"The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" is a 1968 pop song, which was the theme song for the children's television program The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.[1] Originally released by Decca Records on the album titled We're the Banana Splits, the single release peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 8, 1969,[2] and No. 94 in Canada, on January 20, 1969.[3] The writing of the song is credited to Mark Barkan and Ritchie Adams, who were the show's music directors.
However, there are claims that the theme was written by jingle writer N. B. Winkless Jr. of the Leo Burnett Agency, but was credited to Adams and Barkan for contractual reasons.[4] This was confirmed by Winkless’ son Terence, who played Bingo on the show, in his 2020 memoir From the Inside: My Life As Bingo of the Banana Splits. “In no uncertain terms, the Tra-La-La song was written by my dad on the slightly out of tune upright piano in our living room in Kenilworth, Illinois.”[5]
In 1995, Hollywood Library released the 1,000-copy limited-edition CD reissue We're the Banana Splits/Here Come the Beagles which, in addition to the original album version, included an alternate version on the song.[6]
The song went on to appear in the 2023 film Nimona.