This is the theme song for The Office:
It’s hard to even imagine the show starting with anything but that song. Yet according to Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute, the show’s theme song could have gone in a totally direction. Wilson recently came out with a memoir, Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy, and in it, he sheds some light on the process of picking a theme for the show.
There was an interesting process to decide on our theme song. Many songs were being considered seriously, including “Better Things” by the Kinks and “Float On” by Modest Mouse. Greg [Daniels] graciously sent out a list of songs and links to them as well for the cast to weigh in on. The one we all wanted most of all was “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra. It’s a sensational song and its jubilant, upbeat refrain would have fit perfectly over the drab video of the opening credits. Then we found out another show, the doomed and dismally conceived LAX, used the song…
The theme we eventually ended up with was a beaut. Composed by former seventies rock/pop star Jay Ferguson, it was fun and catchy with just a hint of melancholy. It perfectly set the tone for the show. I’ve written pretend lyrics to it on many occasions. Perhaps I’ll sing them to you one day if you’re nice.
I don’t know, can you imagine The Office starting with one of the songs that were in contention?
While all of those are great, it’s probably for the best they went the way they did with that memorable original song.
(Via Stereogum)
