"Can We Fix It?" is the name of thetheme song from the British children's animated television programmeBob the Builder. It was written byPaul K. Joyce and produced byHot Animation. Vocals on the song are provided byNeil Morrissey, who voiced Bob at the time of the track's recording. It was released as a single on 4 December 2000 in the United Kingdom.
"Can We Fix It?" became the UKChristmas number-one single of 2000, beatingWestlife's "What Makes a Man" to the top spot and ending the group's run of seven consecutive number-one singles.[2] It was the biggest-selling single of 2000 in the United Kingdom, appearing at number 10 on the decade-end chart in 2009. The song has sold over one million copies in the United Kingdom according to theOfficial Charts Company.[3] In August 2001, the song was released in Australia and reached number one that September, becoming the ninth-best-selling single of the year there.
A second single by Bob the Builder, "Mambo No. 5", with the lyrics adapted fromLou Bega's 1999 hit version, also reached number one on the UK chart in September 2001. An album entitledThe Album followed, which debuted at number four on theUK Albums Chart.[4]
The song was rated 8/10 byStylus Magazine, saying "kids TV themes getting to number one is a thing to be savoured, especially when a), it stops pretentious tosh like "Stan" from reigning at the top of the charts and b), when it actually has a much better2-step beat than any of thegarage number ones from the previous 18 months."[5]
NME named it one of the worst songs of the 2000s. Staff writer Jamie Milton said: "When you become a parent, you tacitly sign up to watch an endless amount of children’s TV. [...] But nothing excuses a throwaway, novelty kids TV song about a builder fixing things, managing to shift over a million copies, becoming the highest-selling song of 2000 and the first Christmas number one of the ‘00s. There’s innocent fun, and then there’s ruining a new millennium before it’s barely begun." Milton said the worst part of the song was its "constant, cheap garage beat, the audio equivalent of someone drilling a hole in your conscience."[6]
