What The Lyrics Of The Ballad Of Gilligan’s Isle

In this writer’s eyes, there are four perfect TV theme songs in the history of the medium. For instrumentals, the two best themes are Jack Marshall’s surf-like monster music he composed for “The Munsters” and Danny Elfman’s Platonic-ideal-of-a-haunted-house music for “Tales from the Crypt.”

For theme songs with words, the two best ever were, not coincidentally, written by Sherwood Schwartz. He and Frank de Vol composed the catchy, catchy theme for Schwartz’s own sitcom “The Brady Bunch,” while Schwartz teamed up with George Wyle to compose “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle.” These two theme songs, each only about 60 seconds, managed to explain – in rhyme – the premise of their shows in a nutshell while also introducing each of the characters. In addition, the songs are catchy earworms that burrow deep into the brains of listeners, stick in the memory and never let go. When I’m in my 90s, and my brain has lost all memories of my life and my family, I’ll still be able to sing the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song.

“The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” explains to potential viewers that the show’s seven main characters were on a three-hour trip around the Hawaiian islands when their ship, the SS Minnow, hit rough weather. The ship was damaged and washed ashore on a deserted island in the Pacific. The seven characters are listed: Gilligan (Bob Denver), the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), the Millionaire (Jim Backus) and his Wife (Natalie Schafer), the Movie Star (Tina Louise), the Professor (Russell Johnson), and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells).

There is a lot of history to “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” and several interesting stories about its making. For one, the familiar “Ballad” wasn’t the first theme song offered. For another, the band that recorded it had to gather in a forced studio. And, of course, there is the issue of the widely known “And the Rest” debate. Read on to learn all the facts.

The original pilot for “Gilligan’s Island” slightly different from the show that went to air. While Denver, Hale, Backus, and Schafer were involved, the Professor was originally a high school teacher played by John Gabriel. There was a character called Ginger, but she wasn’t a movie star. She was a secretary played by Kit Smythe. Mary Ann was only a second secretary, Ginger’s best friend, Bunny, played by Nancy McCarthy. After some workshopping, Sherwood Schwartz recast the teacher with Russell Johnson and invented the Ginger and Mary Ann we know today.

That pilot’s original theme song, to stay in the spirit of the show’s nautical themes, had a unique calypso sound, along with a different set of lyrics. The original theme was written by future film music maestro John Williams, and Schwartz himself sang the lyrics. Schwartz was said to have imitated a famous calypso master called Sir Lancelot. (No, it’s not Mel Blanc singing it.) The original pilot, titled “Marooned,” wasn’t available to the public until TBS aired it on October 16, 1992. Now, of course, original John Williams song widely available online.

Perhaps feeling that the calypso song was too silly (and the lyrics needed to be rewritten to accommodate the new characters), Schwartz settled on the well-known sea shanty we all know and love today. This new theme song, intended for the first season of “Gilligan’s Island,” was performed by a band called the Wellingtons. Despite their name, the Wellingtons were not from England, but Illinois. They have also changed their original name, the Lincolns, to reflect the British invasion. The Wellingtons even appeared on an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” performed as a fictional band called the Mosquitoes.

A funny story has been told by Schwartz about recording “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” with the Wellingtons. It seems he needs the theme on tape as soon as possible, but thanks to some scheduling glitches, all the local recording studios were closed. A close friend of his had one in his home, fortunately, and the Wellingtons were rushed over. Unfortunately, the close friend was preparing for a party, so the Wellingtons could only record in between the noise of party preparations.

“The Ballad,” as many know, had to be re-recorded after the first season of “Island” due to a credit dispute. Tina Louise, who played Ginger, appears to have negotiated her credit being listed last, forcing Schwartz and the Wellingtons to sing “And the rest” when Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells’ credits appeared on screen.

Bob Denver, feeling that Louise’s condition was unfair to Johnson and Wells – who were as important to “Gilligan’s Island” as any other member of the cast – essentially pulled a rank on her. It appears that Denver had a stipulation that allowed him to list his credit wherever he wanted. As such, he threatened to put his credit behind Louise’s, knowing that he, playing the eponymous character, had the right to do so. Rather than fight Denver, Louise charmed, and a new theme song was written to replace “And the rest” with “The Professor and Mary Ann.”

The new theme song, which was used in the second and third seasons of the show, was performed by a group of singers called the Eligibles. The Wellingtons had a bit more of a professional musical career beyond their “Gilligan’s Island” gig, but the Eligibles were more of a fly-by-night musical act that didn’t do much outside of singing the “Ballad .” However, we do know that they traveled with Eartha Kitt.

The original “Gilligan’s Island” only lasted 98 episodes over three seasons. According to the story, a new executive at CBS wanted to cancel the long-in-the-tooth Western “Gunsmoke” to make room for some new shows, but an older executive’s wife complained. “Gunsmoke” was his favorite series. So, the cast of “Gunsmoke” was rehired – with higher salaries – and CBS had to cancel “Gilligan’s Island” to compensate.

Although it only lasted three years, “Gilligan’s Island” was put into endless syndication, and reruns aired on television for literally decades. Interest in the show remained high, so spin-offs became inevitable in the form of subsequent TV movies and two animated shows. The entire cast returned for all the sequels and spin-offs, with the exception of Tina Louise, who was happy to step away to work on other projects.

The first of the two animated shows was “The New Adventures of Gilligan,” in 1974, which continued the adventures of the castaways on the same island. Because it was put out by Filmation and aired on ABC, the new show, although also created by Sherwood Schwartz, requested the rights to “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” for its use. When the production could not secure those rights, the showrunners opted for a spoken word show instead of a “Ballad” read by the cast. It was … close to the original theme song, but legally different. Curiously, Denver did not read any of the opening poem.

The same “spoken word” approach was adopted for “Gilligan’s Planet,” 1982, an animated sci-fi spin-off of the original show that transformed the setting to a distant alien world (!). That show only lasted one season, also filmed and aired on ABC. As of this writing, this is the last piece of authorized “Gilligan’s Island” media that has been produced (not counting a few crossovers with shows like “ALF” and “Baywatch”).

Here, for posterity’s sake, is a full transcription of the lyrics to “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle:”:

• Sit right back, and you’ll hear a legend, a story of a fateful journey,
• That started from this tropical port, on board this little ship.
• The mate was a mighty sailing man, the Skipper brave and sure.
• Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour journey. A three hour journey.
• (Thunderclap)
• The weather started to get rough, the little ship was thrown.
• If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost. The Minnow would be lost.
• The ship set aground on the shore of this deserted island.
• With Gilligan, the skipper too, the millionaire, and his wife.
• The star of the film, and the rest*
• Here on Gilligan’s island!

* “And the rest,” as noted above, was replaced by “The Professor and Mary Ann” in the second season.

Schwartz also composed lyrics for a variation of the “Ballad,” which played over the show’s closing credits, sung to the same tune. They went:

• Now, this is the story of our hunters. They are here for a long, long time.
• They will have to make the best of things, it’s an uphill climb.
• The first mate and his Skipper will also do their very best
• To make the others comfortable in their tropical island nest.
• (Verbal) No phone! No lights! (sing) no motor cars. Not an individual luxury.
• Like Robinson Crusoe, he is primitive as can be.
• So join us here every week my friends, you are sure to get a smile
• Of seven stranded castaways, here on Gilligan’s island.

The couplet about telephones and lights, and the reference to Robinson Crusoe, by the way, was borrowed from “Weird Al” Yankovic. for his hit song “Amish Paradise.”

Now, dear readers, I challenge you to forget the words. It may never happen.