"C Is For Cookie", by

Joe Raposo Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer and songwriter. He is best known for his work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', for which he wrote the theme song, and several no ...

, is a song about the letter C performed by

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating catchphrases, such as "Me want cookie!" As ...

(

Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...

), a Muppet character from the preschool television series ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. It was first performed in Season 3, although it had been released on '' The Muppet Alphabet Album''. Along with Kermit's " Bein' Green" and

Ernie Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis ...

's "

Rubber Duckie "Rubber Duckie" is a song written by Jeff Moss, arranged by Joe Raposo and originally sung by Jim Henson who performed it as the Muppet character Ernie on the television program ''Sesame Street''. The song is named after Ernie's toy, a rubb ...

", it is one of the show's most recognizable songs. The original version was made in 1971 and was one of the few Sesame Street sketches directed by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

Plot

The song opens with Cookie Monster asking what starts with the letter C. He then produces a cookie as an example of what he's thinking about and starts to suggest naming other things that start with C, but decides against it and sings the first verse of the song. The second verse of the song is a repeat of the first verse, but Cookie is joined by a few other monsters ( Herry Monster and Grover Monster among them) and

Oscar the Grouch Oscar the Grouch is a List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/HBO children's television program ''Sesame Street''. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a Sesame Street (fiction ...

. During the music interlude of the song, Cookie adds how two foods can look like a C when a big bite is taken out of them (a cookie and a doughnut (the doughnut was replaced by pita bread in the 1993 version of the song)) and how even the moon in its waning crescent phase looks like a C, despite not being food. Cookie and the monster chorus then sing a second repeat of the first verse and, after a couple of repeats of the song's final line, Cookie eats the cookie, much to the annoyance of the monster chorus.

History

According to the Muppet Central article on the "Songs from the Street" boxed set, "In 1971,

and his performers teamed with Jerry Juhl, Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss to write a sketch on each letter of the

alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

". ''C Is For Cookie'' derives from this project. Actress

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the title character on '' Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmi ...

lip-syncs the song when she visited ''Sesame Street''. A version was included on ''

Sesame Street Fever ''Sesame Street Fever'' is a concept album made by the cast of Sesame Street in 1978. It follows the characters as a love of disco sweeps Sesame Street. The album heavily parodies '' Saturday Night Fever'', and the cover features Grover where ...

''. A 12" promo single included disco remixes by

Larry Levan Lawrence Philpot (July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992), known as Larry Levan ( ), was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the moder ...

and Roy Thode. In 1993, a new operatic version was taped, featuring opera singer

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Berneice Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient ...

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

, in an Egyptian setting with a pyramid made entirely out of cookies in the background. At the end of the song once "Cleopatra" is carried away out of sight, Cookie Monster appears in Egyptian attire and pulls a cookie off the pyramid, causing it to collapse with a huge crash while he eats it. Since then, several authorized and unauthorized versions of the song have been produced, including "funky" and "sweet" versions released on the 2003 record ''Cookie Monster & the Girls''. Laura Pace's review of the home video '' Elmo's World: The Street We Live On'' noted 'the bizarreness of "C is for Cookie" done in ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

''-style opera'. A short reprise of the song is also performed by Cookie Monster and the cast of ''Sesame Street'' on the 1975 album '' Bert & Ernie Sing-Along''. In addition, since the advent of YouTube, there have also been recordings of the song, regular and operatic, in reverse, under such titles as "C Is For Cookie Reversed" or "Cheese Good For Fleas" (which is what the phrase "C is for Cookie" sounds like dubbed backwards). Sheet music of the song has been published by the

Hal Leonard Corporation Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Cur ...

, Sheet Music Plus, and others. The toy "Letter of the Day Cookie Jar" features Cookie Monster saying a short phrase about each letter. For "C", he says "C is for Cookie". He also adds that a donut is a 'C' if you eat part of it.

References

External links

* * Raposo, Joe
C Is For Cookie – lyrics
{{authority control Sesame Street songs Songs written by Joe Raposo 1971 songs Songs about food and drink Songs about language Cookies in popular culture