Lyrics

(sung by Grover)

Shiny chum, don’t be shy
Don’t be mum, just say “Hi!”
And we can play together
I want to be your friend

Let’s play ball, let’s fly kites
Best of all, let’s be knights
We’ll be so brave together
I want to be your friend

[hears a trumpet call]
[spoken] What is that?

We will ride upon our horsies where adventure can be found
Save a dragon from a princess—or the other way around?
We will challenge every villain in the east and in the west
Then we’ll find a baby birdie and return it to its nest

Through enchanted forests we’ll go strolling
And on Saturday, we could go bowling

[climbing up on the back of an armored horse]
[laughs; spoken] I made it! [yells as he falls back down]

Shiny sir, this I feel
I am fur, you are steel
But we belong together
Faithful to the end
I want to be
Oh, I want to be—come on
I want to be your friend

Music and lyrics by Tony Geiss

“I Want to Be your Friend” from Don’t Eat the Pictures

If “Broken and Beautiful” shows the best of Oscar’s nature, “I Want to be Your Friend” shows the best of Grover’s—he spends an entire song trying to get an introvert to warm up to him. Maria shows up at the end and tells him it’s just an empty suit of armor; Grover laughs and pretends that he knew this all along, but then whispers “See ya later, Max” as he leaves.

Oh, Grover. Eternally optimistic, imaginative, extroverted, friendly, kind, patient, and daydreamy. He’s always been my favorite Sesame Street Muppet, and this song is a perfect illustration of why. I especially love how he intersperses heroic imagery with mentions of “horsies” and saving a “baby birdie,” then caps it all off with bowling.

I’m a lot like Grover, I think. May the hardness of the world never make me forget my squishy heart and natural friendliness. May I use my exuberant optimism as a force for good in the world, seeing potential friends everywhere and trying to help them feel comfortable.