Music and the Fictive Dream

 The Golden Girls

March 21, 2021

The Golden Girls is an American television sitcom created by Susan Harris that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty as four older women who share friendship and a home in Miami, Fl It was produced by Whitt/Thomas/Harris Productions in association with Touchstone television. Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Harris served as the original executive producers.

Where is 'The Golden Girls' house located?

Thank you for Being a Friend was written by Andrew Gold and released on February 1, 1978. Seven years after it was a hit song it became the theme song for NBC sitcom The Golden Girls. Cynthia Fee sang this song for the tv version. As it states in song facts ""This breezy song embodied the Southern California sound of the late '70s - Gold said he was in his "Brian Wilson phase" when he wrote it. The song finds Gold showing gratitude to a true friend, assuring this person that he will be there until the end."  He sort of dedicated this song to his musical partners Brock and his manager Norman. 
The 25 Best Episodes of 'The Golden Girls' | Decider
As it states in Genius "Most notable for being the Theme Song on the ‘Golden Girls’ sitcom, the song was sung by The Golden Girls themselves: Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. Unfortunately, the only surviving Golden Girl is Betty White, after the death of Rue McClanahan in June 2010. The song embraces the concept of a strong Friendship and expresses the gratitude of this friendliness in the title."
I would watch this show with my grandma when I was a little girl.  Now that I am older I watch it with my children. Brings back great memories of watching it with someone special. The song goes very well with the show. They are 4 ladies that live with each other and are best friends and they stuck with each other till the end. They remind me and my best friends and cousins. We are very close and stick with each other when something goes wrong. We may not talk or text every day but we can sure pick up like we keep in touch with each other every day. It is wonderful!!!
Sources

“The Golden Girls.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Girls.

“Andrew Gold – Thank You for Being a Friend.” Genius, 1 Feb. 1978, genius.com/Andrew-gold-thank-you-for-being-a-friend-lyrics.

Songfacts. “Thank You for Being a Friend by Andrew Gold - Songfacts.” Song Meanings at Songfacts, www.songfacts.com/facts/andrew-gold/thank-you-for-being-a-friend.

Comments

  1. AylaMarch 25, 2021 at 12:04 PM

    I have never watched The Golden Girls, but I have heard the theme song, and knew it was a large part of the show. I also enjoyed this song; it has a great message and really shows how thankful the singer is for friends and friendship. To often good friends get overlooked, or taken for granted. The social commentary of this song certainly focuses on friendship and being thankful for friends. This ties in really well with the show, since it was about four good friends. From what I’ve heard, this song and show have impacted a lot of people and friends, like you and your friends. The underlying message of this song was actually really similar to the underlying message in the song that I used for my blog, Friend Like Me. I found an interesting article that explains some of the reasons that The Golden Girls are still so popular to this day. It also goes over a few of the topics that were covered in the show and how those topics also contributed to the show’s success, even decades later, when most of the shows from that time have lost their popularity. Here is the link: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/why-the-golden-girls-continues-to-resonate-with-us-three-decades-later.

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  2. Jewel BMarch 25, 2021 at 2:20 PM

    Hi Arlene, I love the beat in the song, Thank You For Being A Friend, that is being played by percussion. The rhythm is also held by the percussion too. I agree with you that the song embraces strong friendship. The deeper meaning behind this song is like you said, embracing and appreciating a strong friendship which is truly needed in life. Another song you might enjoy is, You're My Best Friend by Queen. Great blog post, I enjoyed reading!

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  3. Jocylynn SmithApril 4, 2021 at 5:33 PM

    Hey Arl,

    Oh man, this is the best. I LOVE The Golden Girls. When I was a kid I would come from school and watch The Golden Girls and eat popcorn every afternoon; and I would sing the theme song every time. It is such a happy, careful tune that automatically makes me feel good – it reminds me of my childhood and the lyrics are just so easy going. I googled the lyrics to the full song and I was surprised to see how long the song really is. I also found that “Thank You for Being a Friend,” wasn’t the initial choice for the show but rather a song by Bette Midler was, “Friends.” However, due to budget issues they had to pass.

    This song really conveys the importance of close friends and having them to lean on when needed; and I think it was the perfect song for the show. They all had such unique friendships and dynamics that made the show so very funny.

    Here(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt5jpeX14I0) is a link to a cover done by an acapella group; the quality of the video isn’t great, but they sound great. I have never heard a cover done of this song. This article here also has many interesting facts about the theme song. https://screenrant.com/golden-girls-theme-song-intro/

    Great job,
    Leigh

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