And Then There's Maude

"And Then There's Maude (Maude's Theme)" is the theme song for the television series Maude (1972 - 1978), written by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Dave Grusin, and performed by Donny Hathaway.

Keeping with the theme of the liberal persona Maude (played by Bea Arthur) embodied, the theme lyrics compared many historical figures to Maude, such as Lady Godiva, Joan of Arc, Isadora Duncan and Betsy Ross.

In popular culture

• Columnist Christopher Muther of The Boston Globe picked "And Then There's Maude" as his favorite television theme song of the 1970s.

• The song was also parodied on the Family Guy episode "No Meals on Wheels", in which it contains an extended version with a comically larger number of historical references to Madame Curie, Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony, Pocahontas, Indira Gandhi, Babe Zaharias, Amelia Earhart, and Cleopatra. This version was sung by vocalist Arnold McCuller (one of James Taylor's backing vocalists for many years).

• The Wisconsin Band plays the song before the start of every home hockey game.