Friends: The 10 Best Phoebe Buffay Songs, Ranked

The pilot episode of Friends built a world for the ragtag group of six and successfully introduced the viewers to each of them. Ross was a paleontologist, and his sister, Monica, a chef at Iridium. Joey, who lived across the hall, was a struggling actor, and his roommate, Chandler, was in a data processing company. The runaway bride, Rachel, often got herself in sticky situations and wanted to take charge of her life and find her calling.

As for Phoebe, she was a masseuse and her music provided her solace. She sang My Favorite Things in Rachel’s ear to calm her down and was also seen singing in the subway. That was the beginning of the Phoebe persona, signifying the character was incomplete without her guitar. She wrote a total of 55 songs throughout Friends and some became incredibly popular.

10 “The Shower Song”

Phoebe played “The Shower Song” for the first time in Central Perk to Rachel, as an annoyed Terry stood in the background. She wrote the song in the shower that morning and the lyrics go, “I’m in the shower and I’m writing a song. Stop me if you’ve heard it. My skin is soapy, and my hair is wet, and Tegrin spelled backward is Nirget …”

Phoebe thought she would perform the song later, but her plan was cut short by Terry, who’d hired a professional singer to sing in Central Perk on Sunday afternoons. As Terry and Rachel conversed, Phoebe went, “Lather, rinse, repeat and lather, rinse, repeat and lather, rinse, repeat as needed …” Even though Terry wasn’t a big fan of the song, it was a unique number, to say the least.

9 “No Power”

Phoebe comes up with this song during a power outage in season 1’s “The One with the Blackout.” It is one of those memorable episodes with the classic ’90s sitcom vibe and Phoebe’s song makes it even better.

The lyrics of “No Power” perfectly sum up the night the five friends, barring Chandler, are gathered in Monica’s living room. “New York City has no power, and the milk is getting sour. But to me, it is not scary, ’cause I stay away from dairy. La la, la la la, la la …” These lyrics make fans want to sing along and laugh out loud at the same time.

8 “Parading Goats”

Phoebe wasn’t kidding when she said music was all she had in season 4’s “The One With Joey’s New Girlfriend.” She was sick and still wanted to perform at Central Perk. Phoebe was on a roll the followings days and performed three numbers to her guitar accompaniment. She started with “Smelly Cat,” impressed the Central Perk audience with “Sticky Shoes”, and ended the episode with “Parading Goats.”

“Parading, goats are parading, parading down the street. Parading, goats are parading, leaving little treats,” she sings. The episode demonstrated Phoebe’s musical genius and her devotion to her art.

7 “Sticky Shoes (Sick Version)”

Phoebe won applause from her audience when she sang “Sticky Shoes.” She happened to like her voice more after coming down with a cold and did everything to keep the melodic baritone. “My sticky shoes, my sticky, sticky shoes, why you stick on me … baby,” she said in the song.

Even though Phoebe performed “Sticky Shoes” without her guitar, the audience seemed to love the overall sexy persona. To this day, fans wish they had heard more songs in Phoebe’s sexy, sick singing voice.

6 “Two Of Them Kissed Last Night”

Praise be to Phoebe for coming up with “Two Of Them Kissed Last Night.” The story behind the song was Ross’s love triangle, and in it, she sang about his inability to decide between Julie and Rachel. “There was a girl, we’ll call her Betty. And a guy, let’s call him Neil. Now I can’t stress this point too strongly … This story isn’t real,” she said in the opening lines of the song.

“Now our Neil must decide. Who will be the girl that he casts aside? Will Betty be the one who he loves truly? Or will it be the one who we’ll call … Loolie? He must decide, he must decide, even though I made him up, he must decide!” she was almost heard yelling towards the end of her song. Phoebe was known to deliver shocking truths to people through her songs and this impromptu address to Ross and Rachel is one of the most remembered songs from the show.

5 “Sticky Shoes (Duet)”

Of all Phoebe’s songs, this one deserves to shine because it’s a duet. She lovingly performs it with Leslie, who’d split ways to be a writer and performer of TV jingles. Season 3 is the only time Leslie is seen in Friends, performing at Central Perk and seeking reconciliation with her former singing partner.

Phoebe is resentful, but deep down she wants to be friends with Leslie again. As a sign of forgiveness, she dashes into Central Perk and joins her friend in the chorus of the song. “Sticky shoes, sticky shoes, always make me smile. Sticky shoes, sticky shoes, next time I’ll avoid the pile,” sing the two friends, after which they hug it out.

4 “The 66 Colors Of My Bedroom”

Phoebe performed the song “The 66 Colours Of My Bedroom” right at the beginning of season 3 in “The One with the Jellyfish.” She’d returned from the beach trip and, understandably, felt lost. She’d found out her birth mother had given her and her twin sister, Ursula, up after giving birth.

Though fans only hear the last lines of this song, it was pretty clear Phoebe’s gig was a way to reduce stress and improve her mood. At the end of “The 66 Colours Of My Bedroom,” she lovingly invited her audience to count the colors in their bedroom.

3 “Your Love”

Phoebe’s “Your Love” from the Friends‘ pilot episode is perfect and undoubtedly strikes a chord. It’s the very beginning of the Friends saga and fans find her singing in the Bleecker Street Subway station. The song lyrics perfectly describe the complexities and frustrations of being in an unhappy relationship.

“Love is sweet as summer showers. Love is a wondrous work of art. But your love, oh your love, your love is like a giant pigeon, crapping on my heart. La la la la la …” sings Phoebe, as commuters walk by and throw money into her guitar case.

2 “The Holiday Song (Final Rendition)”

There isn’t a better song than “The Holiday Song” to accurately describe the bond between the six friends. Phoebe performs this one at Central Perk to celebrate their friendship. Her sentiment is reflected in the lyrics, “Monica, Monica, Have a Happy Hanukkah! Saw Santa Claus, he said hello to Ross. And please tell Joey, Christmas will be snowy. And Rachel and Chandler, ha ah ha handler!”

Since she fails to come up with easier words to rhyme with Rachel and Chandler’s names, she solves the conundrum by mumbling her way through the last lines, concluding with the word, “handler.” The audience claps and she wishes everyone happy holidays.

1 “Smelly Cat (Longest Coffee House Version)”

The iconic Phoebe Buffay song, “Smelly Cat” reigns supreme. She debuts it in season 2’s “The One With the Baby on the Bus” and she sings it a couple more times in the show. In “The One Where Eddie Moves In,” Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Rachel, while at Central Perk, are given their individual lines, and join Phoebe in on the fun. Sadly, no more lines are left for Ross to sing and so she goes back to the chorus.

“Smelly Cat” is the most iconic bit to come out of Friends, and has inspired many hilarious memes. That said, it has a deep, meaningful core, no matter how silly it sounds, at first.

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