Millennials Keeps Hearing The Franklin Theme Song In Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em”

When Beyoncé decided to go country and released her insanely catchy song “Texas Hold ‘Em” on Feb. 11, everyone threw on their cowboy hats, stuck their thumbs in their belt loops, and suddenly learned how to two-step. Bey’s latest hit has been everywhere for the past month and millennials on TikTok noticed that it sounds pretty similar to an unexpected song from our youth. That’s right, the Franklin theme song.

Ashleigh Aedan was one of many millennials who flagged the similarities in a viral TikTok on Feb. 18. “pov: you’re a Canadian and trying to figure out why Beyoncé’s so familiar,” she wrote over a video of her listening to “Texas Hold ‘Em,” before cutting to a clip of Franklin with the text, “realizing it was literally the sound of your childhood.”

Aedan wasn’t the only one to think so; a bunch of TikTokers agreed with her comparison. “I have had the Franklin theme song in my head all week because of it,” one commented. Another said, “I LOOOOVED Franklin growing up!! it took me til now to realize this!!!!!” One more wrote, “I had to check that song out and my babies thought I was watching Franklin on my phone lol.”

The animated Canadian children’s show ran from 1997 to 2004 on Nick Jr., for the those of us in the U.S., and the beginning of Franklin’s theme song does indeed have a similar top-tapping, plucky banjo tune. If you need a little reminder, music enthusiast Jarred Jermaine posted a helpful splice on TikTok.

The comparisons have gone so viral that Bruce Cockburn, who composed and sang the Franklin theme song, told TMZ that he hears it, but doesn’t “claim” any ownership in Beyoncé’s chart-topping hit. (“Texas Hold ‘Em” rose to #1 on Billboard’s Top 100 just a week after it dropped.)

“I think Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ is a good record. Unfortunately, I can’t claim to have had any part in writing it,” Cockburn told TMZ. “The rhythmic feel is similar to my theme song for the Franklin TV series, but to my ears, that’s where the similarity stops. ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ is her song, and I wish her success with it!”

For her part, Queen Bey, who will release the rest of her country album Renaissance Act II on March 29, has not addressed the Franklin comparisons. But what we really want to know now is if Rumi and Sir are as obsessed as we were with Franklin the turtle, his bestie Bear, and the rest of his woodland creature friends. You never know, Franklin is one of those classic, gentle TV shows kids still watch today.