That may be why so much of the music I love today is driven by blistering electric guitar wizardry. When I heard those hard-rocking rhythms, it triggered an almost Pavlovian response to get my adrenaline pumping. This idea of power brings me back to that theme song, fueled by a propulsive guitar riff leading into a flashy solo that’s reminiscent of the late-great Eddie Van Halen. At an age when the world was confusing and scary, Power Rangers was empowering. Comic book superheroes had been indulging kids’ desire to see other kids save the day since the earliest days of the genre with timeless icons like Robin the Boy Wonder, Captain Marvel (better known these days as Shazam), and Kid Flash.
I would later learn, of course, that Power Rangers was hardly unique in that respect. What kid doesn’t fantasize about saving their family, school, or friends from monsters and supervillains? Power Rangers scratches a similar itch, but in less destructive, more noble fashion. I’ve written before about how the Kaiju genre provides effective power fantasies at an age when children feel powerless. I loved Power Rangers because it was colorful, exciting, and rife with themes of childhood wish fulfillment that the superhero genre thrives on. I didn’t care about the crude special effects, dopey fight choreography, or the fact that pretty much every episode followed such a similar structure that the scripts could’ve been written with Mad Libs. I didn’t know what went on behind the scenes. Power Rangers didn’t adapt Super Sentai so much as remix it most of the action featuring the costumed heroes and villains was recycled straight from the Japanese series, with original footage of American stars Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kimberly spliced in between.
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS THEME LYRICS TV
I would learn years later that Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers shares most of its DNA with an earlier show called Super Sentai, an influential example of the Tokusatsu genre: Japanese movies and TV shows noted for outlandish action and bombastic special effects.
But before we get into that, I need to contextualize what made me fall in love with Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers as a toddler in the first place. Nostalgia aside, I sincerely think it’s a well-constructed pop-metal song on its own merits. But there is one thing about the Power Rangers that I appreciate now as much as I did as a two-year-old in 1993: that kickass theme song.
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