Square One: Nine Nine Nine

[wednesday55]

196 likes, 2 dislikes

1+9+6+2=18, 1+8=9

It works out every time! :)

[pattypopping]

Another 9

9/9/99

[TheAnxietyCloset]

Hello Norman Wilson, what a lovely voice you have....that is Reg Cathay singing, isn't it?

[MIKESOWELL]

This brings back memories....lol.

[ClintonC1991]

189 likes..... 1+8= 9 :)

[Motionedout]

Moderator: Mr. Cain, he mentioned your plan, would you care to respond in song?

Cain: Yes...yes, I would.

[meade18]

when will this become herman cain's official song?

[sapperzulu]

Oh Mr. Cain, why didn't you tell us about this?

[RipleyisBA]

That's where Herman Cain got his tax plan!

[Zalis116]

@RipleyisBA

Exactly my thought when I first heard about it.

[gremlintown]

@sirhatchporch glad to know I wasnt the only one who spent saturday mornings watching PBS ^_^

[SirHatchporch]

@gremlintown LOL  For me, it was on after school, in the late afternoons. This was in the late '80s.

[gremlintown]

i thought of this as soon as i heard herman cain....

[SirHatchporch]

@gremlintown LMAO! Me too!

[mdhenshaw]

Herman Cain!! This song is going to come back.

[arrow325]

@AuburnAttack

No, that's the wrong kind of nine. Lol.

[OnAnElephant]

This is Herman Cain's favourite song.

[erinpuff]

Herman Cain, is that you?

[AuburnAttack21]

NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN!!! *pounds desk*

[tnafan67]

i loved this

[parlet]

It's good to see that I'm not the only one that will remember this song for life!

[SirDorkusMalorkus]

I haven't seen this video in around 20 years, yet the song would pop into my head at random throughout my life. Thanks to the uploader for finding this gem.

[theeponym]

I wonder if he used this knowledge to help Tommy Carcetti become mayor.

[GottaBKD]

@theeponym Is that a Back to the Future reference?

[theeponym]

@GottaBKD The Wire.

[pattypopping]

Dont worry... you can watch it on 9/9/19

[5thNO202]

I'll never forget this song..in my head if im ever doing multiplication i always hear "it all comes back to nine!".....by the way this guy acted on the HBO series The Wire as Mayor Carcetti's advisor..

[EvilShallWin]

HOLY SHIT! This = inspiration for 999 DS!

(9 persons, 9 hours, 9 doors)

[thecarlhafer]

For 2 people, it doesn't always come back to 9

[routleyd3930]

@thecarlhafer math was not their strong suit apparently.

[Tamakun23]

3,487. OH MY GOD I REMEMBERED THE BIG NUMBER.

[johnmanigold]

@Tamakun23 i've used this one many times... :-)

[KinomiyaMichiru]

To this day,I remember this. Makes multiplying by 9 super easy.

[blaktigr84]

Problem is the only number that it doesn't work with is 0

[Tygore]

@blaktigr84 0 is a jerk, always breaking rules. Try using it in division, and if it doesn't get to be on top it throws a HUGE fit.

[johnmanigold]

@blaktigr84 shhhhhh

[escottish140]

This song helped me with my elementary school tests. I still get this song stuck in my head. I miss shows like this. Kids today are missing out.

[MurasakiYugata]

I actually never fully memorized my times tables, so this song has been helpful to me for years. Very catchy too.

[duetforguitars]

Man, considering how much I watched this show when I was young, I should be a hell of a lot better with numbers...

[duetforguitars]

Man, considering how much I watched this show when I was young, I should be a hell of a lot better with numbers...

[adennak]

Holy crap. I've had this song stuck in my head for about twenty-five years.

[RCast]

This is one reason why 9 is my favorite number. Did you know that if you wrote the first ten multiples of 9 vertically, the tens would go 1,2,3,4 etc., white the ones would go 9,8,7,6 etc. Try doing that with mulitples of 4 or 7!

[junbh2]

I still get this song stuck in my head every once in a while decades later... I also for years used the related trick for the nine times tables up to 9x10, where you hold up both hands and fold down the nth finger to multiply 9 by n. The fingers to the left of the lowered finger will be the 10s column and to the right will be the ones column.

[DoubleMiz]

When I first saw this, I was trying this trick with every number I could think of, and it holds up every time! Example, I tried 85 X 9 = 765, 7 + 6 + 5= 18, and 8 +1 is 9. It all REALLY comes back to 9!

[lmt425]

oh my gosh, someone seriously needs to find the infinity song and put it up!!!

[Tangboxx]

Now let's watch this 8 MORE TIMES!

[PlacentaPudding]

A 16 year old + 1 Waterbed + 3 Pornographic magazines + 2 Internet-ready computer + 10 Beers + 2 Marijuana Cigarettes + 1 Chris Hanson + 1 "Have a seat over there" ---------------------------- = 36 Years in Prison 3+ 6 = 9! It always works!

[erinjaneln]

This is show is how i knew all my multiplication facts before 3rd grade!

[Rikun1]

@erinjaneln I'm the same way. I didn't start failing math until PBS took it off our local station.

[AshAddie]

Trent does not approve. P:

[SemajPetrille]

It's my ass, Norman!

[kamikazi445]

why didnt i watch this on 9/9/09. STUPID STUPID STUPID

[cloggerstud]

@kamikazi445

[mcopher]

i remembered this song today, turn out there's 99 ratings. no way. so i'll break the curve and be 100

[AdricMayall]

happy 9/9/9 everyone!

[QMulative]

aw! You beat me to it :D

[captainhero518]

This would be an appropriate song for September 9, 2009, wouldn't it? :D

[MysticalChicken]

This is exactly why I am watching it today.

[Veldari]

happy birthday Lexi!!!

[onlyone1990]

Haha, happy belated birthday Lexi :D

[mrsziggystarlet]

Happy 9th B-day Lexie!!!

[MalquiLans]

Hey! I just read your comment - it was posted "(9 hours ago)" !!!

Yes, Happy Birthday, Lexi :)

[thenerocomplex]

hmm. 63rd comment. 6+3=9.

you do the math.

the magic is in my hands.

[jj1oo2ee3]

i absolutely loved this show so any clip i see gets a five star. also this song illustrates the reason why nine is my favorite number.

why is this on noggin my noggin kid isnt even near multiplication yet.

[LadyHawke78]

I remember when I first saw this as a kid. It completely blew my mind that I never noticed that all of my "9" times tables all added up to nine in the end. BLEW. MY. MIND I tell you. And the song always got stuck in my head... Square One was awesome shit.

[305android]

I can totally relate. It was like the most amazing thing I had ever heard lol.

[JonathanShomali]

my teacher showed me this song when he was trying to teach us how to multiply by nine i used to be bad but now i am an expert!

[Twilightsymphonies]

Holy crap, how in the hell did I never learn this before now? Damn, I watched all the wrong shows.

[streamnizzle]

i remeber this song! I'm a big math nerd this takes me back.

[filamacan]

Is this guy "Sho'Nuff" from Berry Gordy's "The Last Dragon"?

[comorbid]

Nope. If I'm not mistaken, this is Reginald Cathey. Sho'nuff was played by the late Julius Carry.

He DID, however play Dirty Dee in Pootie Tang.

[meprice82]

I still use this song to this day whenever I multiply by 9! I loved this show!

[nataschaafsma]

Wait, this is how I learned my nine times tables, for real! I remember being so proud of myself! (Sadly, I never quite mastered 6, 7 and 8. I shall have to search Square One videos for catchy songs!)

[nataschaafsma]

I remember this song!!!  Oh my goodness! lol

[sirkettle]

jesus christ , i was after a punk band called 999 from england and this came up bit of a shock , but a funny tune made me laugh cant be a bad thing kettle oxford england

[podcastbard]

this is one of my favorite square one songs. There is another pattern to Nine that also proves its a repeater. Watch the video again and look at the answers. :)

[podcastbard]

its a pattern that also always works. :)

[Bimmyjond]

Wow, I have always remember this song. I was so ahead of my third grade class.

[renetrice]

i want to be little again!

[jirris]

wow, I wish I would have heard this song when I was learning multiplication tables.  I had such a hard time with the 9's

[wbenpc]

Haha I was talking about this show and this song the other day. This song and "Mathematics of Love" are the most memorable for me.

[ManekiNeko1972]

You know, I never noticed how unbelievably musically diverse that Square One TV was -- you literally had jazz, rock, punk, country, rap and I'm sure there are others I've forgotten, all done with a math theme.

These guys were geniuses, even if it seems campy by today's standards.

[sararkd]

Nostalgic!

I thought i'll never hear it again.

[blueeyedboy542003]

God, this makes me miss my youth, lol.

[MaishaIfe]

I teach my students this song every year!

[WireLover]

I periodically think about this song when I'm counting by nines.

[psycho04]

omg!! i sooo remember this song!! this song taught me abt the magical property of nine!!

[patrickballoonman]

It's what Pat Tuesday and George Frankly would later refer to as the "9-Whizzer."

Don't ask me why. And PLEASE... no off-color jokes.

[imjones]

he'll always be the square one guy to me! i still remember these lyrics lol

[bubbabeatz1]

No one even Recognizes the Lead Singer is Reg E. Cathy who plays Norman Wilson on the Wire, he also played, Warden Querns on OZ.....

[Lovejoy662]

Is it sad to know that this is how I passed a nines table multiplication test in school, remembering the lyrics to this song?

[NDW85]

Does anyone have the segment where the same houseband is singing round it off?

[jackbauerpowerhour]

rofl i remember this... love public broadcasting!!

[beem1981]

i use this with my students too! not the song but the concept. i used to sing it to them, at least they will now know that i wasn't just making it up.

[mbenzsl2000]

Not unless your talking about Natural numbers, and not just plain integers or real numbers.

technically 0 isnt a natural number, but has been included in some of its definitions.

[owenpeterson]

the only thing that does not come back to 9 is 9 x 0 and that equals 0 just like anything else that you multiply times 0, just in case you haven't noticed.

[unclefestus]

Ya know, I didn't think about that, but you're right. 9 X 0 = 9... which doesn't come back to 9. I guess it's any number you can find (greater than one without decimals or fractions) that comes back to nine.

[unclefestus]

Damn, I'm such a moron. 9 X 0 = 0. I feel like an idiot.

[andreathesmall]

But 0 isn't a number, it's a placeholder. Like an empty glass next to a full one. So if you take the rule literally, it works.

[unclefestus]

Is that why he says for 90 "just drop the zero sign," instead of saying 9 + 0 is 9?

[hamsterama]

This song has been popping in and out of my head over the past 15 years, and I'm so glad to see that someone's uploaded it onto YouTube. It's really fascinating that any two numbers you multiply together had a nine connection.

[IvanStrelnikov]

I started searching for Mr. Wizard, then i remembered Square 1. This song has been with me for 20 years, and the principle illustrated within has actually proved very handy. I'm gonna sit my little brother in front of this as soon as i can.

[cyshadowx]

OMG I remeber this!! lol nice

[vergas115]

i still sing this song when i have to multiply by nine! now i can share this with my students thanks for posting!

[JustLikeIcarus]

whoever wrote this show was a genius...yes, im 27 and can still remember the lyrics even before i unpause : )

[shtooley]

I will never forget this. the reason I know the 9 times table to this day! LOL!

[mindyj77]

omg. i totally remember all the words to this song.

[cobra12au]

This blew my mind. Wow, I love it.

[rse506]

You can't really see it in this video, but as a kid, my favorite part was Arthur, who was playing the bass and looking quite dour.

[Ch33s3r]

I hadn't seen this in about 15 years and i found myself still remembering the song and singing it to myself at random times lol

[sussix6]

I still sing this song in the shower...and when i need to multiply anything by nine. Yay square one!

[KBarrick]

OMG. That's all I can say.

That and I'm so happy to be finding others who loved Square One.

[alisonnicole84]

OMG I can't believe it! I used to love this show & nobody ever knows what I'm talking about!!! They also had a song about Archimedes.

[thecarlhafer]

Thanks for posting this! I've been singing this for years, but no one I sang it to ever remembered it. This has confirmed to me that I'm not insane, and I didn't make it up.

[medboy78]

OH MY GOD.. I REMEMBER THIS!! lol

[btrfly578]

I remember this all to well. Watched it all the time when I was in Middle School. I wish it was still on along with Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego

[mattstan]

I loved this show when I was a kid.

Too bad there weren't also wacky PBS shows about multi-variable calculus or number theory, or my overachieving days might have lasted beyond middle school...

[Nightmarez013]

I've been singing this song in my head for YEARS since I was a kid. Awesome post!

[bkkbrad]

Thank you; I loved this song as a kid!

[lesliekwan]

This is the best show on earth. Along with Reading Rainbow.

[Jennifer8080]

oh man, i still remember this!

[FuzzyContrl]

"it all comes back to nine!" I love this vid. Thats how i taught my siblings their 9 multiplication table. If their answer didnt add up to 9 then its wrong. Can you post some more of these vids?

[wvoutlaw2002]

Little did everybody know, the black cowboy would be bad-ass Martin Querns on "Oz".

[mitchelltrio]

Me, too! I am so glad to see this again!

[coolnigh]

oh my god, i still sing this song