# Butterfly in the Synth: Reading Rainbow’s Magical Theme Song

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-thousand-hertz-1053394/butterfly-in-the-synth-reading-rainbow-s-magical-theme-song
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-thousand-hertz-1053394/butterfly-in-the-synth-reading-rainbow-s-magical-theme-song.md
Podcast: [Twenty Thousand Hertz](https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-thousand-hertz-1053394)
Published: 2026-01-12T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.20k.org/episodes/reading-rainbow
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TTH9983306581.mp3?updated=1767906455
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/twenty-thousand-hertz-1053394/episodes/butterfly-in-the-synth-reading-rainbow-s-magical-theme-song
Duration seconds: 1640

## Resource

The theme song to Reading Rainbow has been delighting kids (and nostalgic grown-ups) for over 40 years. But how did this instantly iconic track come to be? In this episode, composer Steve Horelick reveals the unlikely story of its creation, from its empowering lyrics, to its “fluttering butterfly” synth sound, to how Chaka Khan and a mystery drummer helped shape one of its later versions. Support the show and get ad-free episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠20k.org/plus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by ⁠Defacto Sound⁠. Subscribe on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see our video series. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mystery.20k.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Dallas on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our community on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reddit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Explore Steve Horelick's work on his website and YouTube channel. Visit expressvpn.com/20k to find out how you can get 4 extra months of protection. Get 3 months of free payroll at ⁠gusto.com/20k⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/twenty-thousand-hertz-1053394/episodes/butterfly-in-the-synth-reading-rainbow-s-magical-theme-song/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-thousand-hertz-1053394/butterfly-in-the-synth-reading-rainbow-s-magical-theme-song.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.