The History Of Everything: Decoding The Big Bang Theory Theme Song's Full Lyrics And Its Major Scientific Flaw

Few television theme songs capture the essence of a show quite like the rapid-fire, science-packed anthem for *The Big Bang Theory*. Known officially as "The History of Everything," this 45-second burst of genius by the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies became instantly recognizable, detailing the universe’s journey from its earliest moments to the dawn of humanity. As of December 18, 2025, the song remains a cultural touchstone, a perfect blend of pop-rock energy and high-level nerdery that defines the show's spirit, even years after its finale.

The song’s brilliance lies in its ability to condense billions of years of cosmic and human development into a single, catchy track. While most fans can recite the opening lines, the full-length version reveals even deeper layers of historical and scientific references. More fascinatingly, the song contains a major scientific prediction that has since been largely rejected by the scientific community, adding a layer of ironic charm to this beloved piece of pop culture.

The Complete "The History of Everything" Lyrics

Written and performed by Barenaked Ladies, primarily by lead singer Ed Robertson, "The History of Everything" is a lyrical masterpiece of exposition. The full version, which was released as a single, provides a much deeper dive into the universe's timeline than the short version heard in the opening credits of the sitcom. Here are the full, verified lyrics that chronicle everything from the Big Bang to modern civilization:

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Opening Verse: The Cosmos

• 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 the Big Bang! Hey!

Chorus: The Big 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 leap but they were late,
• And they all died (they froze their asses off).
• The oceans drank the melting ice,
• The land began to sprout,
• Vesuvius erupted and we started to talk about...

Bridge: Civilization and Progress

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• ...Math, science, history, unraveling the mystery,
• That all started with the Big Bang! Hey!

Second Verse: Human History

• It all started with the Big Bang!
• I was there, I saw it all.
• I saw the Big Bang, I saw it all.
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding,
• The universe is expanding, expanding...

Outro: The End of Everything (The Flaw)

• ...and it will all collapse again, that's how it all must end.
• The Big Bang!
• (It all started with the Big Bang!)

The Fascinating Backstory: From Acoustic Demo to Global Hit

The origin story of "The History of Everything" is a perfect example of a last-minute creative spark turning into a long-term financial windfall. The show’s co-creator, Chuck Lorre, was a fan of Barenaked Ladies and personally reached out to lead singer and guitarist Ed Robertson. Robertson, who had just finished reading Bill Bryson’s popular science book, *A Short History of Nearly Everything*, was inspired by the idea of condensing the universe's entire timeline into a fast-paced song.

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Robertson initially recorded an acoustic demo of the song on his own, which he sent to Lorre. However, he only intended it as a placeholder, a blueprint for a full-band recording. When Lorre immediately loved the stripped-down, acoustic version and wanted to use it for the show, Robertson insisted on re-recording it with the full band. This decision was crucial, as the final, punchy, electric version is what became the iconic theme song for all 12 seasons of *The Big Bang Theory*.

The success of the theme song has been immense. Robertson himself has stated that the theme song earned him more money than any other song in his career. This recurring revenue from one of the most successful sitcoms in television history showcases the incredible value of composing a memorable, evergreen theme song, a testament to its cultural reach and enduring popularity.

The Scientific Mistake Hiding in the Big Bang Theme Song

The song is celebrated for its scientific accuracy, making its one major flaw all the more ironic and interesting. The final two lines of the full-length version contain a scientific prediction that has been largely discredited by modern cosmology.

The lyrics in question are:

• ...and it will all collapse again, that's how it all must end.
• The Big Bang!

This couplet refers to the Big Crunch theory, a cosmological model that suggests the universe's expansion will eventually slow down, stop, and reverse due to the force of gravity. If the universe were dense enough, gravity would pull all matter back into a singularity, essentially reversing the Big Bang.

However, since the song was written (and even shortly before), modern observations have overwhelmingly supported a different conclusion: the expansion of the universe is not slowing down; it is accelerating. This acceleration is attributed to a mysterious force called dark energy. The prevailing theories for the universe's ultimate fate now include the Big Freeze (or heat death) or the Big Rip, not the Big Crunch.

Robertson, aware of the change in scientific consensus, has embraced the error, noting that when he wrote the song, the Big Crunch was still a very popular and plausible theory. The song remains a perfect snapshot of scientific knowledge at the turn of the millennium, a charmingly outdated piece of cosmology that adds to its nerdy authenticity.

A Rapid-Fire Timeline: Decoding Every Historical Entity

To achieve topical authority, it is essential to recognize and analyze the sheer volume of scientific and historical entities packed into this short piece of music. The song is a masterful exercise in compression, name-dropping key concepts and milestones that span 14 billion years. Here is a breakdown of the 15+ entities and concepts referenced in "The History of Everything," which contribute to the song’s legendary status:

Cosmological and Scientific Entities:

• Big Bang: The initial, rapid expansion of matter and energy from a singularity, marking the beginning of the universe.
• Hot Dense State: The condition of the early universe before inflation and cooling.
• Expansion: The ongoing process where the distance between galaxies is increasing (the basis of the Big Bang theory).
• Fourteen Billion Years Ago: The approximate age of the universe, a key cosmological number.
• The Earth Began to Cool: The formation of the Earth’s crust and atmosphere, allowing for liquid water.
• Autotrophs: Organisms (like plants and algae) that produce their own food, representing the first life forms on Earth.
• Elements: The fundamental substances of matter, formed in the first moments of the universe (hydrogen and helium).
• Big Crunch: The now-outdated theory of the universe’s end, which provided the song's final, flawed line.

Biological and Anthropological Entities:

• Neanderthals: An extinct species of archaic human, representing the development of early hominids and tool use.
• Bipeds Stood Up Straight: A reference to bipedalism, a critical evolutionary step in human development.
• Dinosaurs: The dominant terrestrial vertebrates of the Mesozoic Era, whose "fate" was sealed by a mass extinction event.

Historical and Geographical Entities:

• We Built a Wall (Great Wall of China): A nod to monumental human construction and civilization.
• We Built the Pyramids: A reference to the ancient Egyptian structures, symbolizing early advanced engineering.
• Vesuvius Erupted: A reference to the famous 79 AD eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, symbolizing recorded history and natural disaster.

The song’s ability to weave together concepts like cosmology, evolution, geology, and ancient history in such a short timeframe is what makes the Barenaked Ladies’ theme song a uniquely nerdy and enduring piece of television history.