When the world gets heavy and humanity seems like it’s struggling more than usual, so many of us wish Fred Rogers was here to offer his signature comfort and calm. For millions of Americans, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was more than just an educational show; it was—and still is—a wholesome example of genuine human goodness and a hopeful reminder of what each of us can be.
Mr. Rogers was beloved for many reasons, one being how he honored and celebrated the uniqueness and creativity of every person. And he lived that value right down to the smallest details that most people might overlook—like the piano part of his opening theme song.
At the beginning every episode, after a brief piano intro, Rogers would enter through the front door singing, “It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive…” He followed the same basic routine through the theme song—set down what he was carrying, go to the closet, change from his suit jacket to his cardigan sweater, sit down to change his dress shoes to sneakers (always tossing a shoe from one hand to the other), ending with “Please, won’t you be my neighbor?”
But what most of us missed in that routine was that the piano was never played the same way, episode to episode. For over three decades, Rogers did the same routine with the same song (895 episodes in total) and every single time the piano playing was unique.
Rogers had enlisted world renowned jazz pianist Johnny Costa to serve as musical director of the show, and Costa performed the song live in studio while Rogers sang to it. Costa was an improvisational genius, and while Rogers wrote the music and lyrics for the songs on the show, including the theme song, he told Costa to arrange and add his own touches to each song. And that’s just what he did.
Costa worked alongside Rogers for 25 years, with his piano and jazz trio providing live musical accompaniment throughout each show. If you recall occasional musical interjections while Mr. Rogers was talking, that was Costa’s doing (until he passed away in 1996 and Michael Moricz took over his role), and most of it was improvised.
The connection between Rogers and Costa was almost magical.
“Music is rock bottom for Johnny and me, and we communicate on an intuitive substratum that would not be possible if we didn’t have a feel for music,” Rogers said. “It’s true that there are no cues. We have a rundown, of course, for the program, and he knows my teleprompter copy. But when I’m working with a craft or something, invariably he’ll come in and underline an important issue.”
“I watch Fred, and there must be some kind of telepathy that we’re not aware of, because somehow I get the message to play or not to play,” said Costa. “I’m sure that some of it has to do with working together all these years, but a lot of it is unexplainable.”
A YouTube creator who goes by Treehouse Detective shared the story of how the theme song was different each episode, causing a wave of love for Mr. Rogers in the comments section:
“We seriously didn’t deserve Mister Rogers. He gave him a melody and allowed him the space to share his talent and make masterpieces.”
“Yeah! This is beautiful! And it goes so much deeper than that! Mr Rogers treated every member of his audience as if they are on their way to becoming a sophisticated adult. That’s why he chose this God level jazz musician to allow children to be exposed to high and sophisticated musical expression.”
“Costa also worked for practically free. Mr Rogers repeatedly tried to pay it properly, Costa refused because he didn’t want the shows limited budget to just go to him.”
“Being an abused child. I loved watching Mr. Rogers. He was my safe-haven. I was so blessed to be Mr. Rogers neighbor in real life as an adult. He was such a truly beautiful man. He would sit and read the books he wrote to my daughter. Such a blessing.”
“Another amazing fact – he started describing everything on the show – what stuff looked like, what he was doing – very gently and casually because a little girl who was blind wrote to him and said she wished she could see what he was doing.”
“I wrote Mr. Rogers three letters. He answered all his own mail and each letter was carefully typed so you could tell that he had taken the time to actually read the letter and respond. A few years ago, in my classroom, we were reading a book about Mr. Rogers. The kids didn’t know who he was so I found an episode on YouTube. They were glued to it. Even with their modern limited attention spans, the man hooked them into being a part of his neighborhood because he was speaking directly to them.”
No matter how many new things we learn about Mr. Rogers, he truly remains the best of us.
Add to Google News
