In 1983, the Mario Bros. faced Italian plumbing brothers Mario and Luigi against a batch of creatures, and was soundtracked by a portion of Mozart’s 1987 classical composition “Eine kleine Nachtmusik.” When the Mario franchise carried over into Super Mario Bros. in 1985, with an expanded cast of characters (Princess Peach, Bowser) and battles in the world of the Mushroom Kingdom, the game needed a theme song.
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Set as an instrumental, the Super Mario Bros. theme music was originally composed as the “Ground Theme” by Nintendo sound designer Koji Kondo—who also created the Zelda theme song—and remains one of the most iconic pieces of music in video game history.
“The amount of data that we could use for music and sound effects was extremely small, so I really had to be very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity that we had at the time,” said Kondo in 2023 when the Super Mario Bros. theme was the first video game recording chosen by the U.S. Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.
“I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen,” added Kondo. “We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a game over, fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals, and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short.”
Within 40 years, the Mario franchise has since extended into varied iterations of the game, film, animated series, merchandise, and more.
At its core, the Super Mario Bros. theme song has remained instrumental. In 1985 fans of the Japanese radio program Takao Komine All Night Nippon submitted lyrics that were later recorded and released as “Go Go Mario!!.” Another set of lyrics was used for the 1989 animated TV series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and theme song “Do the Mario.”
Pairing the Super Mario Bros. theme song to lyrics today is a purely creative feat, inspired by characters, storylines, and the history of the game. When prompted to craft lyrics to the famous video game song, ChatGPT has a few “ideas” of how the story might go.
Here’s one interpretation of how the Super Mario Bros. theme may play out if it was paired with lyrics.
Jumping through the Mushroom Kingdom
With Mario, we’re on the run
Saving Princess Peach, it’s never been done
Our adventure’s only just begun
Super Mario, oh, he’s the hero we know
Running and jumping, defeating every foe
With his trusty friends by his side
Together they’ll conquer the ride
Collecting coins and power-ups too
With Luigi, there’s nothing we can’t do
Dodging Koopas and Goombas on our way
We’ll make it through, come what may
Super Mario, oh, he’s the hero we know
Running and jumping, defeating every foe
With his trusty friends by his side
Together they’ll conquer the ride
Through castles and pipes, we’ll traverse
Facing challenges with every verse
In this pixelated world, we’ll shine bright
Bringing joy and fun, day and night
Super Mario, oh, he’s the hero we know
Running and jumping, defeating every foe
With his trusty friends by his side
Together they’ll conquer the ride
So join us now, let’s sing along
To the Super Mario theme, forever strong
In this gaming world, we’ll make our mark
With Mario’s melody, we’ll leave our spark
Read the full story behind the Super Mario Bros. theme song HERE.
Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
