Bruce Hart and the Ability to Go Back to a Happy Place
When my friend and co-conspirator, writer/director/documentarian Mary Pat Kelly, told me about the passing of lyricist Bruce Hart, we talked a little about how one's legacy will be portrayed after their passing. In the end, it is something over which we may not have great control.
Mr. Hart will be forever known as then man who wrote the original Sesame Street lyrics. And anyone under 45 probably spent at least some time with the show that started with the forever happy lyrics, "sunny day, sweeping the clouds away... can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"
I was reminded of an episode of the almost perfect television series "My So-called Life." Rayanne and Ricky and Angela were waiting outside a movie theater. Rayanne was clean and sober and exuberant and broke into the theme from Sesame Street for all to hear. And people responded. All these people in line, mostly in their teens and twenties smiled, laughed and joined in. Abandoning the burdens of their age for a simple time, a happy place.
And I suppose for as long as we have PBS and The Children's Television Workshop, the song lives on. And more people can be taken back to the happy place of Kermit and Fozzie and Big Bird. Lifted and carried there by the little song Bruce Hart wrote so long ago.
Bruce Hart, Lyricist
From Wire Reports
February 24 2006
Bruce Hart, 68, who wrote the lyrics for "Sesame Street" and "Free to Be … You and Me," died of lung cancer Tuesday at his home in New York City, said his wife, Carole. Hart and his wife were among the first writers on "Sesame Street" when it began in 1969. Hart, who had worked for "Candid Camera" and written lyrics to the Cass Elliott hit "One Way Ticket," was hired to write sketches and help with the theme song.
Hart and his wife left "Sesame Street" after the first season and went on to a variety of other projects for children and young people, including "Free to Be … You and Me," the groundbreaking album and television special created by Marlo Thomas that featured Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Michael Jackson and others.
Born Jan. 15, 1938, in New York City, Hart earned a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in 1959 and a law degree from Yale University in 1962.
The Harts also produced a short-lived but well-regarded 1979 television show, "Hot Hero Sandwich," and a series of educational films about psychology.
When my friend and co-conspirator, writer/director/documentarian Mary Pat Kelly, told me about the passing of lyricist Bruce Hart, we talked a little about how one's legacy will be portrayed after their passing. In the end, it is something over which we may not have great control.
Mr. Hart will be forever known as then man who wrote the original Sesame Street lyrics. And anyone under 45 probably spent at least some time with the show that started with the forever happy lyrics, "sunny day, sweeping the clouds away... can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"
I was reminded of an episode of the almost perfect television series "My So-called Life." Rayanne and Ricky and Angela were waiting outside a movie theater. Rayanne was clean and sober and exuberant and broke into the theme from Sesame Street for all to hear. And people responded. All these people in line, mostly in their teens and twenties smiled, laughed and joined in. Abandoning the burdens of their age for a simple time, a happy place.
And I suppose for as long as we have PBS and The Children's Television Workshop, the song lives on. And more people can be taken back to the happy place of Kermit and Fozzie and Big Bird. Lifted and carried there by the little song Bruce Hart wrote so long ago.
Bruce Hart, Lyricist
From Wire Reports
February 24 2006
Bruce Hart, 68, who wrote the lyrics for "Sesame Street" and "Free to Be … You and Me," died of lung cancer Tuesday at his home in New York City, said his wife, Carole. Hart and his wife were among the first writers on "Sesame Street" when it began in 1969. Hart, who had worked for "Candid Camera" and written lyrics to the Cass Elliott hit "One Way Ticket," was hired to write sketches and help with the theme song.
Hart and his wife left "Sesame Street" after the first season and went on to a variety of other projects for children and young people, including "Free to Be … You and Me," the groundbreaking album and television special created by Marlo Thomas that featured Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Michael Jackson and others.
Born Jan. 15, 1938, in New York City, Hart earned a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in 1959 and a law degree from Yale University in 1962.
The Harts also produced a short-lived but well-regarded 1979 television show, "Hot Hero Sandwich," and a series of educational films about psychology.
posted by Mike Gibson at 7:42 AM
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