You’ve probably been humming theMariotheme more often than you usually do for the past week or so if you’ve been to seeThe Super Mario Bros. Movie. You’re certainly not the only ones as the iconic tune has been deemed famous enough to become a part of the US Library of Congress. Its addition to the list of songs, albums, and themes marks the first time a piece of music from a video game has ever been added to the library.
The National Recording Registrywas established to preserve some of the world’s most famous songs and musical pieces for future generations and includes everything from Billy Joel’s Piano Man to Master of Puppets by Metallica. 25 more entries into the Library of Congress will be made in 2023, and the theme from the originalSuper Mario Bros.will be among them (viaThe Guardian).
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Those responsible for deciding what gets to be immortalized in the Library of Congress have dubbed the Super Mario Bros theme “the most recognizable video game theme in history”.Certainly a statement that’s hard to argue with. As I listened to the theme while writing this article, my three-year-old stopped in their tracks and started humming along. My 62-year-old mom would probably do the same thing, and I’m sure there are countless other families out there with three generations of people who would instantly recognize the Mario theme.
Among other songs going into The National Recording Registry alongside the Mario theme is Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas, and Imagine by John Lennon, so quite the playlist. The Mario theme may well open the door for other video game tracks to be inducted in the coming years, although finding any nearly as recognizable as a Mario song that has stuck withNintendo’s mascot for almost 40 years will be hard to do. Perhaps the music that plays whenSonichas stars will be the next video game track to get an induction.
There’s a strong chance the next song that makes it into the library is another Mario one. One of the best things about the movie is the way tracks from across all of Mario’s history have been incorporated. There were more than 100 songs from the games weaved into a film that ran for a little more than 90 minutes. It’s no wonder thatquite a few more were left on the cutting room floor.
It’s probably going to be a while before Jack Black’s Peaches makes it into the Library of Congress alongside the Mario theme. The song Bowser sings about Princess Peach midway through the movie has been getting a lot of praise withthe possibility of it being nominated for an Oscareven being discussed. More likely than a Library of Congress induction, but only just.
