Really neglecting this blog, but nothing moves me much to write about, but today my friend Rainier sent me some pictures from their trip to Subic and this one reminded me of a song from my childhood.
Pic is courtesy of Rainier (with Maricris)
"Closer.. getting closer....."
This is a theme song from an old old tv show from the 1970s that i used to watch. It was sung everytime the show started.
If ever you have the time, try listening to it. Its a great song!
http://katyana.tripod.com/marble2.mp3 <-listen to it here.
The earth's a big blue marble when you see it from out there . . .
Closer, getting closer, perspective start to change
things look a little strange, as we get closer.
Closer, growing closer,
no need to be afraid our troubles start to fade,
as we get closer.
Together is a word we must learn to understand,
if we ever want to get to know each other better.
Together is a word that holds tomorrow in it's hand,
tomorrow's just another day to get together, and...
Get closer, closer, closer…
Info about the show:
Big Blue Marble was a 1970s children's television show that taught its viewers about lifestyles of children throughout the world. The show's message was that people should value cultural diversity. This was back in the days when there was no internet and this show helped kids all around the world learn about other cultures and people by writing to one another!
There was a weekly segment in which a singing globe invited viewers to write letters to the show, often requests for pen pals. The address to send the letters was in Santa Barbara, California.
I actually got a penpal from the states and another from Russia while we were living in Africa.
Funded by ITT, Big Blue Marble was syndicated to television stations throughout the United States and Canada.
It was a great show that provided childrens education that gave social and moral values to children.
Here are some comments from people at: http://www.jumptheshark.com/b/bigbluemarble.htm
Other Thoughts:
Anyone remember the show Big Blue Marble? It was an educational show in the 70s. They were big into promoting Pen Pals, as I recall... It had a neat little theme song too!
I actually considered voting on this show until I realized literally all I remembered was the theme song - and not even the whole thing at that! Does anyone remember it? I think a kid sang it over a shot of the Earth from space.
You're right, this show and it's theme ruled! "It's a Big Blue Marble....in space"
I don't think it was possible for Big Blue Marble to jump. By the time you might have decided it was jumping, you were already tuned in to more grown up shows. I don't even remember it ending for good - I graduated high school in '83.
Wow... flashback! I spent several years not being able to recall the name of this show. This was back when TV stations/networks took their social responsibilities seriously. It can't have made CBS (?) any money, but I recall all the reports about kids around the world. Had a meaningful impact on me as a youngster. Now if someone plays that funky intro music for "In the News", I'll probably have another flashback seizure.
This was good educational show. From what I remember they were really into penpals and kids communicating with kids. Something you don't see anymore. Could be a little preachy. But far superior to anything on for kids today.
This show was put together by IBM. Their corporate nickname is "big blue" -hence the name. There was a segment called "if kids ruled the world" -wacky! Much of each episode featured a study of some child growing up in a foreign land. It seemed to me that these kids had parents who worked for IBM. I liked this show, and I had a pen pal -in Scotland! - that I sent away for. We corresponded for about a year, then I got bored with her. But it was a friend from another country.
I just want to provide the words to the song for the show, that someone asked about the words. "The earth's a big blue marble when you see it from out there. The sun and moon declare, our beauty's very rare! We sing pretty much alike, enjoy spring pretty much alike, but la la la la, la la la la la, the very same thing. The earth's a big blue marble when you..." that's all I remember, but I loved the show, got two pen pals from it, and loved the song!.
I used to love this show. Over the last few years the only thing that comes close, in terms of social responsibility are some of the cable-tv shows on Nickelodeon by Linda Ellerbee.
Good, fun show. Still remember vividly the little short where the kid pounds on the ketchup bottle repeatedly to top his burger. When it doesn't come out he turns it upright and - Splat! Right in his face. AND..to the earlier post about In the News,...the music was more of a chirpy "Boinkety-Boinkety" onomatopoeia, and at the end was a crashy chime.
I remember that the whole class would get quiet to sing along the theme song. You can find it on Napster sometimes. The song sounds like something out of Cirque du Soleil. Quite a flashback.
Here are the words to the "Big Blue Marble" theme song: The earth's a big blue marble when you see it from out there./The sun and moon declare our beauty's very rare./Folks are folks and kids are kids./We share a common aim./We speak a different name, but work and play the same./We sing pretty much alike, enjoy spring pretty much alike./Peace and love we all understand, and laughter, we use the very same brand./Our differences, our problems, from out there there's not much trace/Our friendships they can place/By looking at the face of the Big Blue Marble in space.
I think it never jumped!! I had a penpal in England that I actually went over & stayed with, a penpal in Japan, & one in France! Very cool, & something that would never happen now!!
I was in the third grade in California when I use to watch this show. They matched me up with a pen pale in Trinidad. Kathleen Bassaw (now Ragoonath) and I are still in regular touch and hope to meet one day. What a wonderful program!
Actually, my first memory of watching television is this show. But, it was much better before they changed the theme song. The original theme had greetings in about a dozen languages. When they changed it, suddenly it was a lot more Euro-centric.
Big Blue Marble was one of my favorites. Plus, you actually could learn something! I had penpals in Israel, Russia and Singapore because of Big Blue Marble. Corresponding with them helped to widen my horizons. There should be a show like it today for kids.
This show was not sponsored by IBM, but another huge, faceless, multinational conglomerate, ITT! The show itself was very well done. It talked about various places and things. It had a segment where a child from a different country would describe their life there. It was interesting and very sensitive to it's 70's mentality. Talked about ecology and stuff. I thought it comparable to The Electric Company.
I have no clue why they have taken off the Big Blue Marble show. When I was a kid I always watch that show and did the penpals also. I have written to many other kids around my age back then and it made a huge impact in my life. When you go up and see all the confusions and politics and your parents goin thru things that you and only you cant explain. But to have a penpal from the Big Blue Marble you learn from one another and their cultures and ours as well. It made me a better person as I am today. I also is gettin ready to put a book together about the different cultures an and ours as well and how it made a huge wonderful impact on my life. I would like to see this show come back and it is a great tool and very educational as well. I would love to be a pen pal to someone on the Big Blue Marble! And I am now 41 yrs old! :)
Remember the part of the show where the talking globe would take you to a different part of the world? "Duh - CLICK!"
This was a really great show I remember from being a kid. That theme song has been in my head for a quarter century now! {"The earth's a Big Blue Marble When you see it from out there The sun and moon declare Our beauty's very rare Folks are folks and kids are kids We share a common name We speak a different way But work and play the same..." } Looking back, it was a wonderful show for kids that looked at the beauty present in different cultures and made you think of how people lived outside of your own particular world or childhood/your neighborhood, etc. Terrific show! It should be a model for kids' shows!
i don't think it ever jumped. speaking of shorts, the short i remember had a kid at a bowling alley. when he went to throw the ball down the lane, the ball pulled him down the lane and he made a strike. i still don't know why that short hold my memory.
Never Jumped...I remember Channel 56 or 38 out of Boston played it when I was a kid very early on Sunday Mornings...I thought it was boring (I was a little kid and it wasn't a cartoon) but the song at the end....always loved that. "Closer...growing Closer..." --- The show was great cuz it promoted folk finding out about the rest of the world and presented different cultures. Of course, today, the internet does that...but....this was back during the height of the Cold War and when the 'Net was just guys in NASA and the big University's chatting with each other. Today a school age kid can hit a web site and find a 'pen pal' in Kirgizistan (or some other country) -- so the sows now obsolete...but still, for what it did at its time...priceless.
This is one of the best shows for kids EVER. It kept me COMPLETELY entertained, something ol' Fred Rodgers had a tough time doing without the puppets. I still remember a creepy serial they on the show, where some poor kid was convinced that her sister was a witch, etc. Great show.
How funny reading through these how “theme songs that haunt us” can finally be put to rest for some! How about the second one with the kids & teens doing the “Closer…ever closer…” bit showing some had great vocal promise, and others….well…! If you asked me as a kid if it jumped, similar to another poster commenting about “cartoon time”, I would have said YES!!
Now looking back on it, it was really a well done and entertaining program even if it did bump “Pink Panther” from time-to-time! “Cable in the Classroom” is a lot like it now, though for those that miss it; but even this is more about world news than cultural pieces. “Tivoli” say it backwards…”I love it”!
That show was amazing! Made me want to get out there & do things, see things! All these kids my age talking about life where they were...I couldn't wait to get there and really see! The show made the world seem tangible and real, in ways that are no longer represented. It was a PBS favorite of mine!
Loved it, but the theme song must have changed after I moved on to other things, since I don't recognize the words about moon and sun. The theme I know is: Big Blue Marble The earth's a big blue marble when you see it from out there Closer, getting closer Perspective start to change Things look a little strange As we get closer Closer, growing closer No need to be afraid our troubles start to fade As we get closer Together is a word we must learn to understand If we ever want to get to know each other better Together is a word that holds tomorrow in it's hand Tomorrow's just another day to get together, and... Get closer closer, closer, closer
Great show. Indeed nothing like it on now. What I wanted to comment on was the song. Two others have commented, and while what you've written is vaguely familiar, its not what I remember. here is what I remember. Am I on crack or something? Closer, getting closer. Perspectives start to change, things look a little strange. As we get closer. Together is a word, we must learn to understand, if we ever want to get to know each other better. Together is a word that holds tomorrow in its hands. Tomorrow's just another day to get together, and, get closer...closer...closer. Now, there is no way I made that up...
Big Blue Marble: I remember this programme as a you kid late 70s and early 80s, all the way in Africa, Kenya. Made a major impact in my life. Ever since I got my baby early this year, I keep recalling the theme song and I remember what a doorway to the world the programme was to me...almost equivalent to the nowadays getting internet and email connections....
The music and theme were DEFINITELY haunting, and I remember them to this day like many of the other writers on this page. I did a little searching and found a link to the theme song.. its at http://katyana.tripod.com/marble.html Have fun folks! Its a pleasant trip down memory lane. This show should definitely be done again, especially in todays world.
I definitely have fond memories of this show. I didn't do the pen pal thing, but I enjoyed seeing how kids in other parts of the world lived. Somebody should definitely bring this show (or at least its concept) back, and update it for today's world with the internet, and what have you. In today's world, we could sure use it.
The Big Blue Marble theme, to my recollection, was different for intro and exit. The words I remember are: "The Earth's a big blue marble when you see it from out there; the sun and moon declare, our beauty's very rare. We sing pretty much alike, enjoy Spring pretty much alike; peace and love we all understand, and laughter, we use the very same brand. Our folks are folks, our kids are kids, we share a common race; our friendships they can't trace, while looking at the face of the Big Blue Marble in space." It's funny ... I had no idea IBM developed this show. Could that be how I ended up working for IBM? ;) Best memory was my penpal from the Bahamas, and learning to say hello and good-bye in ten languages. Plus, they had that cool shot in the opening credits with the kids riding a tree branch like a mechanical bull. I tried it as
