Today marks the 50^th anniversary of ABC’s Schoolhouse Rock!, an animated educational television show originally aired in 1973 that used music and colorful cartoons to explain grammar, multiplication, science, finance, and American history to children. Schoolhouse Rock!’s heyday was in the 70s and 80s, well before my time but right on time to be a cornerstone of my parents’ childhoods, one that they gleefully shared with my siblings and I growing up. So, I was and remain a HUGE fan of the franchise: it helped me learn critical parts of elementary school curriculum (I can still recite the entire Constitutional Preamble from memory) and is a series full of incredible bops! 

In no particular order, here are 10 of my favorite songs from Schoolhouse Rock! (and no, I’m Just a Bill does not make my list—sorry, not sorry!): 

1. Sufferin’ ’til Suffrage (1976)

Written by Bob Dorough, Tom Yohe | Performed by Essra Mohawk

2. Verb: That’s What’s Happening (1973)

Written by Bob Dorough | Performed by Zachary Sanders

3. I Got Six (1973)

Written by Bob Dorough | Performed by Grady Tate

4. Three Is a Magic Number (1973)

Written & performed by Bob Dorough

5. Little Twelvetoes (1973)

Written & performed by Bob Dorough

6. Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here (1974)

Written & performed by Bob Dorough

7. Interplanet Janet (1978)

Written & performed by Lynn Ahrens

8. Electricity, Electricity (1979)

Written by Bob Dorough | Performed by Zachary Sanders

9. A Victim of Gravity (1978)

Written by Lynn Ahrens | Performed by The Tokens

10. A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing (1973)

Written & performed by Lynn Ahrens

I would be remiss if I didn’t extend my deepest personal gratitude to Bob Dorough (deceased), George R. Newall (deceased), Lynn Ahrens, Zachary Sanders (deceased), and Grady Tate (deceased)—your voices and pens were significant highlights in my upbringing and your legacies are eternal. Happy, happy 50 years to Schoolhouse Rock!