"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" is a song from the 2012 feature film ''

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

'', with music composed by

Walter Murphy Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental " A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which top ...

and lyrics by Seth MacFarlane. Performed by

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

during the film's opening credits, the song was used as the film's main theme song. It was released by

Universal Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

on June 26, 2012. In January 2013, the song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

, but lost to "

Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...

" from the film of the same name. MacFarlane was also the host of the Oscars while also being nominated.

Background

Seth MacFarlane had sent

the script of ''

'' and said, "first of all, he wanted an old-fashioned score that would have themes for the individual characters. That idea intrigued me because in most summer films the score goes in and out of pop songs and isn't usually constructed that way. He also wanted a main title song that I could quote throughout the film." MacFarlane had sent Murphy a set of lyrics, a different set of lyrics than the ones they used in "Everybody Needs a Best Friend," and Murphy would then write the theme. When MacFarlane had started filming of ''Ted'' Murphy thought it would be funnier if the song were sung from the standpoint of Ted so he rewrote the lyrics. Murphy then did a Nelson Riddle–type arrangement–and when they started recording he got the idea of taking it

. Murphy flew to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

with the Pro Tools files of the work they did on the scoring stage at Fox with a big band and string orchestra.

Live performance and cover versions

performed the song live for the first time on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

''. Jones performed the song at the

ceremony on February 24, 2013. Seth MacFarlane performed the song in August 2014 at the Hollywood Bowl during a John Williams concert.

References

{{authority control Songs about friendship 2012 songs Norah Jones songs Songs written for films Songs written by Walter Murphy Works by Seth MacFarlane Ted (franchise)