Cover art
"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:
- 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 a 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 ocean said Pangaea,
- See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya,
- Set in motion by the same Big Bang!
- It all started with a 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 a Big Bang.
- Music and mythology, Einstein and astrology,
- It all started with a Big Bang!
- It all started with a Big Bang!
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, ItalyItaly
- Venus de Milo
- Vitruvian ManLeonardo da Vinci
- Mayflower
- English Civil War
- Annuit cœptis
- George Armstrong Custer
- 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.
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.