that's appropriate. But I don't know why.

  • @cainster Actually, two of those African Mask Muppets did appear in the UK Spot for the Phyllis George episode in Season 4.

    

  • Do you know who I am?

    I'll be danged If I know.

    Jim Henson's favorite

  • The best song to sing!!

  • Ahhh :D This is so awesome! When I was a kid, I remember hearing him sing it on the Muppet show. I remembered it n when I went to university I taught it to my best friend n singing partner. We used to sing it, looking into each other's eyes, at coffee houses etc. I didn't remember all the verses though at that time. Too bad. This is a really profound song really. N Harry is such an amazing singer! Can you imagine singing surrounded by all those muppets? :D No wonder he's grinning so much :D

  • What an outstanding segment of an already great show! Harry Belafonte is an amazing talent, and the Muppet Show is still unrivaled as the greatest variety show with a conscience.

  • even waldorf and statler liked it, that is something we dont see every day.

  • great song

  • Nice, but that dancing gourd thing with no arms is freaky

  • Watching this only proves that modern children programing has gone way down hill! I so love the African muppets. They were soooo beautiful!

  • I really wanna give props to Jim Henson and the other creative people who worked on this segment. The details..the details in the African puppets..this predated any of the Lion King stuff (no disrespect to Julie Taymor). But how important the diversity of guests, acts, the craftsmanship, the details. You can see the love Jim Henson had for his work. I am an older forty something now,and I just wanna thank Mr Henson for all the races of people on the show. He saw us and that matters.

  • @mediamamachick I too love his work! It almost hurts to watch it sometimes, seeing the quality of creatively has gone down since his death. His work was truly remarkable. Beyond this world!

  • @Boudiga Harry has gone back to the spirit and he is sorely missed.

  • @kwnewfie You scared me for a min, I thought you were saying he died!

  • Jim henson knew ...

  • it kind of reminds me of the lion king

  • We DO know who to thank... the wonderful (and painfully gone too soon) Jim Henson and the many other creative geniuses with which he surrounded himself. I really needed to see this video after a long frustrating day.

  • This was one of-if not my absolute-favorite Muppet Show scenes of all time!

  • Tell you didn't laugh at 6:17 LOL

  • (About Children in GENERAL)I think it comes down to that we, as humans, used to give kids way more credit than we do now adays. I mean kids used to grow up and make decisions, and need to think for themselves at 12 and 13. MARRIED at 16 or 18 if they were lucky. Not saying that I think that is a better life, but the point is that they CAN do it. They CAN know responsibility and caution, friendship and feelings ... etc. etc. We just need to take the time to TEACH them it and believe in them.

  • @ShieAyla I know you posted this six months ago. But I totally agree. We literally have dumb down children and don't have faith in their abilities any more. Sadly its turning them into more compliant and sometimes down right stupid adults. Jim Henson in my opinion brought a sense of reason, creativity and understanding for both children and adults. Hence I'm 30 yrs old, carrying my first child and still love watching the muppets/fraggle rock even more than I did as a child.

  • again thanx for the posts

  • Such a great video! It makes me miss the muppets and wish they were still on tv.

  • One of my all time favourite moments.

  • Purr

  • *presses replay and rocks out*

  • One of my favorite muppet skits of all time - And when he reprised it at the Jim Hensen memorial, it made me cry. Truly amazing!!

  • I miss the muppets. The generation now the past and future would enjoy the simple humorous times.

  • Love this song, and the message. Can you believe that, at one time, this was on prime time TV? Wonderful

  • It's so touching when you consider that Harry Belafonte sang this song at Jim Henson's funeral.

  • @Dragonrose36 It was actually one of Jim's favorite songs.

  • @Dragonrose36

    Not only that... all the little touches. Is this the only time that S&W are actually 'with the party'? If not, it's one of the two, three times they are. And it's the only time the sax player hits the right note in the end... Henson really *did* love that episode.

  • u can totally here frank oz in fozzie :0)

  • Nice Post!!!! Thanks

  • YES!!!

  • thanks for posting this! brought a huge smile to my face along with lots of good memories. love harry's music.

  • lol i sang this in music class in 3rd grade

  • This was my favorite Muppet Show song.  Than you for posting it!

  • AWESOME !!!!

  • AWESOME !!!!

  • i haven't seen this for so so so long- thanks so much for posting, it was my favourite! x

  • We sing this in music

    lol

  • we sang this in fifth grade lol

  • lol my select chorus group is doingis song th and i got a solo #3

  • this is the song i have to learn for a play I'm in :')

  • Well, now you've got a role model for the song's general mood!

  • ME TOO!!!!! THATS SO KOOL!!!!!

  • awesome! :D

  • 6:14: The only time Waldorf and Statler actually ENJOY the show!

  • So inspiring...so creative...so wonderful!!

  • This is so incredible. Peace, love, music, beauty, nostalgia... all in one little six-minute video. I miss the days gone by.

  • Lord! I had this clip on VHS for years; it was one of my favourites. And Harry is one of the best entertainers I've had the privilege of seeing in person! He's still HOT.

  • This is why music is.......beautiful !

  • Wow... I was a kid of the 80s, but I remember seeing The Muppet Show as a 4-5 year-old. This was an ACTUAL family show, that could be enjoyed by the entire family, not just the kids - unlike today's "family" entertainment.

    I love it how all the muppets gather around Mr Belafonte as he gets into talking about where he gets his inspiration from. So expressive.

    They don't make shows like that anymore.

  • @thebbeenn I'm probably the same age as you as I also remember watching this episode on TV in the 80's and me and my sister singing this song for days afterwards.........ahh memories! :-)

  • @thebbeenn Agreed: This is why the second muppet show did`nt make it. I actually watched it hoping to see the "old school" style and it was`nt what the old show was

  • @thebbeenn SO you missed Sophia Loren strip dancing and Rolph talking about grabbing a beer and taking himself for a walk? Definitely NOT a childrens show. It was never meant for kids. It was a humorous show for adults...

  • @MotorCityKitty79 Absolutely - it was not a kids' show. Neither was Laverne and Shirley - lots of what the Christians pompously call "family" programming was intended for adults.

  • @thebbeenn Muppets was an adult show.

  • @thebbeenn Very well said. Finally a comment that is worthy of all the green thumbs. Our entire family enjoyed the Muppets every night they were on. This song, the way it was done, and the wisdom of Harry Belafonte, make it one of THE best bits from the Muppet Show :)

  • BOY DO I WISH THEY WERE STILL ON TV I ALWAYS WATCHED THE MUPPETS THEY ARE SO FUNNY I THOUGHT I REMEMBER MY BROTHER AND I ALWYS WATCHED THESSE GUYS PLEASE PUT THE MUPPETS BACK ON TV BECAUSE NOW THE SHOWS THESSE DAYS ARE VERY VIOLENT

  • @thebbeenn this song left a very deep impression on me aswell :)

  • @thebbeenn Agreed. It's a pity shows like this don't seem to be around these days.

  • We are from the mountain

    The highlands of Cape Breton

    Love U Harry

  • YES!!! This is one of my favorite bits -- out of a whole lot of 'em -- from one of the greatest TV shows EVER!!

    A brilliant song and I particularly love how Harry addresses Fozzy like he's talking to a real person -- really makes us believe Fozzy's real too.

    Not that he isn't ;-)

  • Thanx ....

  • notice its the only time the critics got along!! Harry brings such peace to this world, i would give anything to just shake his had and say thank you! THANKS FOR POSTING!!

  • I remember watching this with my mom when I was younger...oh, how I miss her. Thanks to all who made The Muppet Show possible. LOVE THE MUPPETS...even till this day :)

  • Happy Birthday Jim, Henson....legend. He would have been 73. Damn I miss this guy's work.

  • So is life.

  • i love the muppet show....i wish it was still on -Kristina

  • amazing!!!!!!!

  • I remember this when it came on and going to school singing the chorus during a game of tag at recess the next day

  • I remember Harry Belafonte saying how wonderful the masks were and that he was in awe that the Jim Henson & company did all that to make doing the song so special.

  • Yeah, Mon!

  • This was one of my favorite sketches on the show when I saw it as a kid, and it still is. I love the song, I love the video, and the sentiment is universal. Awesome clip.

  • I love this song by Harry Belafonte. I'm glad that they put this on YouTube.

  • this is an amazing song...Harry Belafonte is an amazing singer. :3 I wish this show was still on...

  • We all wish that, now more than ever...

  • Haha i have a concert with this song and i love it its really creatve ~~Callie Dahl

  • I'm in. Let's get to turnin'.

  • I remember when this episode aired (showing my age) but the message was so powerful and as far as I am concerned one of the best muppet episodes EVER! I wore out my tape deck playing this song over and over again!!!!

    Kermit summed it up best when the show ended for that episode...."Such a great show that we can barely bring ourselves to end it."

    Great song, positive message....Thank you for posting it!

  • we are learnig it in class.This is the best song i think we have learnd.Thing is we might sing it in the morning for our schools mothers day! COOL

  • we learned this in music class...

  • the unice thing about this song is that it has 5 counts in it not 4

  • Right, it's in 5/4 time.

  • According to the book "Street Gang" (about Sesame Street) this episode was Harry's very first public performance of this tune.

  • My music teacher wants me to download a bunch of youtube videos so she could play them in her class >_> This is one of them

  • very beautiful song

  • One of the best things I've ever seen on The Muppet Show. One of the aspects of this piece that I like is that it has a very uplifting and profound message, but it's not preachy. Harry Belafonte and Jim Henson presents their idea in an entertaining and pleasing way. Also, the music is wonderful. That always helps.

  • well said. kudos.

  • I don't care for the man's politics very much, but a great performer. The Muppet Show he did had several great songs.