Believe in Yourself (A Wonderful Kind of Day) is areggae song recorded in 1996 byZiggy Marley and the Melody Makers,Bob Marley's family, for theArthur children's TV seriestheme song. For all 25 seasons (1996–2022), episodes of Arthur start with an approximately minute-long version of the song paired with an animated sequence. The opening lyric appears as Arthur is shown confidently walking outside: "Every day when you're walking down the street, everybody that you meet has an original point of view".NBC News named among the catchy theme songs of the 1990s and called it "one of the most timeless".[1]
The author and creator of Arthur's book series,Marc Brown, maintained a deliberate goal to distance the TV show and specifically its theme song fromBarney & Friends, known for an "I love you, you love me" jingle perceived by some as annoying. "As a parent, I wasn't crazy about the theme song", Brown said, and searched for a song that "celebrated children in a way that felt right."
The show's executive producer, Carol Greenwald, assisted in development, and lyrics were written by Judy Henderson and Jerry de Villiers Jr. TheArthur team eyedZiggy Marley, the son of Bob Marley, to record the song, specifically eyeing one of his compositions for an AIDS charity event as the ideal sound.[2] Greenwald wanted to expose kids to music that some might not listen to regularly, saying "Some kids are really familiar with it but some others aren't, like how some kids know classical and others will maybe learn from seeingYo-Yo Ma."
Ziggy Marley agreed. Because he would be recording with kids in the Marley family, asZiggy Marley and the Melody Makers, he requested they record inJamaica. Greenwald and anArthur music producer flew to theBob Marley Museum in Kingston for the day of recording, and she said "it was an amazing experience because we worked with the whole Marley family", with many of his kids on background vocals. The engineer was Bob Marley's longtime engineer. Greenwald said, "Rita Marley came into the control room while we were there and I'm like fangirling. She said, 'Oh yeah, I like the sound of this.'"
"All of those things that are in the theme song reflected what our goals were at the time, what we wanted to do with the series" Greenwald said.
The song debuted with the first episode of Arthur in November 1996, onPBS Kids, and became popular among parents and children as Arthur beat Barney as the top children's TV program in cities.[3]
It was released as the first track of "Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (or Tape)" in 1998, which was described as "the best children's album of 1998 so far" inBillboard magazine.[4] In 2002, a remix of the song appeared on "Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix".[5]
The lyrics have been used byChrissy Teigen in reference to her husband John Legend, who she says looks like Arthur.[6] In 2022, Marc Brown used the title "Believe in Yourself" for the title of his book reflecting onArthur.
Believe in Yourself has been covered by prominent artists including theBackstreet Boys, who guest starred in the 2002 television special called "Arthur – It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" with two original songs in addition to the theme song cover.[7]
In 2014,Chance the Rapper released a loose cover of the track with the title "Wonderful Everyday: Arthur" onSoundCloud, featuring many liberties with the tempo and song structure, and performs withThe Social Experiment andWyclef Jean, featuring layers of vocals fromFrances and the Lights. Chance the Rapper performed it atGovernor's Ball andLollapalooza that year.[1][8][9]
In 2017, Chance the Rapper joinedZiggy Marley andJon Batiste in a performance forThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[1][10][11] In 2018, he recorded a cover for the closing credits of the Arthur episode, "Muffy Misses Out/Arthur Takes a Stand."