Title: Verb – That’s What’s Happenin’!
Music & Lyrics by: Bob Dorough
Performed by: Zachary Sanders
First aired: 1974
My rank: #6

If I had ranked the Schoolhouse Rock episodes on a coolness factor, “Verb: That’s What’s Happenin’!” would be the undisputed king. Bob Dorough masterfully fused his beloved jazz with the powerful sound of ’70s funk to create this musical masterpiece. Accented with what sounds like a trio of gospel-trained African American women providing background vocals over the smooth tones of singer Zachary Sanders, we were taught everything we’d ever need to know about verbs through the eyes of a young boy who idolizes a superhero.

What’s always appealed to me when it comes to this particular short is how when I hear those opening notes I instantly feel like I’m once again a small boy in a constant state of overactivity, be it through my actions or my imagination. As I grew older I came to appreciate “Verb: That’s What’s Happenin’!” on a different level as this has to have been one of the first cartoons with an African American bent. The only other animated feature I can think of from this time period in the same vein was Bill Cosby’s Saturday morning staple “Fat Albert”.

The staying power of this short in my own memory banks has been amazing. I cannot recall a single time when asked for a noun by someone filling out a Mad Libs that I did not instantly respond “bat, boat, rake and plow.” Just about any word that I hear that even rhymes with “verb” is immediately followed by a “that’s what’s happenin’” compliments of my inner DJ.

Although absolutely loved by me, this episode comes in at the number six spot on my top ten favorites.

Favorite lines – “I can take a noun and bend it, gimme me a noun. Bat, boat, rake and plow.” and the oft-repeated title of the piece by the backup singers “Verb! That’s what’s happenin’!”

The lyrics:

I get my thing in action (Verb!)
To be, to sing, to feel, to live (Verb!)
That’s what’s happenin’
I put my heart in action (Verb!)
To run, to go, to get, to give (Verb!)
(You’re what’s happenin’)

That’s where I find satisfaction, yeah! (Yeah!)
To search, to find, to have, to hold
(Verb! To be bold)
When I use my imagination (Verb!)
I think, I plot, I plan, I dream
Turning in towards creation (Verb!)
I make, I write, I dance, I sing
When I’m feeling really active (Verb!)
I run, I ride, I swim, I fly!
Other times when life is easy
(Oh!) I rest, I sleep, I sit, I lie.

(Verb! That’s what’s happenin’)
I can take a noun and bend it,
Give me a noun -
(Bat, boat, rake and plow)
Make it a verb and really send it!
(Show me how)
Oh, I don’t know my own power. (Verb!)

I get my thing in action (Verb!)
In being, (Verb!) In doing, (Verb!)
In saying
A verb expresses action, being, or state of being. A verb makes a statement. Yeah, a verb tells it like it is!

(Verb! That’s what’s happenin’.)
I can tell you when it’s happenin’,
(Past, present, future tense)
Ooh! Tell you more about what’s happenin’,
(Say it so it makes some sense)
I can tell you who is happenin’!
(Verb, you’re so intense)
Every sentence has a subject.
(Noun, person, place, or thing)
Find that subject: Where’s the action?
(Verb can make a subject sing)
Take the subject: What is it? (What!)
What’s done to it? (What!)
What does it say?
(Verb, you’re what’s happenin’)

I can question like: What is it?
(Verb, you’re so demanding.)
I can order like: Go get it!
(Verb, you’re so commanding.)
When I hit I need an object
(Verb, hit! Hit the ball!)
When I see, I see the object
(Do you see that furthest wall?)
If you can see it there, put the ball over the fence, man!
Go ahead. Yeah, alright.
What?! He hit it. It’s going, it’s going, it’s gone!
(What!)

I get my thing in action.
(Verb, that’s what’s happenin’)
To work, (Verb!)
To play, (Verb!)
To live, (Verb!)
To love… (Verb!…)