20 best original songs from TV, from The Simpsons to Empire
By Sundi Rose
“We Put The Spring In Springfield”
The show: The Simpsons
I don’t think there is a pair of American eyes that haven’t seen at least a few minutes of the long-running animated sitcom. It’s been a part of the television landscape for close to 30 years. In recent years, the show has gained quite a bit of notoriety for predicting future events long before they happened.
However, The Simpsons‘ humor is widely known for its combination of biting social commentary and paradoxical takes on family life in middle America. Without flinching, the show holds a mirror up to us all, often reflecting the worst inclinations about human nature.
Best of the best: “We Put The Spring in Springfield” (“Bart After Dark,” season 8)
The Simpsons trots out its remarkable balance with this little tune. After Marge learns of a burlesque house, named Maison Derriere, opening in Springfield, she resolves to have it shut down. She rallies other residents of Springfield to her cause and winds up creating an angry mob, hellbent on ridding the town of such smut.
Homer and Bart take up the opposite side and thus launch the episode’s debate on the value of free speech and expression and the importance and value of community. It’s smart and topical, and could air today and still have as much relevance.
Best lyric(s):
“You could close down Moe’s or the Kwik-e-mart
And nobody would care
But the heart and soul of Springfield’s in
Our Maison Derriere”