Two scruffy men perform on a tiny neon-lit pub stage, one at a keyboard and one belting into a mic, as the booing crowd hurls rubbish.

Original artwork, not a still

Charlie Kelly

Dayman! Fighter of the Nightman! Champion of the sun! You're a master of karate and friendship for everyone!

— It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia · 2005

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

It is a deliberately terrible theme song for a hero who is a master of karate and friendship, and that is why it works. The words sound like something written for a children's cartoon, and Charlie believes in them completely. Fans chant it at the live shows and in bars, and it has become the show's most sung-along piece.

Context reviewed

In context

Spoilers for It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaShow the scene

The Dayman song first appears in the third-season episode "Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person" (FX, 11 October 2007). Charlie and Dennis, thrown out of Mac and Frank's band, make it up together in Charlie's apartment and perform it in Paddy's Pub, where the crowd boos them, throws rubbish and drives them off the stage. Charlie later turns it into the finale of his rock opera in "The Nightman Cometh" (2008), where the whole gang performs it. Glenn Howerton says the lyrics were written for the episode by Scott Marder and Rob Rosell, and were meant to be terrible.

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Context reviewed

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