YouTube channel South Park Studios recently uploaded an orchestral rendition of “Kyle’s Mom” — the offensive and derogatory song that Eric Cartman sings about the animated show’s polarizing Sheila Broflowski. In the 45-second-long video snippet shared online, a 30-piece orchestra performs “Kyle’s Mom” with immaculate orchestration. The performance is certain to get the nostalgia feels resurfacing, especially for ’90s kids.
South Park debuted on August 13, 1997, and the American sitcom has broadcast 311 episodes (including television films) in its long run — with more to come next season. From its start, South Park gained notoriety for its profanity and dark, surreal humor.
“Kyle’s Mom” was first heard in season 1, episode 9, titled for an infamous character in the series: Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo. Additionally, the song appeared in the 1999 feature film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
In the Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo episode, Eric Cartman was upset with Kyle’s mom for ruining Christmas, and the song’s introduction underscored that sentiment.
In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Cartman was angry that Sheila had started a war against Canada and was planning to have mediocre Canadian comedians Terrance and Phillip executed. This time, the song contained much more bad language, including the use of the word “fuck,” and a verse of the song being sung by children from around the world in different languages.
Interestingly, the original song uses the word “bitch” 56 times, not counting the French, Swahili, Dutch, or Chinese portions of the song, and only lasts approximately 71 seconds.
South Park released two video games, South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole, and an instrumental version of the song plays when fighting Sheila in South Park: The Fractured But Whole.
In the meantime, prepare for the 25th season of South Park, premiering Feb. 2 on Comedy Central, and expect show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to add to their lore.