18 Talk

ABC-DEF-GHI

Music by	Joe Raposo
Lyrics by	Jon Stone and Joe Raposo
Date	1970
Source	Sesame Street
Publisher	Instructional Children's Music Inc. Jonico Music Inc.

Earliest Known Appearance: Episode 0096

"ABC-DEF-GHI" is a Sesame Street song from the show's first season. When Big Bird sees a long word that he doesn't understand, he sings it aloud as he tries to figure out what it means, pronouncing it "ab-ca-def-gi-jeckle-mi-nop-kwer-stoov-wix-iz". He is eventually reassured by the adults that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ is not a word but the alphabet.

In 1972, the sketch was retaped, using the soundtrack from The Sesame Street Book & Record, and in the 1980s, the original song was shown as a flashback in a sketch where Big Bird and some kids found a scroll of the alphabet in a trunk. (EKA: Episode 2955) He last performed "ABC-DEF-GHI" on Sesame Street on the Season 34 premiere, at a karaoke night that Alan hosted at Hooper's Store.

Outside of Sesame Street, Big Bird has performed "ABC-DEF-GHI" on several occasions, including with Flip Wilson on the premiere episode of The Flip Wilson Show, in Big Bird & the ABCs (a Sesame Street Live stage show), and on Evening at Pops: 2001. He also sang a verse of the song during the ending medley in Elmopalooza.

Elmo sang his own version of "ABC-DEF-GHI" in a 1989 episode, which later appeared on the album Sing the Alphabet. Big Bird's Mexican cousin, Abelardo, sang the song in an episode of Plaza Sésamo after seeing Manuel and Daniela make some letters. Even Stinky the Stinkweed sang a version of that song along with Big Bird in an episode from the 90s.