Scary childhood experiences

[eruthros]

thingswithwings and I were talking about early R&B songs about unhealthy relationships -- there are kind of a lot. And it reminded me of this Sesame Street routine, which freaked me the fuck out when I was, whatever, five. Which I will now share with you and you should totally watch:

I still find this amazingly creepy. YOU GUYS. THE MUPPET LETTER U IS FEELING UP SMOKEY ROBINSON AND PINNING HIS HANDS TO HIS SIDES. OH GOD. BAD TOUCH.

And they even rewrote the song so that he doesn't seem to like it at all -- in the original, at least he's conflicted? But here he's like "aaah I am being chased by a giant muppet letter U."

I checked out some of the youtube comments, and discovered that other kids about my age found it completely horrifying: there are comments from people who say "I used to hide when this clip showed on Sesame Street" and "this gave me the creeps" and "I always thought the U was trying to choke him!"

In conclusion, this is at least as freaky now as it was when I was five. Who could possibly have thought this was a good idea?

Comments

[pocketmouse]

OMG, I distinctly remember this. I think I even mentioned it recently on someone's Sesame Street poll -- probably cereta? I don't recall what exactly I felt about it. I probably thought it was a little weird, but I don't think I was horrified. Either way, it stuck with me, though.

[eruthros]

It's true that I don't remember a lot of the early Sesame Street I watched, but this, this I remember :)

[nextian.livejournal.com]

I -- I definitely do not remember ever seeing this, but, wow, the letter U is getting really personal there. That is not friendly touching! That is a relationship Smokey needs to get out of!

[eruthros]

That is my feeling! I am like, Smokey, don't let the U get you at the end! And then they stroll off arm in arm! Smokey, CHOOSE YOURSELF.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

Heee' I just posted a O song in friendofbigbird that from an adult perspective is a little funny.

[sineala.livejournal.com]

Clearly I am the target audience, because I remember thinking this was entirely awesome and hilarious when I was five.

It is one of the few things I remember really liking from Sesame Street.

*shrug*

[eruthros]

Ha, well, that's the other half of the youtube comments -- half of them are like "hee I loved that!" and the other half are like "I had nightmares about the U for years." :)

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

I can see how this is funny from an adult's perspective. It reminds me of going over to someone's house or farm and having their dog hump your leg or sniff your crotch and get all in your business. But, uh, this is a lot more disturbing than that.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Oh, my gosh! I have no memory of seeing this at all! Perhaps I blocked it out because it was too traumatic! Just now I've only made it to 1:24 of the 3:13 clip, and I don't plan to watch the rest.

That's deeply disturbing. And I'm afraid I can't even thank you for bringing it to my attention, because I now intend to go away and forget it entirely forever.

[eruthros]

Sorry! I hope you can forget it swiftly.

[livrelibre.livejournal.com]

That is classic! It is my strong conviction that a lot of the people on Sesame Street were doing some serious drugs. Sadly, I kind of love it. Sorry for your trauma!

[eruthros]

Heh, I didn't have nightmares or anything -- I just remember being like "WTF IS ON MY SESAME STREET." I can see how people can like it!

The Sesame Street flks were totally doing a lot of drugs. All the time.

[annexensen.livejournal.com]

what were they thinking when they made that one?