I think we can all agree that turtles are pretty cool. Everyone can name some famous turtle that they love, from Franklin to Crush and the Ninja Turtles to Bowser. Heck, some of you might even know Toby, the one from Disney’s animated Robin Hood movie that portrayed all the characters as turtles.
Turtles are basically everywhere and people tend to love them, so it’s no surprise that some pretty neat tracks have been made about—or kind of about—these shelled creatures. In this article, we’ll give you 15 cool songs about turtles.
1. Turtle Power – Partners in Kryme
Partners In Kryme originally released Turtle Power for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack, and though the film version of the song was never officially released in the 90s, it still holds a special place in some people’s hearts today. While mutant turtles with ninja skills may not be what you were thinking of when you read this title, they’re still turtles and some of the coolest ones out there.
It was also a very successful track, with a mixed version reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart, the first time a hip hop song took the top spot of that chart and made it to number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well.
Recommended: Greatest TV theme songs of all time
2. Yertle the Turtle – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Yertle The Turtle is an interesting entry into the storied history of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The song itself is an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book of the same name and was the final track of the band’s second studio album Freaky Styley. It follows the same anapestic tetrameter that the poet made into a trademark style, but to the funky tune of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Oddly enough, the spoken lyric that says “Look at that turtle go, bro” repeatedly throughout the song was done by George Clinton’s drug dealer, who took a spot on the album in lieu of payment for Clinton’s debts.
3. Turtles Are Cool – Ouse
Gonna come clean here, Turtles Are Cool does not mention turtles once throughout the entire track, it’s on the list purely based on the song quality and it having ‘turtle’ in the title. Some people may claim Ouse is talking about how cool turtles are, but he obviously didn’t look up the full lyrics.
Instead, the track is all about blowing up, fame, and plenty of designer references to all the things that he wants now that he actually has money. Overall, it’s a good song, and despite not actually going as far into detail about turtles as some of our other entries, it’s a worthwhile addition to this list.
4. Happy Together – The Turtles
Is it cheating if the song isn’t about turtles but is by a band called The Turtles? Happy Together is widely considered their best track, and it was surely their most successful one. It took the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1967, eventually becoming one of the most beloved songs of the decade, and cementing their place in the music industry despite it being their only major success.
5. Turtle Blues – Janis Joplin
Here’s another great song that isn’t actually about turtles at all. Janis Joplin uses turtles as a metaphor in it though, and that’s good enough for me. She’s singing about hiding in her shell, being well-protected from the hardships of life, and essentially likens it to building a wall around her heart after being done wrong by a mean, mean, mean man.
6. Song About Turtles – Bonecage
Music has always been a place where activists thrived, as it’s a great way to get your message out there to the masses. However, music is rarely a place for hardcore discussions about ecology. For people who are already lost, ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms and the environment.
Song About Turtles by Bonecage goes into detail about how important turtles are and the ins and outs of their ecological niche. In a way, it’s a song that justifies the existence of turtles, from their origin hundreds of millions of years ago to the present day.
7. Poor Turtle – The Presidents of the United States of America
Here’s another very metaphorical but clever song that uses the idea of turtles. Poor Turtle is mostly referring to the band’s instruments, likening them to turtles inside their cases—shells—and sees them lose one of two—guitars or bass, we don’t know—to the pawn shop shelves.
8. Under The Sea – Samuel E. Wright
While this one may not make turtles the main focus of the song, turtles definitely count as sea life and are both mentioned in the track and shown in the original Disney animated movie The Little Mermaid.
Under The Sea is one of the most memorable tracks of all the old Disney animated movies, full of wonderful and colorful sea life, and is one of the songs most of us 90s kids can still sing word for word to this day. Overall, it’s a timeless classic and deserves a spot on this list for at least partially featuring turtles in its lyrics.
Recommended: Greatest Disney songs of all time
9. Sea Turtle – Pinkfong
I’m going to apologize in advance to any parents out there, this is the point where we really have to dive into some kid’s songs to find good ones about turtles. If you weren’t a fan of Baby Shark, you probably aren’t going to like this one. In fact, if mentioning Baby Shark makes you shudder, this is a track you should probably avoid at all costs.
Sea Turtle by Pinkfong is cut from the same cloth, a repetitive nursery rhyme song that is amazing for kids but will likely grind the nerves of even the most patient adult after the 500th play. Despite that, it’s still a cool track about turtles that comes along with a pretty cute little video of a sea turtle for the little ones.
10. Tiny Tim the Turtle – Dr. Jean Feldman
Dr. Jean Feldman has a lot of great kid songs, some of which I myself remember singing and dancing along to back in my early school years. Tony Tim The Turtle is one of the best and deserves both a spot on here and a spot on your kid’s Spotify playlist.
11. Baby Turtles Song – Press Play Picture House
Baby Turtles Song is a great kid’s track about little baby turtles swimming in the ocean. It helps teach kids about turtles, and it’s a solid nursery rhyme song that will get stuck in both your head and your kid’s for days to come.
12. Murray Had a Turtle – The Wiggles
A lot of turtles seem to be named Tiny Tim, including the one Murray had on The Wiggles. This song is a prominent feature of the group’s Pop Go The Wiggles! album and is sure to be on a Wiggles Spotify playlist. Murray’s turtle even tries to eat a bathtub.
13. There Was A Little Turtle – The Kiboomers
There Was A Little Turtle is a great kid’s song about a turtle that runs around catching everything. In the end, he can’t catch the child, but that’s okay. Your kids will love listening to this one and might even run around acting it out. Thankfully, this one isn’t as bad as some other famous children’s songs we know, so just make sure you don’t overplay it to the point that your own brain begins to melt.
14. I Like Turtles Remix – BlackTerrorClan
If you’re in my age bracket and used the internet at some point during your teenage-ish years, you know about the turtle kid. A massive internet sensation and meme, with a single line he became an overnight sensation with a famously terrifying zombified face. As you’d expect from peak meme culture, his audio was remixed and turned into a song… or several songs.
Most of them are actually pretty good though, and the kid is literally talking about how much he likes turtles in the original video of the interview, so there ya go. It may be stretching it a bit to put this one on here, but it’s my list so enjoy. Peak internet remix of a meme that still lives on in our hearts today.
15. Save The Turtles – The Beluga Boys
We’re ending the list with another meme song because I frankly thought this one was just as good, it just didn’t bring up nostalgia for me. Save The Turtles is the only track to be released by The Beluga Boys, a boy band inspired by the VSCO Girl meme that talks about how many girls are almost indistinguishable from each other once they’re done photoshopping pics.
Anyways, this song slaps and carries a solid environmental message about how plastic pollution is a major threat to our oceans and sea turtles in particular. Look, you don’t need a six-pack to cut the rings of a six-pack, and small amounts of effort can make a large impact on the world around us.
As a contributing writer for Music Grotto, Dakotah writes and produces professional music/media content. He works closely with editorial staff to meet editorial standards and create
quality content for the Music Grotto website. Dakotah is passionate about music in a wide variety of genres, from hip-hop to country and lo-fi to metal, and he enjoys creating music pieces for Music Grotto.