"Joy to the World" is a song written by Hoyt Axton, and made
famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song is also popularly
known by its opening words, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". Some of
the words are nonsensical. Axton wanted to convince his record
producers to record a new melody he had written and the
producers asked him to sing any words to the tune.
Three Dog Night's version went to number one on the pop
music charts in February 1971 and was the top single of the
year in Billboard Magazine for 1971. The song was released on
the band's album
Naturally. It was also released on their albums
Around the World With Three Dog Night(1973),
Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits(1974),
The Best of 3 Dog Night(1982), and
Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965-1975(1993).
Three Dog Night never really wanted to record the song but they
needed one last track for their
Naturallyalbum. The group had been on an overseas tour
when that album was released and were greatly surprised to hear
that the song they didn't want to record ended up being a big
hit.
The edited single version (3:17) released on Dunhill Records
(D-4272) varies from the version widely available on their
Greatest Hits collections. The mono single has a guitar solo in
the instrumental bridge at approximately 1:10 that is not heard
on the stereo Greatest Hits version. Plus the trailing ad libs
in the single were edited from the order in which they appear
in the stereo version.
In the 1990s, former Three Dog Night lead singer Chuck
Negron recorded the Christmas carol "Joy to the World" and
playfully included a few lyrics from the Three Dog Night/Hoyt
Axton song — coming to a full stop in mid-song for the line
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog." The refrain of Axton's song was also
included in Mariah Carey's recording of the Christmas carol for
her 1994
Merry Christmasalbum.
In an episode of the TV series
Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah
Jessica Parker) and her friend Jeremiah (played by Samuel Ball)
sing the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" part of this song on the way
home to Carrie's after a party.
The song was also featured in an episode of the sitcom
Friendswhen Phoebe, Monica and Chandler have gone to a
karaoke evening hosted by Phoebe's new boyfriend, Mike.
Chandler stands up and opens with the line "Jeremiah was a
bullfrog".
It was also referenced in a cartoon from
The Far Side, where a frog says to his two friends,
"Yeah, I remember Jerry. He was a good pal of mine...you know,
I never understood a word he said, but he always had some
mighty fine wine," parodying the first lines of the song.
In
The X-Filestelevision series, the song was referenced in
the episode "Detour". Agent Mulder demands Agent Scully sing to
him when they find themselves lost in a forest while attempting
to capture a seemingly invisible predator. After declaring that
she is unable to carry a tune, Scully proceeds to sing
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog... Was a good friend of mine... Never
understood a single word he said... But I helped him drink his
wine...". Scully again sings a few lines in the season nine
episode "William".
In the
Malcolm in the Middleepisode "Garage Sale", when Hal
restarts his pirate radio station, he plays a tape with the
starting lyrics of "Joy to the World", "Jeremiah was a
bullfrog".
A special version of song's main chorus was also employed as
the opening and closing theme to the early-1980s episodes of
Joy Junction, a Christian children's television
series.
The song was sung by a child in the bath in
The Big Chill. The original Three Dog Night recording is
then later played as the closing credits roll.
The song was played in the film
Forrest Gumpwhen Forrest is playing Ping Pong.
The song was used as the ending theme song for the Japanese
drama Lunch Queen.
The song is the opening song for
Raise Your Voice, and the closing song for
The Big Chill. It is also found in
28 Daysduring one of the flashbacks of the main
character's mother being drunk.
The song also appears in the movie
Amazon Women on the Moon, performed by David Alan Grier
as Don 'No Soul' Simmons.
Two early-1970s clips of then-Chicago Bears coach Abe Gibron
singing the song were used on NFL Films' 1981 documentary on
"The NFL's Best Ever Coaches" and was recycled into 1985's "The
Best of Football Follies".
It is sometimes used in advertising during the Christmas
season, as a play on the Christmas song "Joy to the World". It
was used by JCPenney in 2004.
The song has been included on the recent Sky Digital
"Environment" advert.
The Nintendo DS videogame
Animal Crossing: Wild Worldalso referenced the song via
the inclusion of a frog called Jeremiah. He is among the
neighbor roster in the game, in which the player could have a
maximum of eight.
The video game
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivionalso makes a passing
reference to the song. If the player listens in on some of the
conversations between NPCs there is a chance that the NPCs will
hold a conversation similar to the lyrics of the song.
The Three Dog Night version is on the game
Karaoke Revolution Volume 3.
The Green Bay Bullfrogs mascot is named Jeremiah.
This song substituted for Queen's "We Are The Champions" at
the end of Super Bowl XXXII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego,
California when the Denver Broncos won their first world
championship.