A Frog, a Banjo, & an Indelible Message: Making "The Rainbow Connection"
June 22, 2019 4:56 AM Subscribe
Um, I thought Kermit's signature song was "It's Not Easy Being Green."
posted by carmicha at 6:55 AM on June 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 6:55 AM on June 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
I love Jamie Leonhart's interpretation. Previously on the blue.
posted by Chuffy at 7:32 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Chuffy at 7:32 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
YouTube serves me this song a lot. It knows me too damn well.
Jim Henson was born in my hometown and spent his youth just outside it. He moved away before he was grown, and he's not what you would call a traditional Mississippi artist or writer, but Kermit's swamp reflects something of the landscape of the Delta.* Mississippi is not generally considered a landscape of wonder or joy, and there are very good reasons for that. But from an early age, before I even knew that there was a Delta connection, I felt like Kermit was from where I was from, and could see the magic in it.
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* You can also see a bit of this in "Can You Picture That." The Delta is full of little field churches covered with vines.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:46 AM on June 22, 2019 [17 favorites]
Jim Henson was born in my hometown and spent his youth just outside it. He moved away before he was grown, and he's not what you would call a traditional Mississippi artist or writer, but Kermit's swamp reflects something of the landscape of the Delta.* Mississippi is not generally considered a landscape of wonder or joy, and there are very good reasons for that. But from an early age, before I even knew that there was a Delta connection, I felt like Kermit was from where I was from, and could see the magic in it.
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* You can also see a bit of this in "Can You Picture That." The Delta is full of little field churches covered with vines.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:46 AM on June 22, 2019 [17 favorites]
Just watching it and looking at the puppetry -- it's a good thing that Jim Henson had three arms and could breathe underwater. Seriously -- watch that again, and notice that BOTH OF KERMIT'S HANDS ARE MOVING, along with his mouth, and that you can see the water all the way around him. When I was five, I never noticed that -- of course Kermit could play banjo in a swamp and ride a bicycle, because he's a frog, and frogs ride bicycles and play banjos.
As an adult, when I started to read books about how they actually DID all this stuff... Henson's technical wizardry was, and is, mindblowing.
But I watch it again as an adult, and ... well, of COURSE Kermit can play banjo in a swamp and ride a bicycle, because he's a frog, and frogs ride bicycles and play banjos.
posted by Xiphias Gladius at 7:53 AM on June 22, 2019 [54 favorites]
As an adult, when I started to read books about how they actually DID all this stuff... Henson's technical wizardry was, and is, mindblowing.
But I watch it again as an adult, and ... well, of COURSE Kermit can play banjo in a swamp and ride a bicycle, because he's a frog, and frogs ride bicycles and play banjos.
posted by Xiphias Gladius at 7:53 AM on June 22, 2019 [54 favorites]
Mississippi is not generally considered a landscape of wonder or joy, and there are very good reasons for that
I think I agree with that. It's a beloved piece of nature. And there's something about the delta...
I have no right to really rhapsodize about it. I grew up in Jackson, which is a different world. But I know enough to know the delta is something else.
posted by billjings at 8:22 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think I agree with that. It's a beloved piece of nature. And there's something about the delta...
I have no right to really rhapsodize about it. I grew up in Jackson, which is a different world. But I know enough to know the delta is something else.
posted by billjings at 8:22 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Not just any banjo, a left-handed one!
posted by aubilenon at 8:46 AM on June 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 8:46 AM on June 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
Plus he was Little Enos in Smokey and the Bandit. That always amused me.
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:04 AM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:04 AM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Gonzo is Paul Williams' favorite Muppet.
It's so obvious once the article mentions it.
"I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" is such an underappreciated brilliant song.
posted by cheshyre at 9:09 AM on June 22, 2019 [17 favorites]
It's so obvious once the article mentions it.
"I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" is such an underappreciated brilliant song.
posted by cheshyre at 9:09 AM on June 22, 2019 [17 favorites]
Somehow it never really registered, when reading Henson biographies as a kid, that he was from Mississippi. Just one state over from where I was growing up. And now here I am sitting in an apartment in New Orleans, finally back home after a long journey that started when I went out to California to chase the dream of "a home at the Magic Store" (as the finale of the Muppet Movie put it, before segueing into a whole-cast reprise of "Rainbow Connection") in the form of a career in animation that didn't work out.
And now I'm seeing the Muppet Movie as a strange mix of crypto-autobiography and propaganda. I grew up in the swamps, it says. I got together a merry crew of crazies who can put on a show despite their numerous flaws, and we went to the Promised Land of Hollywood, it says. Come. You can do this too. Come join us, it says.
But there's only so much room in the Magic Store, and some of the shops are shittier than others, and some of the jobs involve a lot more grinding on projects you suspect are bad for humanity as a whole than others. And Hollywood's gotten a lot harder to survive in as corporations consolidate. So here I am back in the swamps. At least it's still gorgeous down here, and I learnt things out there I wouldn't have learnt if I'd never left.
I dunno if I should thank Henson for being one of the voices whispering that siren song to young adult me, or curse him.
posted by egypturnash at 9:10 AM on June 22, 2019 [22 favorites]
And now I'm seeing the Muppet Movie as a strange mix of crypto-autobiography and propaganda. I grew up in the swamps, it says. I got together a merry crew of crazies who can put on a show despite their numerous flaws, and we went to the Promised Land of Hollywood, it says. Come. You can do this too. Come join us, it says.
But there's only so much room in the Magic Store, and some of the shops are shittier than others, and some of the jobs involve a lot more grinding on projects you suspect are bad for humanity as a whole than others. And Hollywood's gotten a lot harder to survive in as corporations consolidate. So here I am back in the swamps. At least it's still gorgeous down here, and I learnt things out there I wouldn't have learnt if I'd never left.
I dunno if I should thank Henson for being one of the voices whispering that siren song to young adult me, or curse him.
posted by egypturnash at 9:10 AM on June 22, 2019 [22 favorites]
My niece was born to the Willie Nelson version. When she was 9 she sent me a letter telling me how she and her buddy came up with time travel recipe which was "nuclear waste and 10,000 jems".
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
This is a great example of what's so moving about the Muppets to me, after all these years - that even people who participated in the making of the magic are still in awe of the magic created.
posted by jocelmeow at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by jocelmeow at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
egyptyurnash, I watch the Muppet Movie finale on a regular basis and it it never fails to bring me to tears. I am completely disabled and mostly bedridden. The reason I go back to it is the total collapse of the artificial scenery, and that in the midst of the destruction of all of those carefully laid plans, there's an opportunity for the unexpected to emerge. What it says to me is that even if our fondest dreams get destroyed, those of us who are weirdos have the opportunity, wherever we are, to try to make more room in the world for other weirdos to find their place.
posted by jocelmeow at 9:34 AM on June 22, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by jocelmeow at 9:34 AM on June 22, 2019 [27 favorites]
I have a lot of feelings for "Happiness Hotel" too. It's goofy instead of gentle, but it also reminds me that there's somewhere to find your people.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:36 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 9:36 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
Props to the Yo Gabba Gabba! folks for getting Paul on the show to sing it.
Watching it with the kids warmed my crotchety-old Gen-X heart.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:37 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Watching it with the kids warmed my crotchety-old Gen-X heart.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:37 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
BTW, since the article only mentions this as an aside, next month Fathom Events will be screening the film in movie theaters around the country (America).
Locations & showtimes
posted by cheshyre at 10:18 AM on June 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Locations & showtimes
posted by cheshyre at 10:18 AM on June 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Getting married 4 weeks from today and we are walking in to this song. I cannot say enough about how much it means to me.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:11 AM on June 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 11:11 AM on June 22, 2019 [15 favorites]
I frequently think about the impact The Muppets, and this song in particular, had on my ways of moving through the world. My life is the better for Kermit The Frog (my very first crush) and the merry band of weirdos along with him.
Like Navelgazer, this was the song I walked into when I married. It was played by a dear friend on the flute and this song just keeps meaning more every year. It is so powerful.
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 11:20 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
Like Navelgazer, this was the song I walked into when I married. It was played by a dear friend on the flute and this song just keeps meaning more every year. It is so powerful.
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 11:20 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
Um, I thought Kermit's signature song was "It's Not Easy Being Green."
I like to think of it this way: "It's Not Easy Being Green" is Kermit's theme song, and "Rainbow Connection" is Jim Henson's. Paul Williams was able to boil down the very essence of Jim Henson in that song, and Kermit, Jim's avatar, conveys it in a way that Henson by himself might not have succeeded with.
posted by briank at 1:29 PM on June 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
I like to think of it this way: "It's Not Easy Being Green" is Kermit's theme song, and "Rainbow Connection" is Jim Henson's. Paul Williams was able to boil down the very essence of Jim Henson in that song, and Kermit, Jim's avatar, conveys it in a way that Henson by himself might not have succeeded with.
posted by briank at 1:29 PM on June 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
I’d forgotten this song completely until a few years ago, on the JoCo cruise. John Hodgman sang it in the style of Tom Waits, with Jean Grae singing harmonies. Simply magical.
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 3:06 PM on June 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 3:06 PM on June 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
This song will be played at my funeral.
posted by matildaben at 4:22 PM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by matildaben at 4:22 PM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I did not know John Hodgman could sing, much less like Tom Waits. I really must go on that cruise someday.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:32 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 5:32 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes, you really must.
posted by blurker at 6:33 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by blurker at 6:33 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I never got to see The Muppet Movie when I was of an age that I would imprint on it. I remember singing the song in elementary school and thinking it was nice, but it didn't become an anthem for me.
Maybe I've become more sentimental as a robust man of middle years, but I developed a new appreciation of it during the episode of Defunctland's DefunctTV: Jim Henson that covered that period. The idea of having a found family of fellow weirdos that shares your dream of a happier world just chokes me up in 2019. (This program is outstanding. Eagerly anticipating the last two episodes. If you're a Muppet fan, please do make the time.)
posted by ob1quixote at 10:14 PM on June 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
Maybe I've become more sentimental as a robust man of middle years, but I developed a new appreciation of it during the episode of Defunctland's DefunctTV: Jim Henson that covered that period. The idea of having a found family of fellow weirdos that shares your dream of a happier world just chokes me up in 2019. (This program is outstanding. Eagerly anticipating the last two episodes. If you're a Muppet fan, please do make the time.)
posted by ob1quixote at 10:14 PM on June 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
Kermit was the first boy I thought I'd end up marrying. Five year old me was great at figuring out what qualities I wanted in a man because the things I loved about Kermit are the things I still love about guys at 46.
This song is my #1 favorite song, ever. Gotta be the Kermit version, though.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:09 AM on June 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
This song is my #1 favorite song, ever. Gotta be the Kermit version, though.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:09 AM on June 23, 2019 [6 favorites]
Something that I'm supposed to be.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 3:54 AM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 3:54 AM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
My Dad introduced me to the muppets and so Rainbow connection was our father/daughter dance at my wedding.
He also taught my sister to play the guitar (me too, but I had better luck with a uke) and this one of the songs she learned.
love this song.
posted by freethefeet at 5:08 AM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
He also taught my sister to play the guitar (me too, but I had better luck with a uke) and this one of the songs she learned.
love this song.
posted by freethefeet at 5:08 AM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
What I remember being so startling about The Muppet Movie is that suddenly, the Muppets were out in the real world. Before then we'd seen them nearly entirely on indoor sets of various types. But now they're in swamps (okay, that's a set) and riding bicycles around parks and driving cars...
Muppet Movie 1979 camera test: The banter is so hilariously improvised.
posted by mikelieman at 5:15 AM on June 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
Muppet Movie 1979 camera test: The banter is so hilariously improvised.
posted by mikelieman at 5:15 AM on June 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
Rainbow Connection was also my wedding song! It’s got the perfect tempo for it. Also it’s a perfect song and Kermit is obviously a real live frog.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:31 AM on June 23, 2019
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:31 AM on June 23, 2019
This immediately reminded me of poem by the late-lamented John M Ford;
THE FINAL CONNECTION
Why are there so many songs about hearses?
The way to the uttermost side,
Hearses go fast, and traffic parts for them,
But who's in a hurry to ride?
Wagons and roads are an eloquent metaphor,
Gentling and straightening the way,
Everyone takes that last exit to Brooklyn,
Home at the end of the day
Remember the start of Magnificent Seven?
Steve and Yul drove to Boot Hill,
Just a small fable of folks being equal,
And going to sleep where you will.
Tickets and transfers and waiting for answers
At something so common yet strange,
Someday you'll ride it, the last train to Clarksville,
All classes, all stations . . . all change.
Look out the window and wave to the strangers
What do they see in the glass?
Up ahead, can you see, we've stopped for Emily,
There will be more as we pass.
Savor the journey, however you're going,
It's been your whole life to get there,
Someday I'll travel, without reservations,
I hope I've two coins for my fare.
posted by Fuchsoid at 1:08 PM on June 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
THE FINAL CONNECTION
Why are there so many songs about hearses?
The way to the uttermost side,
Hearses go fast, and traffic parts for them,
But who's in a hurry to ride?
Wagons and roads are an eloquent metaphor,
Gentling and straightening the way,
Everyone takes that last exit to Brooklyn,
Home at the end of the day
Remember the start of Magnificent Seven?
Steve and Yul drove to Boot Hill,
Just a small fable of folks being equal,
And going to sleep where you will.
Tickets and transfers and waiting for answers
At something so common yet strange,
Someday you'll ride it, the last train to Clarksville,
All classes, all stations . . . all change.
Look out the window and wave to the strangers
What do they see in the glass?
Up ahead, can you see, we've stopped for Emily,
There will be more as we pass.
Savor the journey, however you're going,
It's been your whole life to get there,
Someday I'll travel, without reservations,
I hope I've two coins for my fare.
posted by Fuchsoid at 1:08 PM on June 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
I watch the Muppet Movie finale on a regular basis and it it never fails to bring me to tears
That was nice, thanks. I have TRC on my piano rotation.
posted by M-x shell at 2:34 PM on June 23, 2019
That was nice, thanks. I have TRC on my piano rotation.
posted by M-x shell at 2:34 PM on June 23, 2019
That song is everything right that they got wrong in the recent Muppets series...
posted by pt68 at 6:42 PM on June 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by pt68 at 6:42 PM on June 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Paul Williams is a national treasure. If you don't think so...well, you should anyway.
posted by Quasimike at 1:32 PM on June 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Quasimike at 1:32 PM on June 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Daft Punk song Touch, with lyrics and vocals by Paul Williams, has a "madcap" section in between the spacey parts that always gave me a Muppet Movie vibe. Which must have been intentional. Kermit appears in this promo where Williams talks about working with them at Henson Studios (formerly A&M), where they wrote and recorded all the Muppet Movie music including Rainbow Connection. Among zillions of other hits of course.
posted by mubba at 7:14 PM on June 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by mubba at 7:14 PM on June 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
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