The Sesame Street Lyrics Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
4 min
The Sesame Street Lyrics Quiz
Image: PBS/HBO

About This Quiz

On May 1, 2019, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio installed a new street sign in his city, officially naming a section of West 63rd Street as Sesame Street. The honor came on the 50th anniversary of the beloved children's show, which made its debut in 1969. While the original goal of its creators was to help prepare disadvantaged kids for kindergarten, "Sesame Street" has spent the past half-century shaping kids from all walks of life. 

Not only does this series teach kids practical things like how to recognize letters, numbers, shapes and colors, but it also exposes young people to advanced topics like community, diversity and grief in an age-appropriate way, preparing them to face the complexities of modern life. Yet the series is so much more than just an educational experience, tucking all of these lessons into fun stories starring beloved characters, and puppets who can relate to kids in a different way than a human cast ever could. 

Of course, anyone who has ever seen this show knows that it includes plenty of music, from classics like "Sunny Day" and "C is for Cookie" to more obscure earworms like "Mahna Mahna" and "Elmo's Song." If we give you a bunch of "Sesame Street" lyrics, do you think you could fill in the missing words or phrases? Prove it with this quiz!

Clouds
PBS/HBO
"Sunny day, Sweeping the _____ away, On my way to where the air is sweet"
Blues
Clouds
Night
Dirt
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's always a sunny day on "Sesame Street," where the show's opening theme invites viewers to sweep the clouds away and take a few breaths of that sweet Street air. This tune has opened the show since its 1969 premiere, which means your parents probably know the lyrics as well as you do.

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Green
ABC
"It's not easy bein' _____, It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things"
Green
Ugly
Me
Red
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In "Bein' Green," Kermit the Frog laments how his particular hue can make it hard to stand out from all the other green in the world, from grass to trees and more. While this classic has been around since 1970, long-time viewers might remember Kermit performing a duet of "Bein' Green" with Ray Charles in a 1989 TV special.

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Simple
PBS
"Sing, Sing a song, Make it _____, To last your whole life long"
Simple
Funny
Loud
Fast
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

According to "Sesame Street," it only takes a simple song to create a tune that will make all your neighbors want to join in. While Bob the music teacher and his pal Miguel first performed "Sing" in 1971, it actually became a mainstream hit when The Carpenters did a cover in 1973 that shot up the Billboard charts.

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Oscar the Grouch
Youtube
"He'd frown a bunch, he ate _____ for lunch, and he'd never laugh"
Trash
Salad
Nails
Corn
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

These lyrics come from the song "Nasty Dan," performed by none other than Johnny Cash himself on a season five episode. Cash sang the song to Oscar the Grouch, crooning on about how Dan ate nails for lunch and eventually married an equally offensive gal named Nasty Pearl.

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Ernie
Youtube
"Yes, I want to visit _____, but I don't think I'd like to live there"
Paris, France
Sesame Street
Mexico
The moon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Believe it on not, "Sesame Street" premiered the very same year that man first stepped foot on the moon, so it's no wonder lunar tunes appeared in many episodes. In season 15, a reflective Ernie determined that while he would be happy to visit the moon, making a permanent move would leave him lonely for his friends.

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Rubber Ducky
NET
"_____ you're the one, You make bath time lots of fun"
Big Bird
Toy boat
Suds and bubbles
Rubber duckie
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

What would a bath be without a rubber duckie for company? Devoted "Sesame Street" fans will know that Ernie has maintained a tight bond with his favorite bath toy since the very first season of the show. The song was even nominated for a Grammy in 1971, but lost to another tune from the series.

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Letter B
NET
"Now in my hour of darkness there's a sound I know will comfort me....It's _____"
A telephone ring
Letter B
My heart beat
My favorite song
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This song devoted to the sounds of the Letter B actually got "Sesame Street" in hot water in the '80s. Northern Songs, who owned The Beatles catalog at the time, filed a lawsuit alleging that the tune was too similar to "Let It Be." Things were cleared up a few years later, when Michael Jackson bought the rights to the songs and licensed them to "Sesame Street" for a token price of $50.

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Born to Add
PBS
"Even though it makes them mad, Cause kids like you and me baby, We were born to _____"
Add
Run
Read
Write
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was Bruce Stringbean and the S Street Band who debuted "Born to Add" on a season 11 episode of the series. The parody of "Born to Run" by the Boss even managed to sneak in a reference to the Jersey Shore among its lyrics about counting and adding.

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Don't Walk
NET
"Here stands your heartbroken groom, Wedding bells ring out all over the block, But the signs says _____"
Stop
Yield
Don't walk
Jilt her
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Look, when the sign says "Don't Walk," you have to wait to cross the street, OK? Even if you're a puppet waiting to marry your beautiful bride ... who happens to be waiting at the church across the street.

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With the same voice
PBS
"We all sing _____, The same song, And we sing in harmony"
With the same voice
A song of our own
Happy birthday
For ice cream
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"We All Sing with the Same Voice" premiered on a season 14 episode of "Sesame Street" in 1981. Featuring a group of kids coming together on a playground in NYC, the tune reminded children that we can all live in harmony no matter our name, our looks or where we come from.

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Trash
PBS
"Oh I love _____, Anything dirty or dingy or dusty, Anything ragged or rotten or rusty"
Antiques
Trash
Trains
Cars
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bet you could guess that a Grouch who lives in a garbage can is a huge fan of trash in any form, from an old shoe to rotten fish to rusty musical instruments. This Oscar song dates back to the very first episode of the series, when our favorite Grouch was orange, rather than his trademark green.

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Finish my song
PBS
"Can you tell me which thing is not like the others, Before I _____"
Tell you the answer
Figure it out
Go back home
Finish my song
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"One of These Things is Not Like the Others" is a long-running "Sesame Street" classic that has taken on many variations. One common theme is that the singer usually asks viewers to spot what's different among a group of objects, letters, numbers or shapes before he or she finishes the song.

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Cookie Monster
Youtube
"C is for _____, That's good enough for me"
Carrot
Cat
Cookie
Caring
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If we told you this was a Cookie Monster song, could you guess that the missing word is cookie? While the point of the song "C is for Cookie" is to list a bunch of stuff that starts with C, your favorite monster really only cares about one of those things, and it's not cars or cats. Of course, times do change, so even Cookie Monster had to learn that cookies are a sometimes food in a lesson from Hoots the Owl in season 36.

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Elmo
YouTube
"This is the song, La la la la, _____ song"
Bert's
Elmo's
Grover's
Cookie Monster's
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Long before parents were swapping punches in toy stores to score a Tickle Me Elmo, this furry red muppet was singing "Elmo's Song" on "Sesame Street." The song debuted in 1989, and Elmo even taught Big Bird and Snuffy how to substitute their names for his to make tunes of their own.

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Friendly
PBS
"Don't go changing, Just to please me, Cause being _____ is not your style."
Friendly
Mean
Slow
Smart
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Billy Joel had a huge hit in the '70s with "Just the Way You Are," but he switched things up on this classic love song when singing it to Oscar the Grouch in an '80s episode of "Sesame Street." As Marlee Matlin signed the words, Joel admitted that being friendly just wasn't Oscar's style. Kermit and Sheena Easton also performed a duet of the tune in 1983.

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A person in your neighborhood
PBS
"The postman always brings the mail, Through rain or snow or sleet or hail, Cause a postman is _____"
A true professional
A person in your neighborhood
Crazy
Fast on his feet
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Sesame Street" had something in common with "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" in that both taught kids to recognize and celebrate the people who made up their communities. In this "Street" song, kids learn that the postman is "a person in your neighborhood, a person that you meet each day."

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Bert
Youtube
"People may smile but I don't mind, They'll never understand the kind of fun I have, 'Doin the _____"
Macarena
Mashed Potato
Pigeon
Dab
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Any longtime "Sesame Street" fan knows that Bert is a huge fan of pigeons. In fact, he even attends the Pigeon Convention in Peoria from time to time. The first time Bert did his trademark pigeon dance was way back in the '70s.

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Telephone rock
PBS
"Everybody sing now, Rock rock rock, The _____"
Telephone rock
Boat
Crocodile rock
Rainbow song
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A muppet band known as Little Jerry and the Monotones showed up in season six to sing "Telephone Rock" while cramming themselves into a phone booth and annoying the operator. It might be "the latest thing" according to the song's lyrics, but the operator was not impressed by the harassment, calling the cops to take the phone booth-cramming muppets to the slammer.

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Grover
YouTube
"Saw a _____ when I woke up today...He said wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo"
Pink hippopotamus
Monster in the mirror
Silly seagull
Red rubber duckie
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Grover saw a monster in the mirror in a 1990 episode of "Sesame Street," but your favorite lovable monster didn't let it bother him. He just made up a silly wubba wubba phrase because that monster was so silly. The tune is reminiscent of the classic 1971 book "The Monster at the End of This Book."

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Your grip is strong now
PBS
"U do me wrong now, _____, U really got a hold on me"
I'll never leave now
My song is done now
Your grip is strong now
I'm not your friend now
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Smokey Robinson transformed his classic Miracles tune into a kid-friendly favorite in a 1985 episode of "Sesame Street." Paired up with a giant letter "U" puppet, Robinson did his best to stay clear of the very friendly Ms. U, who had quite a strong grip on the iconic singer.

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Earthlings
PBS
"We are all _____, Spinning around together, On a planet of the Sun"
Aliens
Family
Neighbors
Earthlings
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Sesame Street" always worked to help kids find their similarities rather than their differences, pointing out that even if we have nothing else in common, we are all Earthlings! The song was originally an Elmo tune, but got a breath of fresh air thanks to a 2002 performance by R&B artist Jill Scott.

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Caribbean amphibian
PBS
"He's a _____, He likes to hop in the tropical sea, A frog in a coconut tree"
Caribbean amphibian
Frog on a log
Monster in motion
Lean green machine
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Where else would a Caribbean amphibian like Kermit hang out other than a coconut tree? This mellow tune debuted in the mid-'80s and even got the Jimmy Buffett treatment in 1998 on the "Sesame Street Elmopalooza" special.

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Hi-De-Ho
PBS
"The _____ Man, That's me, How'd you like to blow your top, Dig yourself some fine ree-bop"
Teacher
Wise old
Hi-De-Ho
Ice cream
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Legendary jazz band leader Cab Calloway was the perfect fit for "Sesame Street," as demonstrated by his season 12 appearance on the show. The Hi-De-Ho Man himself did a boppin' duet with a purple Two-Headed Monster with a backing band of muppets.

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Big Bird
YouTube
"If ever I find out what this word can mean, I'll be the smartest _____ the world has ever seen"
Monster
Bird
Muppet
Person
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In his song "ABC-DEF-GHI," Big Bird declared that he would be the smartest bird in the world if he could ever learn to pronounce that 26-letter word that started with A and ended with Z. His trademark tune first appeared in season one of the show, and Big Bird also did a performance of the song on "The Flip Wilson Show" in 1970.

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Honkers
Youtube
"We're gonna honk beep honk around the ______, One two three four, Honk honk honk honk"
World
School
Room
Clock
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A family of four muppets known as The Honkers did their own beepin' version of "Honk Around the Clock" on a 1982 episode of the series. While the title sounds a lot like "Rock Around the Clock," the tune actually had more of a "Runaround Sue" melody. In later seasons, the Count often performed this song.

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Song
PBS
"So la de da de dum, La de da de dum, What's the name of this _____?"
Place
Friend
Song
Show
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"What's the Name of This Song?" premiered in 1974 and was sung by the entire human cast, as well as Oscar and Big Bird. It showed up in various forms later in the series, its familiar "la de da de dum" chorus etched into the memories of generations of viewers.

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Food
PBS
"Hey _____, We've found that you're so healthful and nutritious, By the ounce or by the pound, Glad you're around"
Food
Veggies
Ice cream
Cookies
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sung to the tune of "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, "Hey Food" was a "Sesame Street" tribute to all kinds of chow. Sung by Cookie Monster and a muppet band called The Beetles, the tune mentioned foods from meat to fish to cheese, bread and even veggies.

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Four
PBS
"Ah yes, I used to fret a lot and fidget until I met that dazzling digit, I just adore _____"
Four
The floor
My chores
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Count ain't the only muppet who enjoys numbers; Big Bird was also a digit fan, as demonstrated in his song "I Just Adore Four." The tune debuted in 1975 as Big Bird hosted "The Number 4 Show" on a season six episode of the series.

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Dance myself to sleep
PBS
"In the still of the night, I stretch and I yawn and I breathe real deep and I _____"
Close my eyes to sleep
Dance myself to sleep
Stay up all night
Go back to bed
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Forget warm milk and sheep counting ... when Ernie needs to get to sleep, he gets up and dances! The song first showed up in the early '80s, with Ernie and his Boogie Woogie Sheep pals keeping poor Bert awake with all that singing and dancing.

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Count
PBS
"Faster, faster, it's so exciting, I could _____ until I drop"
Dance
Spin
Sing
Count
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Any "Sesame Street" fan knows that the show's resident vampire is a huge fan of counting. The Bela Lugosi-inspired Count first sang this song in the early '70s, when he was so eager to count that he knocked over Ernie's block pyramid so he could tally the blocks.

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The Word is No
PBS
"We'd be worse off without it, No doubt about it, Stand up and shout it, _____ is no fun!"
Work
No
School
Family
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When you're a kid, you hear the word "no" a lot, a fact which "Sesame Street" acknowledged with "The Word is No" on a late '80s episode. The tune, which talked about all the time kids might hear this two-letter word, was first performed by human characters Gina and Mason.

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Moon
PBS
"If ____ was cookie, Me think me would be, The happiest monster, You've ever seen"
I
Elmo
Moon
Broccoli
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If you really think about it, the moon kind of does look like a cookie, but this is especially true to Cookie Monster, who sees cookies everywhere he goes. In a 1982 episode, the big blue monster ponders whether he would eat a cookie moon or choose to leave it there to illuminate the sky. You might also remember a 2005 performance of this song when astronaut Buzz Aldrin made an appearance on "Sesame Street."

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Are you more Bert or Ernie?
YouTube
"Put down the _____, If you wanna play the saxophone"
Rubber Duckie
Clarinet
Candy
Phone
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's pretty hard to play a saxophone if you're holding a rubber duckie ... just ask Ernie, who learned this lesson via song in a 1986 episode. Elmo and comedian Ellen DeGeneres did their own version of the tune during season 27 in the '90s.

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Mahna mahna
PBS
"Ma mo mana mo, _____, ba dee bedebe"
I just don't know
Mahna mahna
Now we gotta go
Fiddle dee dee
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The classic "Mahna Mahna" song may sound like nonsense, but it's one of the more memorable songs to appear on the series. Jim Henson actually debuted this tune on a 1969 episode of "The Ed Sullivan Show," and it was also included in the premiere episode of "Sesame Street" that same year.

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Cereal
PBS
"I said I'll taste it, I'll give it a whirl, And now I am a _____ girl"
Vegetable
Cookie
Cereal
Material
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sung to the tune of Madonna's "Material Girl," the song "Cereal Girl" tells the story of a female muppet who has never tried cereal before. Of course, with the very first bite of this breakfast favorite, the girl becomes an instant fan in this song that debuted in a 1990 episode.

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Count it higher
PBS
"Mercy is that the best you can do, You've got to _____, I'd like to know who told you you could stop at three"
Check your work
Say your alphabet
Collect more leaves
Count it higher
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Don't just go with the standard one, two, threes; If you wanna make friends on "Sesame Street," you gotta "Count It Higher." This song first appeared on a 1973 episode in season 5, where it was performed by Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats, with lyrics teaching kids to count all the way to 10.

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Everybody Wash
PBS
"Good, and are all you kids ready? Now, everybody _____!"
Wash
Sing
Run
Eat
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Everybody Wash!" is one of those "Sesame Street" tunes that has been around since the very first episode. Sung by Ernie with some help from Bert, it teaches kids to get clean all over, from kneecaps to tummies.

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Big Bird - Sesame Street
YouTube
"Who's always handy when I need me, Firm as a feather in all kinds of weather, Me me _____"
Wonderful me
Silly me
Myself and I
Me and you
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In "Wonderful Me," Big Bird celebrates all of his own best qualities. The song that debuted in a 1977 episode of "Sesame Street" teaches kids to recognize their own strengths and build their confidence and self-esteem.

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Elephant
PBS
"Then I push a little button, And I open the door, Then I close it right away, Cause there is no room for more, I'm the _____ elevator operator"
Big Bird
Elephant
Octopus
Dinosaur
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Today's kids might not understand the concept, but there was a time when elevators had operators to make the lift go up and down safely. On a '90s episode of "Sesame Street," viewers met the Elephant Elevator Operator, who was so big that he couldn't actually carry any passengers with him inside the tiny space.

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People in my family
PBS
"I've got five _____, And there's not one of them I'd swap"
People in my family
Chocolate candies
New toys
Furry monster friends
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Five People in My Family" first appeared on a season one episode of the series, when music teacher Gordon sang it along with a group of muppets. Since then, it's taken on a bunch of variations, including counting the five fingers on a hand, or the five members of a monster family.

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PBS/HBO