It serves as the main theme tune for the many Peanuts animated specials and is named for the two fictional siblings, Linus and Lucy Van Pelt.

[4] The genesis of "Linus and Lucy" began when Peanuts executive producer Lee Mendelson heard Vince Guaraldi's hit, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", on the radio while driving his car over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Mendelson, not wanting his first exposure to the new music to be marred by the poor audio qualities of a telephone, suggested coming over to Guaraldi's studio.

He then began playing the then untitled "Linus and Lucy" for Mendelson, who agreed the song was perfect for Schulz's Peanuts characters.

"[6] "Linus and Lucy" was originally featured on Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964) and was also released as the B-side for the single "Oh, Good Grief".