Chances are if you've watched The Witcher on Netflix, you've also had "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" stuck in your head for the last several weeks. The catchy ditty, performed by the bard Jaskier to recount the heroic tales of Geralt of Rivia, was created specifically for the series by Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli. It was sung with jaunty gusto by Joey Batey (Jaskier) and has since become a viral sensation, especially in the metal scene.
It joins the ranks of dozens of original songs created for television shows that are often so memorable, they could be mistaken for something you've heard on the radio. If they're like "Smelly Cat" from Friends, they even get performed decades after they were written on Taylor Swift's tour. Below you'll find 10 of the catchiest songs from TV shows.
"SOFT KITTY" - THE BIG BANG THEORY
Chances are if you've gotten sick in the last decade, you might have found yourself murmuring "Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty" to yourself as you fight back the sniffles. It was attributed to the childhood of Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory when his mother would sing it to him when he was ill.
Finally, after years of preponderance, the prequel series Young Sheldon revealed the origins of "Soft Kitty", the lilting lullaby that would later help Penny, Leonard, and company get over their various sicknesses whenever adult Sheldon demonstrated surprising compassion for his fellow humans and sang it.
"SMELLY CAT" - FRIENDS
Introduced in the second season of Friends as the popular ballad Phoebe sang at the Central Perk, "Smelly Cat" chronicled the adventures of a malodorous feline who was neglected by everyone because of its unfortunately strong odor. It would become synonymous with the character of Phoebe and she'd sing it at various times throughout the series.
The song became so popular with fans of the show that actress Lisa Kudrow ended up recording a studio version of it, as well as performing it with Taylor Swift as part of her 1989 World Tour. Other artists that have covered it are Chris Isaak, E. G. Daily, James Michael Tyler, and Colbie Callait.
"ROAD TO RHODE ISLAND" - FAMILY GUY
As it turns out, Seth MacFarlane harmonizes well with Seth MacFarlane. Family Guy is full of musical numbers, as creator and voice artist Seth MacFarlane grew up on musical theater and Rogers and Hammerstein films, but there's something about "Road to Rhode Island" -one of the first in the show- that remains one of the best.
Brian and Stewie are off on one of their first Bing Crosby/Bob Hope cross country adventures in Season 2, and while commiserating in a boxcar they decide to perform a ditty that's the sort of showstopping song and dance number they'd be known for later in the series.
"LET'S GO TO THE MALL" - HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Personally, we think it'd be totally rad to find out one of ours friends used to be an '80s Canadian pop star, but an embarrassed Robin was reluctant to show the gang in How I Met Your Mother. Eventually, she's forced to reveal a recording of the music video for "Lets Go To The Mall", which gives us Tiffany and Debbie Gibson vibes.
Robin was formerly known as Robin Sparkles, who recorded her famous single in '93 when, according to her, the '80s finally reached Canada. Sporting some duds that wouldn't look out of place in Madonna's closet, a denim jacket, and a stack of jelly bracelets, she sings a song so convincing that some people actually don't realize it was created for a tv show.
"CHOCOLATE SALTY BALLS" - SOUTH PARK
Like Family Guy and The Simpsons, South Park has become known for its amusing musical numbers, and unlike the other two animated shows, it gets away with a lot more explicit lyrics. The song "Chocolate Salty Balls" was performed by the late great Isaac Hayes, based on his character Chef who invents a chocolate confectionery during the '98 holiday season.
The lyrics begin with Chef listing off the ingredients of the recipe, and soon move on to more suggestive lyrics. The song became so popular, Isaac Hayes performed it at multiple live venues, and it was featured on the South Park compilation, Chef Aid: The South Park Album.
"THE PIT" - PARKS AND REC
For the finale of the first season of Parks and Rec, viewers' earholes were treated to "The Pit", as sung by Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) and his band Mouse Rat. It was an effort by the series creators to veer the tone of the show away from The Office, and the song became something of an anthem for it.
Andy Dwyer would go on to perform other songs throughout the years, but "The Pit" was special. Based on the American rock sound of Hootie & the Blowfish, it was an incredibly catchy song that also commemorated the Pawnee Pit, the giant hole featured in the first two seasons that was dug specifically for the series.
"LITTLE FAT MAN" - EXTRAS
When David Bowie appeared on the Ricky Gervais show Extras in 2006, no one would know it was to be his last appearance on television. He played a hypertrophied version of himself, imperious and smug, with that incredible talent for off-the-cuff lyric producing genius.
He sits at the piano and comes up with an incredible earworm called "Little Fat Man", crisply cataloging every repugnant thing about Gervais, to the delight of everyone gathered around. His "little pig nose", and the fact that he's a "chubby little loser", are stinging things to hear from anyone, but at least they come from The Piano Man himself.
"LISA, IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY" - THE SIMPSONS
Despite the fact that Michael Jackson voiced the character of Leon Kompowsky, a large man whom Homer meets in a mental institution, he didn't perform any of the singing to the track "Lisa, It's Your Birthday", which is attributed to Bart as a gift for his sister on her eighth -and again on her fourteenth- birthday.
Jackson did write the song for the episode "Stark Raving Dad" from the third season, and Kipp Lennon does an amazing job mimicking his unique vocal inflections. Like Lisa, we'd be thrilled if we got such a memorable song composed in honor of our trip around the sun.
"THE EXPOSITION SONG" - BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
We considered including something from the soundtrack for "Once More With Feeling", the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it had so many toe-tapping tunes that we couldn't pick just one. Therefore, we've settled on "The Exposition Song" as sung by Giles in Season 4.
Giles sings it at The Bronze when Xander and Willow are pouring over ancient texts, trying to uncover a way to help Buffy with her latest foe. The entire song is an acoustic rock ballad that explains, via exposition, exactly how they're going to defeat it, and we sort of think that's how every IP should get through exposition dialogue from now on.
"MUFFIN TOP" - 30 ROCK
There's no denying that Jenna Maroney is a powerhouse of talent, a 10 among a land of nerds. As one of the gifted performers on the sketch show TGS, she balances her career as an actress with her career as a singer, the latter of which produced the dance sensation "Muffin Top".
30 Rock had several original songs that appeared over its seven seasons, but "Muffin Top" endured as one of the most memorable. Even though Jenna only performed it once during the first season, its beat can be found sprinkled throughout the series.