Cover art
"Big Bang Theory Theme", also known as The History of Everything, is the theme song of The Big Bang Theory. It is played after the cold opening of each episode (except the unaired pilot). It is composed and performed by the band Barenaked Ladies. The song describes the developments the universe has undergone since the dawn of time.
The song title is similar to A Short History of Nearly Everything, a 2003 popular science book by Bill Bryson that explains some areas of science to a general audience.
On October 9, 2007, a full-length (1 minute and 45 second) version of the song was released.
Lyrics
Full Version
- Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
- Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started — Wait...
- The Earth began to cool,
- The autotrophs began to drool,
- Neanderthals developed tools,
- We built a wall (we built the pyramids).
- Math, science, history, unraveling the mystery
- That all started with the Big Bang!
- (Bang!)
- "Since the dawn of man" is really not that long
- As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song.
- A fraction of a second and the elements were made.
- The bipeds stood up straight,
- The dinosaurs all met their fate,
- They tried to leave, but they were late and they all died.
- (They froze their asses off.)
- The oceans and Pangaea.
- See? You wouldn't wanna be-ya,
- Set in motion by the same Big Bang!
- It all started with the Big Bang!
- It's expanding ever outward, but one day,
- It will pause and start to go the other way.
- Collapsing ever inward, we won't be here, it won't be heard.
- Our best and brightest figure that it'll make an even bigger bang!
- Australopithecus would really have been sick of us,
- Debating how we're here, they're catching deer.
- (We're catching viruses.)
- Religion or astronomy, Descartes or Deuteronomy,
- It all started with the Big Bang.
- Music and mythology, Einstein and astrology,
- It all started with the Big Bang!
- It all started with the Big Bang!
TV Version
- Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
- Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started — Wait...
- The Earth began to cool,
- The autotrophs began to drool,
- Neanderthals developed tools,
- We built a wall (we built the pyramids).
- Math, science, history, unraveling the mystery
- That all started with the Big Bang!
- (Bang! Replaced with a last acoustic guitar stroke in the series finale version)
Trivia
- The opening credits video contains a high-speed montage sequence featuring:
- Fossil
- George Washington
- Amoebae
- Lightning
- Rainforest
- Fish
- Lizard
- Diplodocus
- Stegosaurus
- Mammoth
- Chimpanzee
- Early human
- Wheel
- Cave painting
- Stonehenge, Wiltshire
- Moai, Easter Island
- Inca architecture
- Pyramids of Giza
- Great Sphinx of Giza
- Ancient Greece
- Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
- Great Wall of China
- Notre Dame de Paris
- Taj Mahal, India
- Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
- Venus de Milo
- Vitruvian Man
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Mayflower
- English Civil War
- Annuit cœptis
- Hiram Ulysses Grant
- American Civil War amputation
- Constitution of the United States
- Steam locomotive
- Printing press
- Incandescent light bulb
- Tower Bridge, London
- Eiffel Tower, Paris
- Statue of Liberty
- Joseph Stalin
- Wright brothers
- Biplane
- Albert Einstein
- Hawker Hurricane
- Albert Einstein's mass–energy equivalence
- Jukebox
- Alexander Graham Bell's telephone
- Mount Rushmore
- Spacewalk
- Geoffrey Dummer integrated circuit
- Operating theater
- Reel-to-reel audio tape recording
- Floppy disk
- Automobile
- Empire State Building
- Subway train
- Hollywood Boulevard
- NASA Space Shuttle
- Disco ball
- Roller skates
- Robot
- Compact disc player
- Internet
- Hip hop
- Mobile phone
- Skateboarding
- Communications satellite
- Magnetic Levitating Train
- Snowboarding
- Graffiti
- Sony PlayStation
- Pumpjack
- Digital photography
- The montage ends with the main characters eating take out food in Apartment 4A, followed by the show's title card.
- During the entire opening credit there is a timeline which advances gradually as the images are shown.
- Big Bang is the theory among most scientists about how the universe was born. According to the theme song, the Big Bang was in a hot and dense state and was created around 14 billion years ago.
Expansion of the universe since the big bang.
- 10(-43) seconds: The universe exploded from a dense particle, traveling even faster than the speed of light. For an incredibly small fraction of a second, the universe is a hot fireball about the size of a baseball. At this point, the universe is going through a process known as "Inflation", which causes an expansion filled with matter and energy.
- 10(-6) seconds: Inflation has stopped, and the universe is slowing down. It is now becoming less dense, and is finally starting to cool down. Gravity is created during this time, which is collecting matter to create the first nuclei.
- 1 second: The universe is made up of more particles, such as electrons, photons, neutrinos, and quarks. These particles merge to create protons and neutrons.
- 3 seconds: The protons and neutrons merged and created the first elements, like hydrogen and helium.
- 10,000 years: Radiation is formed during this period. Radiation included radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays.
- 300,000 years: Electrons are captured into the orbit of nuclei and are formed into stable atoms; these atoms form more complex elements. The waves in radiation are slowed down, but the universe is still expanding.
- 100 million years: Leftover clouds of gas and dust are collected by gravity. This causes them to clump together and draw in more gases, until it begins hot enough to stay together, creating the first stars.
- 300 million years: After more stars were formed, they become close enough to form an even bigger clump of gas, forming a galaxy. Later planets, life and us.
- There have been four opening cast shots. An early one with Raj wearing a hat. Another similar one with Raj not wearing a hat. One a few seasons later with Penny eating shrimp and the final one showing both Amy and Bernadette.
- At one Comic-Con roundtable with The Big Bang Theory cast, the Barenaked Ladies played the entire theme song live.
