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"Barney is a Dinosaur" redirects here. For the song in A Day At The Beach, see Barney is Our Dinosaur.

"Barney Theme Song" (also known as "Barney is a Dinosaur") is the opening theme of every Barney & Friends episode and live tour, in addition to some albums (and almost all Barney Home Videos). The song was introduced in the Barney & The Backyard Gang first video The Backyard Show. Its tune is based on "Yankee Doodle". Starting with season 7, a synthesized instrumental of the song is used in the end credits; however, season 14 used its instrumental.

Composition[]

The song is sung in G major then in B-flat major.

Opening sequence[]

The opening for the Backyard Gang videos always with the show's title. Then, all clips of videos are shown. The children's names and the mother (as she was omitted in the other five videos) pop up.

The opening for the Barney & Friends TV series always begins with a Barney silhouette marching alongside colored children silhouettes on a line with the show's title underneath (seasons 4-6 show the kid is watching on the TV screen animated in stop-motion, but added with confetti; seasons 7-13 indicate the Barney silhouette is marching solo). We then transition to Barney himself coming to life from his doll form and the children featured in the season hugging him. Clips of episodes/videos are then shown. In the first three seasons, the opening ends with a promo shot of the Barney doll sitting in a tire swing with a rainbow appearing on it, followed by the doll's eye twinkling. The episode's title then appears on the same background as the beginning of the opening, followed by a transition to the episode itself. In seasons 10 and 11, the episode's title appears much later, after Barney hugs the kids. In these seasons, between the final stanza and ending bit, a synth-flute solo based on the first 14 notes plays - the entire solo is an octave higher and its final note is a trilled F6. Also for seasons 10 and 11, the same drumbeat from the seasons 7-13 theme - albeit extended - is used for the title card.

In season 14, the opening is changed to accommodate the new hip-hop version of the theme song. Now, it mostly shows Barney dancing to the song with all kids, with Baby Bop and BJ now added. The opening ends with the show's title being revealed. This time, only the final two notes of the drumbeat from seasons 10-11 are used.

Lyrics[]

Barney is a dinosaur
From our imagination,
And when he's tall, he's what we call
A dinosaur sensation!

Barney lives with Michael and
With Amy, then you'll soon see
Little Tina tags along
With her big sister Luci

Jason/Derek is in Barney's club
And Adam/Jeffrey has a ticket
But Mom has never seen him,
'Cause she doesn't know our secret

Barney comes to play with us
Whenever we may need him.
Barney can be your friend too,
If you just make-believe him!

Barney is a dinosaur
From our imagination,
And when he's tall, he's what we call
A dinosaur sensation!

Barney's friends are big and small;
They come from lots of places.
After school they meet to play
And sing with happy faces

Barney shows us lots of things
Like how to play pretend,
ABC's and 123's
And how to be a friend.

Barney comes to play with us
Whenever we may need him.
Barney can be your friend too,
If you just make-believe him!

Barney es un dinosaurio
Que vive en nuestra mente
Y cuando se hace grande
Es realmente sorprendente

Él le brinda su amistad
A grandes y pequeños
Después de la escuela
Juegan todos muy contentos

Barney nos enseña
Muchos juegos divertidos
El ABC y el 123
También son tus amigos

Barney viene a jugar
Cuando lo necesitas
Él también te ayudará
Si crees en fantasías

Barney is a dinosaur
From our imagination,
And when he's tall, he's what we call
A dinosaur sensation!

Barney comes to play with us
Whenever we may need him.
Barney can be your friend too,
If you just make-believe him!

Barney is a dinosaur
From our imagination,
And when he's tall, he's what we call
A dinosaur sensation!

(Barney and friends are here for you
To sing and dance and play games too!)

Barney comes to play with us
Whenever we may need him.
Barney can be your friend too,
If you just make-believe him!

Variations[]

  • Barney & The Backyard Gang (first trilogy of videos): The original arrangement of the Barney Theme Song. Basic synthesized instruments are used.
  • Barney & The Backyard Gang (last pentology of videos): This arrangement is very much like the first arrangement, but with different instrumentation.
  • Waiting for Santa (Spanish): This arrangement is all instrumental, however only the Backyard Gang names are said and the title of the episode at the end (showing in Spanish) of the Barney Theme Song.
  • Barney Goes to School (Spanish): This the only arrangement dubbed over the English theme song, has the beginning and end of the Barney Theme Song, and the title of the episode said.
  • Barney in Concert (Spanish): This arrangement has the beginning and end of the Barney Theme Song, the title of the episode said.
  • Waiting for Santa (German): This arrangement doesn't have the beginning and end of the Barney Theme Song, the title of the episode said.
  • Barney in Concert: The arrangement for the Barney Theme Song used in the concert is the same as the rest of the BYG series, but it also uses the instruments that were later used in seasons 1-3 of Barney & Friends.
  • Barney & Friends (Seasons 1-3): The song is sped up and uses a different set of instruments. This is the most famous version of the Barney Theme Song. A version without the cartoony sound effects is featured on the album Barney's Favorites Vol. 2 and various Barney stage shows from 1992-1996 (like Barney Live! In New York City).
  • A Day In The Park With Barney: Another synthesized version of the song, based on the seasons 1-3 version.
  • Barney & Friends (Seasons 4-6): A more synthesized remix of the song, modernizing it. Starting with season 5, the vocals are now toned down. Select prints of seasons 4 and 6 episodes use only the first and final stanzas.
  • Barney's Big Surprise: This version uses the instrumental of the version used in A Day in the Park with Barney with the vocals of the season 4 version of seasons 4-6. This version is also used in 1996-1999 Barney stage shows.
  • Barney's Musical Castle: Another modern synthesized version of the song. This version is also used in a lot of other Barney stage shows like Barney's Open House, Barney's Theatre, Barney's Colorful World!, and a few others from 1999-2006.
  • Barney & Friends (Seasons 7-13): A modernized version of the seasons 4-6 version, this time with added sound effects like a car horn. An instrumental arrangement is used for the end credits. Starting with season 12, the sounds are removed for the first interlude.
  • Barney - The Let's Go Tour: This version combines the variants used for Musical Castle and Seasons 7 to 13 and makes them grander with new vocals. Along with adding magical sounds to expand on Barney's transformation. This version would also be used for Let's Imagine Live! and Space Adventures.
  • Barney & Friends (Season 14): The song becomes more contemporary with a new hip-hop remix, this time with a rapped verse (provided by Baby Bop) in between the first and final stanzas from the shortened version of the seasons 4-6 version. An instrumental version is used for the end credits (once the seasons 7-13 end credits use the above arrangement instead of this one).
  • Barney's Birthday Bash: Live In Concert - Another hip-hop variation, this time with aspects of the original song. This version is also used in post-2010 Barney stage shows.

Song Omissions[]

This is a list of releases omitting the Barney Theme Song that, despite being used in many episodes, has also been omitted numerous times.

Gallery[]

Opening Titles[]

Barney & The Backyard Gang[]

Barney & Friends[]

Barney Home Videos[]

Co-Productions[]

International[]

Brazil[]
Latin America[]

Trivia[]

  • In the live tours, the theme is shortened to only the first and last stanzas.
  • For Barney's 20th Anniversary, the song was remixed in a hip-hop style and was put into a music video with modern clips of the TV show and several home videos.
  • In live appearances, being Barney's theme song, the purple dinosaur makes his entrance when it plays.
  • The last few notes of the theme song are heard at the end of The Backyard Gang Rap.
  • In Season 7 of the theme song, a promo video of Gianna and Sarah riding on the bench was shown.
  • In the Italian-language dub of this show, the actual theme song wasn't used and was replaced by its own lyrics.
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