Who wrote the lyrics for the I Love Lucy theme song?

Harold Adamson wrote the lyrics for the I Love Lucy theme song. Composer Eliot Daniel wrote the music, making the familiar tune a collaboration rather than the work of a single songwriter.

The theme was usually heard as an instrumental signature, so many viewers never realized it had lyrics. The words were performed on the series only once, in the episode “Lucy’s Last Birthday,” when Desi Arnaz sang them as Ricky Ricardo.

A common mix-up is naming Eliot Daniel as the sole writer. Daniel is strongly associated with the theme because he composed its music, while Adamson supplied the lyrics. Jess Oppenheimer, the show’s producer, helped bring the theme into existence but was not its lyricist.