Phoebe teaches the song to Stephanie Schiffer, a musician who is portrayed by special guest Chrissie Hynde, in the episode "The One with the Baby on the Bus."
The song Smelly Cat first appeared in "The One With The Baby On The Bus," an episode from the second season, when Phoebe mentioned it to Rachel. She instructs musician Stephanie Schiffer (Chrissie Hynde) to play the song at the conclusion of the episode. In "The One Where Eddie Moves In," Phoebe records the song professionally for a potential commercial release, but another singer takes her place (voice provided by Elizabeth Daily). This episode also featured a brief clip of the song's music video, which is fully featured as a bonus feature on the second season DVD set.
A character played by guest star Elizabeth Daily uses the song as the jingle for a cat litter commercial in "The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner."
In the episode "The One With Joey's Bag" from the fifth season, Phoebe meets her estranged father, who reveals that he used to sing her the lullaby "Sleepy Girl," which shares the same melody as "Smelly Cat," when she was a young child. The song was again mentioned while meeting Mike's parents in "The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song,'' when Phoebe sang it to them during dinner because no one had spoken for seventeen minutes.
Who is Phoebe?
Phoebe Buffay, portrayed by Lisa Kudrow, is best known for leading a bohemian lifestyle, having a silly sense of humor, and playing guitar in Central Perk. She is one of the lead characters in the popular sitcom Friends.
Phoebe is a kind-hearted but peculiar guitarist. Phoebe is very naive, occasionally smart, and in some ways still a child at heart because she never had anything close to a typical, full childhood. Until Joey informed her otherwise, she thought Santa Claus actually existed.
Additionally, Phoebe surprises some characters in the plot with her brutal honesty on occasions when it differs from how she usually acts. This honesty serves as a running joke throughout the entire Friends series. In the last two seasons, Phoebe has progressively grown smarter.
Joey arranges for Phoebe to meet Mike, a random customer at the coffee shop. When Mike tells her he never wants to get married as a result of his previous messy relationship, they part ways after they re-connect and begin a serious relationship. Later episodes demanded that Phoebe choose between her beloved Mike and David, who had returned from Minsk specifically to propose to her. In season nine, she chooses to leave David behind and marry Mike Hannigan.
Who wrote Smelly Cat?
Together with Adam Chase, Betsy Borns, and Chrissie Hynde, Lisa Kudrow co-wrote the song "Smelly Cat." Borns, a Friends songwriter, had the idea for the song in 1995. She had originally intended for the lyrics to be about a "smelly dog." Borns, who frequently incorporated details from her personal life into episodes of Friends, first wrote the song "as an ode to her childhood pet" and based it on a stinky dog she had once owned named Gouda before deciding a song about a stinky cat would be funnier. Lyrics were also contributed by Chase, another writer for Friends. As she had done for all of her character's original songs, Kudrow wrote the melody herself.
"The One with the Baby on the Bus" (S02E06) is where "Smelly Cat" first makes an appearance. In the episode, Chrissie Hynde (the lead singer of the rock band The Pretenders) plays Stephanie Schiffer, a professional singer who was initially hired to take Phoebe's place as Central Perk's resident musician and whom Phoebe teaches to play "Smelly Cat" at the episode's conclusion. The song's music was co-written by Hynde and Kudrow. The musician, who had never heard of the show before being cast, had agreed to appear as a guest star on Friends with little knowledge of how well-known the still-young sitcom had become in the US.
Fans of Friends became more and more infatuated with "Smelly Cat," and they wrote letters to the producers requesting that they include the song on an album. Howie Klein of Reprise Records expressed interest in creating a concept album centered around "Smelly Cat" as a follow-up to the Friends album after realizing the song's popularity, but Kudrow's involvement in the project was uncertain. Phoebe Buffay and the Hairballs eventually released an updated version of the song titled "Smelly Cat Medley" on the soundtrack album Friends Again (1999). With vocals from Kudrow and The Pretenders, the song combines "Smelly Cat" clips from several episodes.
What other songs were showcased in Friends by Phoebe?
Her songs include "The Double-Double-Double-Jointed Boy," "Bisexuals," "Sue, Sue, Suicide," "You Suck," "Shut Up and Go Home," "Pervert Parade," "Sticky Shoes," "Saltwater Taffy Man," and "Ode to a Pubic Hair (Little Black Curly Hair")," as well as the well-known "Smelly Cat," which was used in both "The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner" and "The One Where Eddie Moves In".
Other songs she sang to the children in the public library program included "The Grandma Song" (a song about the passing of grandparents) and "The Cow in the Meadow Goes Moo" (a song about the production and packaging of meat). She was given the moniker "The Lady Who Sings About the Truth" for her truthful lyrics.
In Season 10, she also performed a song called "Happy Birthday, Emma" during the celebration of Rachel and Ross' daughter Emma's birthday. Phoebe's musical preferences and influences range widely; it appears that she knows some Lionel Richie songs by heart.
FAQs
Q. Did Phoebe have children before being married?
A. Before marrying Mike Hannigan, Phoebe became the surrogate mother for her half-brother and his wife Alice, who was not able to conceive due to Alice’s age.
Q. Why did Smelly Cat get so popular?
A. Smelly Cat's fame is a result of its odd lyrics and catchy tune. Phoebe tells the cat in the song that it is not her fault that she smells, but something they are feeding her.
Q. Who portrayed Phoebe Buffay?
A. Phoebe Buffay is portrayed by Lisa Kudrow, an American actress with the net worth to be estimated at $130 million, as of 2022.
Q. To whom did Phoebe teach the song Smelly Cat?
A. Phoebe taught Smelly Cat to her replacement at Central Perk, Stephanie portrayed by Chrissie Hynde, who is the lead singer of The Pretenders.
