Bluey Fan Has A "Pretty Damning" Conspiracy Theory About The Show’s Theme Song

If there’s an overarching theme in Bluey, it’s surely “making parents cry whenever possible.” But if there’s a second overarching theme, it’s the power of play. Bluey and her sister Bingo (and, let’s be honest, their parents Chilli and Bandit) learn all sorts of important life skills and lessons through the power of play, from how to persist when life throws a challenge your way (“Bicycle,” anyone?) to matters of life and death (whomst among us didn’t sob when the budgie died in “Copycat”?) And it turns out this is a truism from the first 25 seconds of the show: the Bluey theme song itself is a game!

The game is “musical statues” (or what we in the US might call “freeze dance.”) The music plays and everyone dances. Then the music stops for a few beats. The last person to freeze is out. Mom, who keeps dancing after the pause, is the first to go, followed by dad, then Bingo, and then, finally, Bluey. While some say this is obvious, other fans are just catching on, including TikTok user (and self-avowed “silly Welsh boy”) @dheanasaur. (“It wasn’t obvious [that they were playing musical statues]. I didn’t know that,” he says, and then goes on to posit a conspiracy theory that’s “pretty damning.”

“There are 141 episodes of Bluey,” he says in a cheeky TikTok. “They play musical statues in every single title sequence. ... Chilli, the mum, loses first every single time!” His theory? She’s losing on purpose because she hates the game.

“No,” counters one commenter. “Chilli just loves to dance and has her own music and doesn’t notice the music stopped.”

“Bro, most mums don’t want to play musical statues,” offers another. “We ain’t got the damn energy.”

Other TikTok users have reached this same delighted conclusion in the past (that it’s a game, not that Chilli might hate said game). Both @rikaaroo and @scaramoucheswifexo realized the Heelers were playing a game last December. Twitter user @toxicnapkin (great name) noticed this game back in January.

More recently, @ariannajeannn learned about “musical statues” (perhaps from @dheanasaur’s video), and reflected on it somewhat sentimentally.

“I love being a parent cause this sh-t is so fun to find out when you have a kid,” they mused.

Regardless of Chilli’s secret, conspiratorial motivations, the fact that the show literally opens with a game to introduce it is very fitting, as is the idea that there’s more to the theme song than may initially meet the eye. Series composer Joff Bush previously told Romper that hours of conversation and weeks of work go into a single seven minute episode, and that’s just for the music. Further more, the series is full of thoughtful details that really speak to broader themes of childhood and the importance of play.

“At the core of every Bluey story is a game, which is at least inspired by the everyday experiences of bringing up and playing with our kids,” series creator Joe Brumm told Romper back in 2019. “The thing young kids love to do best is play. To them it’s as natural as breathing — it’s how they explore and understand their world. We've tried to capture that and recreate those extended games, which can make vivid, surreal, and often very funny stories, especially when adults are dragged into the mix.”

In fact, Bluey and Bingo’s ages (between 4 and 7 depending on which season you’re talking about) are exactly when children (that’s human children, not cartoon dog children) really start to develop (and learn) through imaginative play. As always, the genius of Bluey is in the little, authentic details the show consistently gets right.

So next time Bluey finds its way to your screen go ahead and play a game of musical statues with your little one.