One of my quirks is that I collect theme songs; Both to television show themes and professional wrestlers' entrance themes. It intrigues me that the entire premise of a show or personality can be condensed into a tune with lyrics that lasts for anywhere between thirty seconds to four minutes.
Take, for example, the Green Acres theme.
"Green Acres is the place to be
Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide.
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside!"
"New York is where I'd rather stay!
I get allergic smelling hay!
I just adore a penthouse view!
Darling, I love you, but give me Park Avenue."
"The chores!"
"The stores!"
"Fresh air!"
"Times Square!"
"You are my wife."
"Goodbye, city life."
"Green Acres, we are there!"
From this theme, we can interpret that the premise of the show is a married couple are moving out to the countryside; the husband (Eddie Albert) is looking forward to this new, relaxing, hard-working lifestyle very much, but the wife (Eva Gabor) enjoys the fast-paced, high-stress life of the big city. The most interesting is the pair of lines, "You are my wife," "Goodbye, city life." There's no way a line like that would make it into a theme song for today's television programs (ignoring the fact that most of today's TV shows are licensed overplayed radio hits, anyways), so you already get an indication that the show started before the women's liberation movement, when people still believed a woman's place was barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Oh, 1966. How quaint you seem, 54 years later.
For the record, I do not believe that to be a woman's place.
I'll be taking a look at TV show and wrestler themes more in the future, analyzing and dissecting some of my favorites. Stay tuned!
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