 The theme song was composed by Mark Harrison and Blaise Smith , while the lyrics to the song were written by series creator Stephen Hillenburg and the series ' original creative director Derek Drymon . The melody was inspired by the sea shanty " Blow the Man Down " . An old oil painting of a pirate is used in the opening sequence . It has been dubbed " Painty the Pirate " , and according to Tom Kenny , Hillenburg found it in a thrift shop " years ago " . Patrick Pinney gives voice to Painty the Pirate , singing the theme song as the character . Hillenburg 's lips were imposed onto the painting and move along with the lyrics . Kenny joked that this is " about as close of a glimpse as most SpongeBob fans are ever going to get of Steve Hillenburg " , because of Hillenburg 's private nature . 
