It’s you I like. The way you are right now, way down deep inside you. Not the things that hide you.
Fred Rogers
Mister Rogers is pretty much the best. And he has written some amazing songs. One of those is “It’s You I Like”, which he performed throughout the years on his show. (Even Tony Bennett showed up to do a version! Check it out here.)
It was fun creating a version of this earnest, heart-felt song along with Katie and our newest band member Henrietta Pussycat.
About Fred Rogers’ Songwriting
In the book The World According to Mister Rogers, there is a story about a hopeful Fred taking five songs to a famous composer, and then being told to come back after he’d written a barrelful of songs. Reminiscing on that story, Fred wrote, “What he knew was that if I really wanted to be a songwriter, I’d have to write songs, not just think about the five I had written. And so, after the initial disappointment, I got to work; and through the years, one by one, I have written a barrelful.
Fred Rogers Center
In fact, the barrel’s overflowing now, and I can tell you, the more I wrote, the better the songs became, and the more those songs expressed what was real within me.” That must be why “It’s You I Like” was one of Fred’s favorites. It expresses in words his philosophy on love and caring that he demonstrated on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.