Bein' Green
single by Kermit the Frog
"Bein' Green" (also known as "It's Not Easy Bein' Green") is a song written by Joe Raposo, originally performed by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (in the episodes "Peter Ustinov" and "Peter Sellers"). It later was covered by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison, and other performers. "Bein' Green" is considered the signature song of Kermit the Frog.
Background
In the Muppets version, Kermit begins by lamenting his green coloration, expressing that green "blends in with so many ordinary things" and wishing to be some other color. But by the end of the song, Kermit recalls positive associations with the color green, and concludes by accepting and embracing his color.
Versions
Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, various Muppet productions, starting with The Sesame Street Book & Record in 1970, until 1990 following Henson's death
Steve Whitmire as Kermit the Frog, various Muppet productions (1990–2016)
Thurl Ravenscroft, 1970 album Rubber Duckie and Other Songs From Sesame Street
Frank Sinatra, 1971 album Sinatra & Company, this recording would later be used on Sesame Street in an animated insert by Étienne Delessert.
Lena Horne, 1971 album Nature's Baby
Urbie Green, 1972 album Bein' Green
Buddy Rich, 1972 album Stick It
Van Morrison, 1973 album Hard Nose the Highway
Stan Kenton, 1973 7.5 on the Richter Scale, titled "It's Not Easy Bein' Green"
Della Reese, 1973 album Let Me in Your Life
John Leyton, 1973 eponymous album
Diana Ross, 1974 album Live at Caesars Palace
Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, 1974 album You Will Be My Music
Ray Charles, 1975 album Renaissance; this version gained popularity because of an episode of The Cosby Show, and Charles then sang a duet with Kermit on Sesame Street and The Cher Show as well as sang the song on the 1989 special Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting
Jackie McLean, 1978 album New Wine in Old Bottles
Mary O'Hara, 1981 album Colours
Hiroshi Suzuki, 1982 album Now in the Night
Keith Harris and Orville the Duck, 1983 single
William Roy, 1986 single "When I Sing Alone"
Helen Merrill feat. Stan Getz, 1989 album Just Friends
Wilford Brimley, 1989 MDA Labor Day Telethon
Mandy Patinkin, 1990 album Dress Casual
Caroll Spinney as Big Bird, 1990 Jim Henson memorial service
Bob McGrath, 1991 album Bob's Favorite Street Songs
Rowlf the Dog, 1993 album Ol' Brown Ears is Back
Jill O'Hara, 1993 album Jill O'Hara, titled "Green"
Shirley Horn, 1993 album Light Out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles)
Don Henley with Kermit, 1994 album Kermit Unpigged
Mike Campbell, 1994 album Easy Chair Jazz
Vanessa Rubin, 1995 album Vanessa Rubin Sings
Johnny Lytle, 1997 album Easy Easy, completely instrumental
Don Rickles, 1997 Muppets Tonight episode 205
Tony Bennett, 1998 album The Playground
Alan Muraoka, 2000 Evening at Pops
Calvin Ray Johnson and Kermit 2001 The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon
Caroll Spinney as Oscar the Grouch, 2005 episode Sesame Street,(with altered Grouchy lyrics by Christine Ferraro)
Mark Murphy, 2005 album 'Once To Every Heart', (Verve Records)
Audra McDonald, 2006 album Build a Bridge
Sophie Milman, 2007 album Make Someone Happy
Matthew White, Music and Sweet Poetry Agree
Take 6, 2008 album The Standard
Abelardo Montoya, 2009 episode in Spanish "Ser Verde" Plaza Sésamo
Andrew Bird, 2011 tribute/cover album Muppets: The Green Album
Brenna Whitaker, 2015 album We Love Disney
Imelda May and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at a televised live event to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising
Matt Vogel as Kermit the Frog, 2018 The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert
Matt Vogel as Kermit the Frog and Elvis Costello, 2019 TV special Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, 2019 album Jazz for Kids
Matt Vogel as Kermit with Lucas Ross on banjo, 2024 UMD College of Arts and Humanities' Dean's Lecture Series'
Eric Jacobson as Oscar the Grouch and Cynthia Erivo, 2024 on "Sesame Street's YouTube channel (uses altered lyrics from Season 36 version)."
Seth MacFarlane, 2026 album Seth MacFarlane Sings the Muppets
Memorial
The song was sung by Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) at the two memorial services for Jim Henson in 1990.
In politics
In September 2021, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned the song while giving an address about climate to the United Nations General Assembly, saying that Kermit was wrong and "it is easy to be green".
The public source identifies “Bein' Green” as single by Kermit the Frog. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bein', Green and single.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2131529. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1990, 2016 and 1971.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bein' Green” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.