There’s no business like… Show Tunes Review Week business

Brian opted to focus on TV shows for his “Moving Muppet Moments”, so I’ll step up and stan for “Rainbow Connection. And not only because my beloved Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covered it.

There’s something so poetic about the song essentially opening the first Muppet Movie with a lovely twist on the “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” trope: Small-town protagonist sings a longing ballad before going on a whirlwind ballad.

It would have been easy for The Muppets, which use a lot of inside baseball show-biz humor, to make a straight-up parody. Instead they walked a finer line, a deconstruction that both questions and embraces the trope.

It’s a gorgeous tune, heartfelt and thoughtful and an instant standard. In my mind, it’s right up there with “Saying Goodbye” as The Muppets’ greatest musical moment… and, as Brian reminded us, that’s saying something.

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