Bein' Green

"Bein' Green"
"Bein' Green"
	Kermit the Frog singing "Bein' Green" in episode 219 of The Muppet Show
Song by Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson)
Published	1970
Songwriter(s)	Joe Raposo

Last updated July 30, 2025

"Bein' Green" (also known as "It's Not Easy Bein' Green") is a song written by Joe Raposo, originally performed by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (in the episodes "Peter Ustinov" and "Peter Sellers"). It later was covered by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison, and other performers. "Bein' Green" is considered the signature song of Kermit the Frog.^[1]

Background

In the Muppets version, Kermit begins by lamenting his green coloration, expressing that green "blends in with so many ordinary things" and wishing to be some other color. But by the end of the song, Kermit recalls positive associations with the color green, and concludes by accepting and embracing his color.

Versions

Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, various Muppet productions, starting with The Sesame Street Book & Record in 1970, until 1990 following Henson's death
Steve Whitmire as Kermit the Frog, various Muppet productions (1990–2016)
Thurl Ravenscroft, 1970 album Rubber Duckie and Other Songs From Sesame Street
Frank Sinatra, 1971 album Sinatra & Company , this recording would later be used on Sesame Street in an animated insert by Étienne Delessert.^[2]
Lena Horne, 1971 album Nature's Baby
Urbie Green, 1972 album Bein' Green
Buddy Rich, 1972 album Stick It
Van Morrison, 1973 album Hard Nose the Highway
Stan Kenton, 1973 7.5 on the Richter Scale , titled "It's Not Easy Bein' Green"
Della Reese, 1973 album Let Me in Your Life
John Leyton, 1973 eponymous album
Diana Ross, 1974 album Live at Caesars Palace
Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, 1974 album You Will Be My Music
Ray Charles, 1975 album Renaissance ; this version gained popularity because of an episode of The Cosby Show , and Charles then sang a duet with Kermit on Sesame Street and The Cher Show as well as sang the song on the 1989 special Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting
Jackie McLean, 1978 album New Wine in Old Bottles
Mary O'Hara, 1981 album Colours^[3]
Keith Harris and Orville the Duck, 1983 single
William Roy, 1986 single "When I Sing Alone"
Helen Merrill feat. Stan Getz, 1989 album Just Friends
Wilford Brimley, 1989 MDA Labor Day Telethon
Mandy Patinkin, 1990 album Dress Casual
Big Bird, 1990 Jim Henson memorial service
Bob McGrath, 1991 album Bob's Favorite Street Songs
Rowlf the Dog, 1993 album Ol' Brown Ears is Back
Jill O'Hara, 1993 album Jill O'Hara , titled "Green"
Shirley Horn, 1993 album Light Out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles)
Don Henley with Kermit, 1994 album Kermit Unpigged
Mike Campbell, 1994 album Easy Chair Jazz
Vanessa Rubin, 1995 album Vanessa Rubin Sings
Johnny Lytle, 1997 album Easy Easy , completely instrumental
Don Rickles, 1997 Muppets Tonight episode 205
Tony Bennett, 1998 album The Playground
Alan Muraoka, 2000 Evening at Pops ^[4]
Calvin Ray Johnson and Kermit 2001 The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon ^[5]
Oscar the Grouch, 2005 episode Sesame Street ,(with altered Grouchy lyrics by Christine Ferraro)
Audra McDonald, 2006 album Build a Bridge^[6]
Sophie Milman, 2007 album Make Someone Happy
Matthew White, Music and Sweet Poetry Agree
Take 6, 2008 album The Standard
Abelardo Montoya, 2009 episode in Spanish "Ser Verde" Plaza Sésamo ^[7]
Andrew Bird, 2011 tribute/cover album Muppets: The Green Album
Brenna Whitaker, 2015 album We Love Disney
Imelda May and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at a televised live event to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising ^[8]
Matt Vogel as Kermit the Frog, 2018 The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert ^[9]
Matt Vogel as Kermit the Frog and Elvis Costello, 2019 TV special Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, 2019 album Jazz for Kids
Matt Vogel as Kermit with Lucas Ross on banjo, 2024 UMD College of Arts and Humanities' Dean's Lecture Series'^[10]
Eric Jacobson as Oscar the Grouch and Cynthia Erivo, 2024 on "Sesame Street's YouTube channel (uses altered lyrics from Season 36 version)."^[11]

Memorial

The song was sung by Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) at the two memorial services for Jim Henson in 1990.

In politics

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson used the song as an example for his environmental policy in late‑2021, saying that Kermit was wrong and it is easy to be green.^[12]

References

↑ "Any Way You Look at It, Kermit Loves 'Bein' Green'". 7 September 2020.
↑ Footage screened at "Sesame Street: Lost and Found" event at Museum of the Moving Image, November 24, 2019.
↑ Mary O'Hara - Colours, 1981, retrieved 2023-09-24
↑ "Evening at Pops Sesame Street broadcast", YouTube, 2022, retrieved 2024-12-24
↑ Kermit The Frog & Calvin Ray Sing It's Not Easy Being Green, 2008, retrieved 2024-12-24
↑ Build A Bridge Album, 2024, retrieved 2024-12-26
↑ Plaza Sésamo - Abelardo canta No es fácil ser verde 💚 (in Spanish), 2013, retrieved 2024-12-24
↑ "Centenary | 1916". Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
↑ The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert, 2018, retrieved 2024-12-24
↑ 2024-2025 Arts & Humanities Dean's Lecture Series featuring Kermit the Frog at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall, 2024, retrieved 2024-12-24
↑ Sesame Street: Cynthia Erivo Sings "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" with Oscar the Grouch, 2024, retrieved 2024-12-24
↑ Nichols, Michelle (23 September 2021). "In U.N. Climate push, UK PM disputes Kermit: 'It is easy to be green'". Reuters.

External links

Bein' Green on Muppet Wiki

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Any Way You Look at It, Kermit Loves 'Bein' Green'". 7 September 2020.

[2] Footage screened at "Sesame Street: Lost and Found" event at Museum of the Moving Image, November 24, 2019.

[3] Mary O'Hara - Colours, 1981, retrieved 2023-09-24

[4] "Evening at Pops Sesame Street broadcast", YouTube, 2022, retrieved 2024-12-24

[5] Kermit The Frog & Calvin Ray Sing It's Not Easy Being Green, 2008, retrieved 2024-12-24

[6] Build A Bridge Album, 2024, retrieved 2024-12-26

[7] Plaza Sésamo - Abelardo canta No es fácil ser verde 💚 (in Spanish), 2013, retrieved 2024-12-24

[8] "Centenary | 1916". Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-29.

[9] The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert, 2018, retrieved 2024-12-24

[10] 2024-2025 Arts & Humanities Dean's Lecture Series featuring Kermit the Frog at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall, 2024, retrieved 2024-12-24

[11] Sesame Street: Cynthia Erivo Sings "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" with Oscar the Grouch, 2024, retrieved 2024-12-24

[12] Nichols, Michelle (23 September 2021). "In U.N. Climate push, UK PM disputes Kermit: 'It is easy to be green'". Reuters.

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Discography
Columbia singles (1939–1940)	"It's Funny to Everyone but Me" "On a Little Street in Singapore" "Ciribiribin" "All or Nothing at All"
RCA Victor singles (1940–1942)	"Imagination" "I'll Be Seeing You" "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)" "I'll Never Smile Again" "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" "Our Love Affair" "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" "Stardust" "Dolores" "It's Always You" "Oh! Look at Me Now" "Without a Song" "Let's Get Away from It All" "This Love of Mine" "Blue Skies" "Pale Moon (An Indian Love Song)" "Embraceable You" "Just as Though You Were Here" "Take Me" "In the Blue of Evening" "How About You?" "There Are Such Things"
Bluebird singles (1942–1943)	"Night and Day" "The Night We Called It a Day" "The Song Is You"
Columbia singles (1943–1953)	"Close to You" "You'll Never Know" "Sunday, Monday, or Always" "People Will Say We're in Love" "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" "White Christmas" "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)" "I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)" "Ol' Man River" "Stormy Weather" "When Your Lover Has Gone" "Dream" "If I Loved You" "You'll Never Walk Alone" "Mighty Lak' a Rose" "Nancy (with the Laughing Face)" "America the Beautiful" "Day by Day" "Full Moon and Empty Arms" "Soliloquy (Part 1 & 2)" "Begin the Beguine" "Silent Night" "Adeste Fideles" "Jingle Bells" "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" "September Song" "Five Minutes More" "Sweet Lorraine" "Time after Time" "Mam'selle" "Almost Like Being in Love" "Tea for Two" "My Romance" "So Far" "A Fellow Needs a Girl" "But Beautiful" "I've Got a Crush on You" "All of Me" "Nature Boy" "Everybody Loves Somebody" "My Melancholy Baby" "Autumn in New York" "Why Can't You Behave?" "Some Enchanted Evening" "Bali Ha'i" "Let's Take an Old Fashioned Walk" "I Only Have Eyes for You" "The Old Master Painter" "Peachtree Street" "Goodnight, Irene" "Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You)" "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" "We Kiss in a Shadow" "April in Paris" "I Could Write a Book" "The Birth of the Blues"
Capitol singles (1953–1961)	"I'm Walking Behind You" "I've Got the World on a String" "My One and Only Love" "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)" "I Love You" "Young at Heart" "Don't Worry 'bout Me" "Three Coins in the Fountain" "The Gal That Got Away" "Someone to Watch Over Me" "Melody of Love" "Learnin' the Blues" "Love and Marriage" "(Love Is) The Tender Trap" "You're Sensational" "True Love" "Well, Did You Evah!" "Mind If I Make Love to You?" "Hey! Jealous Lover" "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" "All the Way" "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)" "Witchcraft" "Mistletoe and Holly" "French Foreign Legion" "High Hopes" "Old MacDonald" "My Blue Heaven" "I'll Remember April" "I Love Paris"
Reprise singles (1961–1983)	"Granada" "I'll Be Seeing You" "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" "Without a Song" "Stardust" "Come Rain or Come Shine" "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" "Me and My Shadow" "Call Me Irresponsible" "I Have Dreamed" "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" "My Kind of Town" "Softly, as I Leave You" "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" "The Little Drummer Boy" "It Was a Very Good Year" "Strangers in the Night" "Summer Wind" "You Make Me Feel So Young" "That's Life" "The September of My Years" "Somethin' Stupid" "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" "My Way of Life" "My Way" "Goin' Out of My Head" "Something" "Bein' Green" "Send In the Clowns" "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" "Theme from New York, New York" "Here's to the Band" "To Love a Child"
Qwest singles (1983–1984)	"Teach Me Tonight" "Mack the Knife" "It's All Right with Me" "Until the Real Thing Comes Along"
Compositions	"This Love of Mine" "Sheila" "Peachtree Street" "Take My Love" "I'm a Fool to Want You" "Mistletoe and Holly" "Mr. Success"
Category

v t e Sesame Street
Fictional location Sesame Workshop productions Characters Educational goals Format Influence Licensing Recurring segments Accolades
People	Linda Bove Fran Brill Northern Calloway Leslie Carrara-Rudolph Christopher Cerf Kevin Clash Joan Ganz Cooney Emilio Delgado Ryan Dillon Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss Louise Gold Jim Henson Richard Hunt Eric Jacobson Will Lee Gerald S. Lesser Peter Linz Kermit Love Sonia Manzano Joey Mazzarino Bob McGrath Lloyd Morrisett Jeff Moss Alan Muraoka Jerry Nelson Roscoe Orman Carmen Osbahr Frank Oz Carol-Lynn Parente Joe Raposo Martin P. Robinson Matt Robinson David Rudman Norman Stiles Jon Stone Caroll Spinney Matt Vogel Steve Whitmire List of guest stars List of puppeteers
Production	History Research International co-productions Elmo's World "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce" Wicked Witch episode Music discography
Songs	Theme song "Bein' Green" "C Is For Cookie" "I Love Trash" "Mah Nà Mah Nà" "Monster in the Mirror" "One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others)" "Rubber Duckie" "Sing"
Films	Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985) The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
U.S. spin-offs	Play with Me Sesame Sesame Beginnings Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures Elmo: The Musical The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Mecha Builders
Television specials	Julie on Sesame Street (1973) Out to Lunch (1974) Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978) A Special Sesame Street Christmas (1978) Big Bird in China (1983) Don't Eat the Pictures (1983) A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) Sesame Street, Special (1988) Big Bird in Japan (1989) Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting (1989) Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake (1991) Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years (1993) Sesame Street Stays Up Late! (1993) Elmo Saves Christmas (1996) Elmopalooza (1998) The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street (1998) CinderElmo (1999) Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2007) Abby in Wonderland (2008) The Cookie Thief (2015) Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas (2016) When You Wish Upon a Pickle: A Sesame Street Special (2018) Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2019) Sesame Street: Elmo's Playdate (2020)
Books	The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover (1971) Sesame Street Together Book (1971) Happy Birthday, Cookie Monster (1986)
Literature	Sesame Street Magazine Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street The Sesame Street Dictionary Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America
Video games	Big Bird's Egg Catch Alpha Beam with Ernie The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure Cookie's Counting Carnival Ready, Set, Grover! Once Upon a Monster Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece Kinect Sesame Street TV
Attractions	Sesame Place Philadelphia San Diego Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic Spaghetti Space Chase Super Grover's Box Car Derby
Documentaries	The World According to Sesame Street Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street Jim Henson Idea Man
Related	The Jim Henson Company Noggin (1999-2002) Sesame Street in the UK Sesame Street Live Comic strip The Muppet Movie (1979) The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) Syndication packages The Muppets "Sesame's Treet" Big Bag Oobi (episodes) Panwapa Teletape Studios Kaufman Astoria Studios The Joan Ganz Cooney Center
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