My Top 15 Songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

WARNING: The following list was made a couple of months after the end of season 3. So this was made before Equestria Girls and season 4, both of which have some songs that would've been added on this list if it was made around then. So if you're asking why some songs from either from the movie or the latest season aren't here, that's why.

So as very few of you know, I actually am what people call a Brony. Which means I'm a guy (straight guy at that) who likes the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Yes I know that sounds weird but it's something that is starting to become more popular. Even though it's originally made for pretty much little girls (as you'd think it's audience would be), the show actually turned out to have some very lovable characters, enjoyable stories and some themes that have ultimately made the show much more lovable for young adults and older (mostly guys but there's a lot of girls into this as well) which has since started this big fandom all over this show. Now today there's one fairly good thing about the show that I want to talk about; and that is their songs. Whether light and girly or not quite girly at all, MLP:FIM has come up with some very fun, very enjoyable and sometimes catchy-above-all-else songs that make the show such a joy for a lot of people like me to watch. In fact, some are so good that some Bronies or Pegasisters (women who like MLP) like me, might rewatch certain episodes once in a while just to eventually get to the songs and rewind and listen to them again and again until they're all good and then finish the episode. So today I'm declaring what are my top 15 songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.


15) At The Gala

Now I know I'm going to have a lot of bronies and pegasisters disagree with me with choosing this song into the list, but honestly, I admit that I like it. During most of the song, it has a very nice melody, it's sung well with a chorus no doubt, it's the only song where all of the Mane Six (the name for all six of the main characters) get their own personal verse in one big song. But when I talk to some people about this song they often respond with hating it. My brother especially finds the tune really grating just on how happy the tune is and so has found it to be the worst song he ever heard because of it. I can kind of see where he's going, but I still personally enjoy it. But there is one problem I did have with this song for a while during the first couple of months being a brony. Around the second half of it, we get the verse for Rainbow Dash which I found to be really out of place with the rest of the song. The first half is all nice with this whimsical, enchanting melody. But then we get to Rainbow Dash's verse where the pacing is faster and the melody and instrumental music are completely different and therefore totally derailed where the song was going. Granted, after a while the verse became fun to listen to anyway and even before that they did managed to slowly and yet surely get back to the right melody and pacing that the song originally was in during Pinkie Pie and Twilight's verses, but... during the those first couple of months of being a brony, Rainbow Dash's verse just felt so off. But I digress. Despite whatever issues the song my have, it was still the shows first big musical number that paid off in my book to at least make it to the bottom of this list.

14) Raise This Barn

 Dang nabbit with this song. It's just one of those songs that just will never leave your mind. Or at least the general chorus for sure will never leave. During this song, the Apple family are rebuilding their barn (after it gets destroyed for the 4th or 5th time in the whole series. Seriously, what's up with that?), and so Applejack rounds up the whole family with her first and currently only song of her own. On one hand this song hardly has the best lyrics that they have come up with. When you think about it, the lyrics seem to make the whole song is actually meant for 4 year olds, which is actually saying a lot. Because most of these songs in this show - at least in my opinion - don't always act like they're meant specifically for their target audience. Most of the time these songs are treated almost just as seriously as any song in general, which is part of why they have become loved by people around my age as well as little kids because they make them so that we can all enjoy them. But sadly this is not entirely the case with the lyrics in this song. They made the song appear more for kids then they usually do in the show and that has resulted in a few people really disliking it. And I would completely dislike it too...if it wasn't for the music that came with the lyrics. Because on the other hand, just...holy crap is it catchy. The pacing, the energy with a basic hoedown and square dancing feel too it is just...*singing* Raise this barn, raise this barn, 1, 2, 3, 4, together we can raise thi- The Audience: SHUT UP!!!!!! H.A.K.: Okay! Okay! Jezz! Anyway, dislike the lyrics but enjoy everything else, Raise This Barn is way too catchy to not be on this list.

13) The Ballad of the Crystal Empire

This one is easily my favorite out of the 2-part season 3 premiere. In this song, the Mane Six are starting up a crystal fair for the Crystal Empire to lift up the hearts of its citizens after it disappeared for a thousand years. So throughout this song, each character talks a little bit about the history and culture of the Crystal Empire. Now this is an enjoyable song because it has a very smooth yet somewhat exciting melody and it tells you a lot about what there is to know about the Crystal Empire. But it has one problem that a couple of other songs further into this list have: it's too short. As enjoyable as this song is, we are left wanting a bit more then what they gave to us. We wanted to know a little more about the Crystal Empire, and hear the chorus at least two more times (at least I personally do because I personally find that to be the catchiest part of the song.) it doesn't have to be 4-5 minutes or something, just a little bit longer that gives us a little bit more to know about the empire. But whether you want it longer or think it's fine the way it is, it's a fun song that helped us explore a then new part of the world of Equestria.

12) A True, True Friend

Now the Season 3 finale sadly ended the season in a very bittersweet note that left a lot of Bronies and Pegasisters either excited or really concerned about what the makers of the show will do next when Season 4 starts in November. The episode was super rushed, it had some big stories that really should've gotten at least two episodes instead of just one, and on top of that they stuffed several musical numbers into this only 22 minute episode that for the most part were very short and tragically needed to be way longer in one case. Ultimately, there's only two songs that really seemed to have any really devoted development to their fullest. One is called What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me and then there's this song: A True, True Friend. So what is there to say about it? My basic way of explaining it is that in a grand scale, it's basically At the Gala structure wise but better for the most part. I know some people seem to think of it more similar to The Smile Song, and I can understand that with the ending to it, but for me, I think more of At The Gala. Because like At The Gala, it's big, it has a good melody, it eventually includes a choir to sing the end of the song, and it's probably the closest any other song has gone to have all the Mane Six each have their own verse (Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack have their own verse while Twilight and Fluttershy share one and Pinkie Pie doesn't have one at all). Heck, just like "At The Gala", there's a moment halfway through where the music changes like Rainbow Dash's verse from that song only in this one, it's done by Rarity and it actually works really well. In fact it's it's more epic then derailing because Rarity's accompanied by drums that have really deep rhythm that makes the moment feel really exciting. Otherwise, it's light and happy and gets bigger and bigger as it goes on - heck, you may even want to join the ponies when they all shout "PINKIE!" during the very end. It's the biggest and probably the most developed song in all of season 3 and is fun to listen to.

11) B. B. B. F. F.

Of all the 2 part episodes from the show, A Canterolt Wedding is the best. It was big, dramatic had some action here and there (cartoon action but still action) and it had some very lovable songs to top it all. And this song is the first one to do just that. Twilight Sparkle has just learned that her older brother Shining Armor is getting married and this troubles her because she found out through an invitation instead of her brother, so she sings to the rest of the Mane Six and Spike on how she and Shining Armor use to do everything together when she was a filly and that he's her B.B.B.F.F. (Big Brother Best Friend Forever) And for the most part, they give us a very sweet yet simple song about it. This is a song that I use to/sometimes still feel it was too short, but as I have thought about it, it's more just because it's catchy and I almost always want to hear it again and again whenever I hear this song if not anything else. Because I'm not really sure how in the world you can make this longer. I mean the subject is pretty straight forward, it's just that the music is still pretty catchy that I want to rewind and play it again and again only a little more often then I would with other songs that I feel are shorter then they should be. But I digress, it's a sweet simple song that may be short but is well told and heck, personally I can't help but really like the last few notes that Twilight sung during the very end.

10) Babs Seed

This is probably the second best song from Season 3. In this episode, the Cutie Mark Crusaders (a group of side characters named Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who try to find their special talents in order to get their cutie marks on their flanks), get a visit from Apple Bloom's cousin Babs Seed who eventually bullies them along side their school bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Rather then tell Applejack about this, they try to avoid Babs Seed until she goes home which is where this song comes in with the Crusaders singing how Babs Seed is a 'bad seed'  while Babs continues to bully them. I think best description I've heard for this film comes from A.T.D.I.'s blog: catchy and memorable. Just like with Raise This Barn, Babs Seed is a song that will never, ever leave your mind. On top of being catchy, it's just plain fun, energetic, it plays for a reasonable amount of time, and heck, in terms of animation it includes a plain ADORABLE moment of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo drinking milkshakes with these huge, precious eyes! Not to mention that halfway through the song it reveals that in the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there actually is such a thing as movie theaters in Equestria. It's just one of those things that you would have little to no idea they would have something like that as canon in the series. Go figure. Anyway, it's catchy and memorable yet in some way adorable and kind of educational for the fandom, Babs Seed deserves to be ranked number 10 on this this.


9) Find a Pet

So in this episode, Rainbow Dash decides to have a pet just like the rest of the Mane Six. So much to Fluttershy's great delight and excitement to this news, she takes Rainbow Dash to her home where she introduces her to all kind of animals to choose from. This was a hard song to rank in the right place. Because originally, it wasn't going to be on this list at all. I know this is likely a very big shock to most of Bronies and Pegasisters that are reading this list since this song is widely known to be among the very best songs in My Little Pony and was even nominated for "Outstanding Original Song" in a Children/Animation show in the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards. But as surprising as I know this is to hear, I couldn't get into this song for the longest time. How in the wide, wide world of Equestria is that possible? Eh... I guess I just didn't find it as catchy as all the other songs. It's not that I hated it or anything, it just took a long time for it to have any real spark for me the way a lot of the other songs do. But as I'm sure some of you are glad to know, it did eventually give a spark which ultimately leading me to enjoying it along with everypony else. (get it? everypony?) So what is it about this song that I eventually started enjoying while everyone probably loved it instantly? Well for one thing it has the most dedication to Fluttershy besides So Many Wonders in terms song and is currently the only song where Rainbow Dash sings in full length. In fact I would like to see Rainbow Dash have a song all to herself at some point in season 4. I have no idea what that would be like, but I think that would be a nice way to cover some new ground for the show...also Princess Luna and Discord each getting their own big and fully developed songs would be fantastic. Anyway, this song is fairly catchy with the orchestra playing a melody that does start of very simple and light but gets bigger as it goes on. On top of that the music plays a big part in really displaying the emotions that the characters are feeling throughout the process of Rainbow Dash finding a pet just for her. Fluttershy would sing to most of the very light music that display her excitement and optimism while Rainbow Dash would either sing to some lower octave played music or maybe would just talk instead of sing when something Fluttershy suggest is hardly the kind of pet Rainbow Dash has in mind. I know songs in general are suppose to display the emotions that these characters feel, but Find A Pet manages to hit the nail particularly well as it guides us to eventually bring us to the middle of the episode where we find out what Rainbow Dash does next. So I may not quite be as super into this particular song even after how long it took to actually get into it, but it's still a very well made song that really displays the emotions to what is happening in the scene that making it worthy enough to be #9 on the list.


8) The Flim Flam Brothers

Now here's another song that's oh-so-holy-crap catchy. When the Apple family fail to make enough apple cider for everypony in Ponyville, the traveling sales pony brothers Flim and Flam come in and sing about their cider making invention, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. This song is made very similar to "You've got Trouble" from Music Man where in both cases the salesman/ponies are talking in a super fast pace, they're wearing strew boater hats, and eventually get the members of the town they're presenting to, to sing their song along with them showing how they're falling for their scheme. (Don't believe me somehow? Look it up on Friendship is Magic Wiki) Even if you aren't falling for their scheme like the ponies in Ponyville, you most likely will want to sing the chorus every time it comes up anyway. Because it's fun, it's energetic, it may take a complete miracle to memorize some parts of the verses with how really ridiculously fast Film and Flam will talk/sing, but it pays off with eventually going back to the chorus and like the other catchy songs in this list, it just will never, ever, ever leave your mind. It's almost four minutes long which is surprising to know that it's only only longer then Find a Pet by only about 9 seconds. Because its a kind of song that's feels a whole lot longer then it really truly is.What else is there to say except *singing* You've got oppertunity in this fair great community, he's Flim he's Flam they're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers! Traveling salesponies nonpareil! YEAH!


7) Art of the Dress

Now as much as I kind of want to like Rarity, I have to side with Bronies like my brother who view her to be more greedy then really being the sweet and generous pony that the show tries to make us think of her as. But as sad as they've failed for people like me to actually like her, she does to her credit give us two very enjoyable songs. The first one is Art of the Dress where she decides to design dresses for her and the rest of the Mane Six for the Grand Galloping Gala and on top of that, have a fashion show to show all the outfits to all of Ponyville. Interestingly, this song actually takes a direct homage/"borrowing" to Stephen Sondheim's song Putting It Together from the musical Sunday in the Park with George - in fact, At the Gala is meant as a sound-alike for Sondheim's Ever After from the musical Into the Woods. How about that. But regardless of that being said, I enjoy Art of the Dress. And that's including the reprise that plays a little later on in the episode which putting them together makes Art of the Dress currently the longest song in the series. The instrumental music is enchanting with Rarity singing about how she's putting together each pony's dress. Even during the reprise she sings about how she follows the rule that "the client's always right" despite her displeasure in changing her dresses with ones that are specifically made at there rest of the Mane Six's request - which is were we get the famous line from Rainbow Dash; "It needs to be about 20 % cooler." The only issue I have with the lyrics is how halfway through both versions of the song she'll sing "Dressmaking's easy" and then sing about what she's working on which...feels out of place to me. Like it just comes out of the blue before Rarity gets back to explaining what she's doing. I feel they should actually go with something like "Dressmaking's easy, but ___ is hard/a challenge" or something like that and use that last part as a way to carry on to what she's explain through song. But once again, I digress and settle with just how much I enjoy this song and in both versions, the song gets bigger and bigger and finishes with the music going faster and building up as Rarity finishes with singing "And that's the Art of the Dress."  

6) This Day Aria

This is the second song that's played in A Canterlot Wedding and is easily the most developed in the part 2 season finale and one of the most memorable in the series. Twilight finds out that the mare that Shining Armor is marrying; Princess Candace, is actually someone disguised as Candace. Twilight eventually finds the real Candace and so tries to stop the wedding before Shining Armor marries the fake Candace. In the process we are actually given a villain song of all things in this show and a darn good one at that. And if I don't feel that way, you can sure as frick bet that there are people who love villains like my brother who do. The song is a duel between the real and the fake candace where the real one's displaying her fear of being too late to stop the wedding while the fake one displays her sinister excitement for how she has actually dreamed this moment for years. The real Candace's parts are good but it's the parts with the fake one were the song is epic. The suspense played from the singing and music is fantastic. The lyrics are not only good but at some points are kinda of surprising to be played in a show that's meant for 4 year olds. An example that stands out the most to me is where the fake Candace finishes one of her parts with "No I do not love the groom, in my heart there is no room. But I still want him to be all mine!" Maybe I'm just taking it the wrong way, but that kind of sound rather deep for a kids show the way she says it. And even then, it's deep just for fake Candace as a villain because she pulls it off really well with the music in the way makes it really clear to your head: "Egad, this mysterious character is evil." and that's kind of something to especially say as you wonder who it really is when you watch the finale for the first time. What else is there to say? It's big, it's suspenseful, it can be really deep and if you don't care for the show but love villains, you probably should at least check this song out.

5) Winter wrap-up

This one seems to be one of the most common songs to be the favorite song for a lot of Bronies and Pegasisters. And while it's not at the very top, it definitely has to at least be #5 on this list. Basically it's almost time for spring in the land of Equestria, and while normally unicorns turn winter into spring with their magic in othere places of the world (or at least in Canterlot), Ponyville has a tradition where all the ponies - earth pony, unicorn and pegasus alike - divide into teams where they have these jobs of actually turning winter into spring for Ponyville all by themselves. Pegasus clear out the snowy clouds and guide the southern birds back to their homes, Futtershy and some other ponies wake up animals that have been hibernating, Applejack starts planting crops, and so on and so forth. And during all of this, Twilight - being new to Ponyville at the time - is trying to figure out which team she belongs in. This is the first fully developed song in the show and boy is it memorable. The lyrics are well written, the melody is great, and just the all around tune for some people can be way too good to not end up being hummed once in a while even when you're not watching the episode. It's fun, it gives us more about Ponyville and it's culture, it may be the first out of a good few fully developed songs from the show, but that doesn't change what an impact it makes.

4) I've Got to Find a Way

Of all the songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that are unreasonably way too short, this one does the second best job...at irritating me for how short it is. But that doesn't completely stop it from being good. At this point in the show, Twilight has found out that she unintentionally casts an unfinished spell that causes all the other Mane Six have their cutie marks - and therefore their identities - mixed up. What's more there is no known counter-spell, leaving Twilight heartbroken and crying in her bedroom and blaming herself for the depression that this mix up has caused on all of her friends. And that leads us to this song: I've Got to Find a Way - or as I personally prefer to call it, just plain Why. How come? Because...well it fits more as a title. 'I've Got to Find a Way' is just most of the first few lyrics while 'Why' is used the most throughout the song and just gets you deep inside every time it is. This is the best song of Season 3 and is by far the most emotional in the series. The moment the piano starts to play to begin the song, goosebumps begin to form, and it does not stop from there. Throughout this song, the animation really fits the emotion with the use of shadow, making all of Ponyville almost deserted - and despite what a terribly missed oppertunity they had with this particular part, it even has Pinkie Pie as Pinkamina! (What that is for those of you who don't know the show...you'll just have to see for yourself. Trust me, it's REALLY worth finding out from watching the show on your own.) But holy crap is it short! It's only a minute and 5 seconds! Heck, in my point of view, the song practically screams that it wants to go way further then this as it plays! Actually I have recently found that that one of the music writers for the show Daniel Ingram said through a tweet that there is an actual full version of this song. I don't know when it's going to be released, but boy oh boy does it better to blow me away or at least be very reasonably satisfactory compared to this! But even if it isn't, I've Got to Find a Way/Why is deep, emotional, and completely deserves to be among the top 5 of this list.

3) Becoming Popular

This was also nominated for "Outstanding Original Song" in a Children/Animation show in the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards alongside Find A Pet. But it's very easily my favorite out of the two. Here Rarity begins to ignore her plans for a dress for Twilight's birthday party during her visit in Canterlot in order to mingle with the Canterlot high society and therefore become the talk of the entire city. The motivation...is a perfect example as to why my brother and I along with a lot of other Bronies view her more as greedy then anything else. But to me, what she does for a purpose, she makes up in giving us her second solo song that has become so enjoyable. It doesn't completely matter how girly it is. It's fun, it's energetic, it's one of those catchy songs that...*sigh* everyone all together ; The Audience and H.A.K. : will never, ever, ever, EVER leave your mind!!! H.A.K.: In fact, so far I'd say this song is the catchiest song that the show has made yet...at least for me. But even if it really isn't the catchiest, it's till a very addicting song to enjoy whether you adore Rarity, dislike some certain aspects about her or just hate her guts.

2) Love is in Bloom

This is the third and final song from A Canterlot Wedding. At this point, everything with the fake Candace and then some has worked out and Shining Armor and the real Candace are finally married. And so this leaves us with a big celebration that bring us with the song to finish it off the finale, Love is in Bloom. This song is almost a perfect way to finish the finale. It's big, it's happy, and it could've been the best way ever to give a finale like Canterlot Wedding a great ending if it isn't for one itty-bitty, teeny-tiny detail. Can anypony guess what that is? The Audience: It's too short? H.A.K. NO BLOODY FRICK, IT'S TOO MOTHER FREAKING SHORT!!!!! This irritates me the most for how short it is. I mean holy crap does it drive me nuts. I mean B.B.B.F.F. was sweet and simple while This Day Aria was epic and suspenseful, therefore it's only perfectly logical that after such a big climax that followed the second song, the finale one would be bigger, longer and just finish this two part episode and the whole season with such a bang. And for the most part they did which is why it's number 2 on the list... but they finish that bang way too quickly. Don't believe that just because this song has an official duration of 1 minute and 50 seconds means that's how long all of the actual singing and stuff is. It really is just 20 seconds of a really good beginning followed by 32 ish seconds of just one verse and then playing the chorus and then dialogue for the remaining less then a minute even as it's starting to end. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any dialogue during this, what with it containing stuff like Shining Armor and Twilight's good-byes and all, but when you have more of that in the song rather then the actual singing and stuff that is the real meat on the bone if you will... then you have a problem. Oh and don't try to argue with me in pointing out about the extended version of this song. That doesn't really mean anything to me. Because the extended version is really just the same thing only that the dialogue is replaces with a second verse before just finishing the song. So on a grand scale, the extended version is just verse one, chorus, verse 2 and then almost abruptly finishing the song while singing the chorus again. I'll listen to it once in a while, but that's barely giving me anything. I mean maybe I could be wrong. Maybe instead of being freaking fantastic, a truly longer and more developed Love is in Bloom would be just totally stupid. I can't tell for sure because we are given so little of the real deal. In fact it's lack of proper structure like that, that makes me nervous about how the extended version of I've Got to Find a Way/Why is going to turn out. Love is in Bloom is a very good way to finish A Canterlot Wedding and season 2 in general, but it's the lack of further development that to me sadly keeps it from being excellent and taking the #1 slot.









And the #1 song from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is....











1) The Smile Song

I'm sure there's quite a few Bronies and Pegasisters who are surprised that I went this this song out of so many, but...well The Smile Song is the one that I view is number 1 out of all of them. This song reflects the character Pinkie Pie who is by far the most creative, thought of, three-dimensional character in the whole show. She can be random, optimistic, silly, and even dangerously insecure at some certain points in the show, but altogether is the friendliest, talkative and jolliest characters in all of Equestria. And thus we are given this song as a tribute to how much Pinkie Pie loves to be everybody's friend and to make each and every one of them smile. I guess what really works with this song is that you can't help but feel happy. Because it's so cheery and joyful and it goes really deep into who Pinkie Pie really is. She has all these downs as well as ups that can be clearly seen throughout the entire show, but when it comes down to it, she's this very loved pony who just wants to fill all of Equestria with all this happiness. And they display is so very, very well with the instrumental music, the lyrics, and it's done with such a great structure where it gets bigger and bigger with the verses and the chorus and gives us a bridge that starts of sad as Pinkie admits that there are rough times in life but then shows her optimism by saying that she'll be there to cheer these ponies up and after one last verse and chorus, we get this huge outro to finish it all up. In terms of length and structure, it's everything songs like Why and Love is in Bloom should've been, and in terms of emotion it makes you feel happy the way all the other songs can't. And that's why The Smile Song is, and possibly always will be (depending on how season 4 and afterwords turns out) my number song from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.



Honorable mentions: Evil Enchantress (Fluttershy version), The Perfect Stallion, Welcome Song, What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me and Celestia's Ballad.