Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi Trio
Composed by Vince Guaraldi
Released in 1964, certified gold by RIAA in 2019
Well, here I am leading off the 10th and final round of the song draft. The pressure is on. What should be my final draft pick? A huge, bombastic rock anthem? A meaningful ballad? Or better yet, how about a song that nearly all generations alive today will instantly recognize and smile upon hearing? That’s what I’ve decided to go with for my pick #10. The well-known theme to The Peanuts cartoon specials. I’ve been surprised and pleased at the number of instrumentals in the draft, and here I’ve just added yet another.
The song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00gXEn1ehDg
Nearly everyone who has watched The Peanuts holiday specials, beginning in 1965 with ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, will recognize this song. The song’s official name is ‘Linus and Lucy’. The composer is Vince Guaraldi, and the performers are the Vince Guaraldi Trio. There are several versions of the song, from the various Peanuts specials in which it was used.
Back in the 1990s, our local TV station played this as the background music on snow days, as they scrolled school closures across the screen. I thought it was the perfect music for snow day announcements.
Wikipedia has an entry telling the story of the song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_and_Lucy
The Songfacts.com site also has an entry on the song, with much the same information as at Wikipedia.
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/vince-guaraldi-trio/linus-and-lucy
Well, that’s my 10 draft picks. It’s been loads of fun to pick songs, write about them, see the reaction of others, and to see and hear the songs picked by the other draft participants. Thanks Hanspostcard for hosting the draft.
slicethelife 
A great out-of-the-box selection. It’s one of those songs that makes you happy when you hear it. I had the A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack album before and loved it. The Peanuts specials were my favorite holiday specials growing up and the music was part of the reason why.
Thanks! I was methodical in how I selected most of my picks, but not this one. I heard it last week and thought ‘aha’!
Inspired moment! I’m always happy to hear this.
A wonderful pick to start the final round!! This one never fails to make me feel good.
Thank you! Same here… it always makes me smile when I hear it.
That ear worm has been in my head since the 1960s.
Haha, I love it!
This is one of my favourites too!
Superb! I had toyed with the idea of doing something similar for the last pick, still might, but this one is hard to top. To me, I love it for sentimental reasons – the Peanuts Christmas special is one I try to see every year, and have since I was a kid, love it – but the music itself is really quite good when you listen to it just for what it is. Excellent choice.
I’ll look forward to your last pick, whatever direction you decide to go. Thanks! It’s nice to listen to the entire song, not just the pieces that made it into the Peanuts specials. I agree it’s quite good.
the music was so far beyond what other cartoons were using. I’ve not yet decided if the bob-head twins or the guy (Shermie?) doing the walking in place are my favorite dancers !
My favorite part is the Peanuts special is the one with this song – astounding selection! I love the various dance styles of all the characters and how they seem to fit despite the various style changes in the song. Part of why the Peanuts special is timeless is the soundtrack – it’s different but just works perfectly!
Thanks! I too thought they did a great job portraying the characters and their dances, and the ‘musicians’, Snoopy, Pigpen and Schroeder. 😀
You had the first pick of the last round. I have the last pick. No pressure. LOL
Oh wow, no pressure indeed…haha! 😉
Pig Pen on bass is killer.
Pig Pen- R.I.P.
Brilliant pick! So lighthearted and fun.
Thanks!
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