A definitive ranking of the 21 best Bob's Burgers songs
21. "Oil Spill" (Episode: "Food Truckin'")
Tori Amos-analog Tabitha Johansson sings a song called "Oil Spill" about her vagina. As Gene says, "It's not subtle."
(A note: the ranking only includes songs that the characters themselves actually sing.)
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20. "Buckle It Up" (Episode: My Fuzzy Valentine)
"Buckle it up / buckle it up / buckle it up or you'll die!" Simple, sure. It doesn't rhyme, but you have to admit it's effective.
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19. "Gravy Boat" (Episode: "Turkey in a Can")
Sweet, but less catchy and undeniably less memorable than another Bob's Burgers Thanksgiving song.
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18. "Sex! Sex! Sex!" (Episode: Nude Beach)
Out of all of corrupt health inspector Tommy Jaronda's terrible songs, this is the one with the best title. He and Jimmy Pesto are a perfect fit.
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17. "The Diarrhea Song" (Episode: "Tina-Rannosaurus Wrecks")
"Running down the gutter / With a piece of bread and butter..." It's the least appetizing Bob's Burgers song to get stuck in your head.
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16. "I Do" (Episode: Something Old, Something New")
Bob's marriage-themed ode to his cooking process is delightful, especially when he gets up in the falsetto, but it's less iconic that several of the show's other classics.
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15. "Harry Truman" (Episode: "Mother Daughter Laser Razor")
"Here goes the hair. There goes the hair. Where is Harry Truman? He's dead in the ground, he's dead in the ground, he's dead, dead, dead, dead, dead."
What wonderful nonsense. Has there ever been a better example of who Linda Belcher is?
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14. "Happy/Crappy Place" (Episode: "Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise")
I'm always a fan of when the show pulls out some counterpoint (a.k.a. he sings/she sings), and this is a good, classic example of merging the A and B plots, although weaker than, say, another entry on this list, "This is Working."
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13. (TIE) "Coal Mine"/ "I Wanna Hear Your Secrets" (Episode: "Boyz 4 Now")
Our first two Boyz 4 Now songs are tied for 13, although only "Secrets" includes the lyric, "You just went to the bathroom, numer one or number two?"
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12. "The Fart Song" (Episode: "The Frond Files")
Infantile, sure, and a bit one-note, but how can you beat the lyric, "Open up your butt cheeks / This is how our butts speak."
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11. "Girls Being Girls" (Episode: "Kids Run the Restaurant")
Have a mere three words ever been catchier? I'm telling you, Girl Number Three was a star.
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10. "Derek Dematopolis" (Episode: "Purple Rain-union")
Megan Mullally is a VIP of Bob's Burgers and only she makes me want to sing along to lyrics as filthy as "Make my yogurt Greek."
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9. "I Love U So Much (It's Scary)" (Episode: "The Hauntening")
A contender against 30 Rock's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" for "Best Halloween-themed song from a comedy show universe."
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8. "Burgers and Fries" (Episode: "Itty Bitty Ditty Committee")
It's the straw pumping that makes this one. I ain't telling no lies!
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7. "This Is Working" (Episode: "Lindapendent Woman")
A perfect Bob and Linda duet, and the bar against which all Bob and Linda duets should be held.
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6. "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl" (Episode: "Work Hard or Die Trying Girl")
You can't exactly sing along to the mega-song that came together when the kids combined their musical adaptations of Working Girl and Die Hard, but what emerged was genius.
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5. "Snakes!" (Episode: "It Snakes a Village")
Where ARE their arms and legs? It's NOT okay! A great Gene ditty that ascends to perfect by the choice to make the list of things he's not afraid of include ghosts and also cancer.
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4. "Nice Things are Nice/Bad Things are Bad" (Episode: "Wharf Horse/World Wharf II: The Wharfening")
An epic musical moment beffiting a two-part season finale. We get a reprise! And it involves the entire ensemble cast.
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3. "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom" (Episode: "Glued, Where's My Bob?")
"I'll be out of here in no time!" The ballad of poor Bob stuck in the bathroom when he should be prepping for a big magazine interview is a showcase to John H. Benjamin's distinctive vocal talents, and the song also gets instantly stuck in your head.
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2. "Electric Love" (Episode: "Topsy")
"They say, Thomas Edision is the man to get us into this century. And that man is me." That rhyme scheme alone is enough to get this love song between a man and his soon-to-be-electricuted elephant into the top 5. But everything about this song — including the fact that Gene and Tina are lip syncing to Mr. Fishoeder and Gayle — make it one of the most memorable Bob's Burgers musical moments. A choir comes in! It's magical.
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1. "The Thanksgiving Song" (Episode: "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal")
"Pass! The cranberry sauce, we're havin' mashed potatoes! Oooh the turkey looks great. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being there." Idiosyncratic, strange, not-rhyming, but somehow inevitable, Linda's Thanksgiving song represents the best of Bob's Burgers.