In a First, Super Mario Bros. Theme Song Is Preserved by Library of Congress

The Super Mario Bros. theme is the first video game recording selected by the US Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.

The jaunty tune—officially known as the “Ground Theme” or “Overworld Theme”—was originally heard in the first stage of the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System video game Super Mario Bros.

One of six themes composed for the soundtrack by Nintendo sound designer Koji Kondo, it went on to become the main motif for the popular series, and was reused and remixed in other Nintendo games like Tetris DS, Nintendogs, WarioWare, Inc., and every Super Smash Bros. entry.

“Few musicians have had their work become so internationally recognized for decades yet remain so relatively unknown as Koji Kondo,” the Library of Congress says(Opens in a new window).

Twenty-five “audio treasures worthy of preservation” were inducted into the National Recording Registry, including music from Madonna, Mariah Carey, Queen Latifah, and Daddy Yankee.

While Kondo may not be a household name, his syncopated cartoon riffs are recognizable the world over. Born and raised in Japan, he was a college senior in Osaka when he answered a Nintendo recruitment ad and eventually created the unmistakable melody(Opens in a new window).

“The amount of data that we could use for music and sound effects [when making Super Mario Bros. in the mid-1980s] was extremely small, so I really had to be very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity that we had at the time,” Kondo said in a recent interview, as quoted by the Library of Congress.

“I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen,” he continued. “We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a ‘game over,’ fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals, and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short.”

Now 61 and still working for Nintendo, Kondo has designed sound for dozens of other video games—but none with the same impact as Super Mario Bros. “Having this music preserved alongside so many other classic songs is such a great honor,” he said. “It’s actually a little bit difficult to believe.”

This year’s selections span 1908 to 2012, and range from the first Mariachi recordings and John Lennon to radio journalism and Led Zeppelin. “The National Recording Registry preserves our history through recorded sound and reflects our nation’s diverse culture,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. “The National Library is proud to help ensure these recordings are preserved for generations to come.”

Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. theme joins classics like “Sherry” (The Four Seasons), “What the World Needs Now is Love” (Jackie DeShannon), “Imagine” (John Lennon), “Stairway to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin), “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver), “Margaritaville” (Jimmy Buffett), “What a Feeling” (Irene Cara), “Sweet Dreams” (Eurythmics), “Like a Virgin” (Madonna), and “All I Want for Christmas is You” (Mariah Carey). Listeners can also find “St. Louis Blues” by Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922) and “Sugar Foot Stomp” from Fletcher Henderson (1926), commentary and analysis from World War II (1939), and Carl Sagan’s famous 1994 speech based, “Pale Blue Dot,” based on his book of the same name.

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