Silly Songs with Larry
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Silly Songs with Larry is a regular feature in the Big Idea computer-animated series VeggieTales. It generally consists of Larry the Cucumber singing either alone or with some of the other Veggie characters. Occasionally, another character or an ensemble gets the lead vocal.
[edit] Introduction
Typically this feature is introduced with a static picture of Larry and the words, "And now it's time for 'Silly Songs with Larry', the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a Silly Song'. However, this format is used loosely; sometimes it is renamed, adapted to the context of the episode, or eschewed altogether. Not all episodes have a Silly Song: most notably, the Larry-Boy episodes lack this segment. The Silly Song always appears in the middle of an episode, usually at a cliffhanger moment, or between two segments.
The Silly Songs have proven to be a very popular part of the show. Their popularity was established from the very first VeggieTales video. When in the second episode (God Wants Me To Forgive Them!?!) the Silly Song was replaced by an infomercial-type segment ia "The Forgive-O-Matic" , fans wrote in requesting that they become a regular feature. Their popularity has also prompted the release of several "sing-along" videos that feature compilations of these segments culled from other episodes, wrapped with new material that threads them into a fresh context. To date there have been three of those:
The Silly Songs almost always take place on the familiar countertop which opens and closes most episodes. The background scenery appears as a stage set, behind which electrical outlets and ceramic tile can be seen.
Often, a Silly Song is stopped by someone who can no longer stand it, parodying The Colonel, a no-nonsense character from many Monty Python sketches.
[edit] List of Silly Songs
The following list itemizes the Silly Songs that have appeared in the all VeggieTales videos to date. The episode in which each first appeared is given in parentheses, along with a brief description of the song.
- "The Water Buffalo Song" (Where's God When I'm S-Scared?) Written by Phil Vischer—Larry sings that "everybody's got a water buffalo," but Archibald concerned with the obvious falseness of the statement, brings the song to an abrupt end.
- "The Hairbrush Song" (Are You My Neighbor?) Written by Mike Nawrocki—Larry, wearing a towel and having recently emerged from the tub, rues the loss of his hairbrush. Pa Grape and Junior Asparagus try to help him, but it's Bob who finally solves the mystery.
- "Dance of the Cucumber" (Rack, Shack, and Benny) Written by Mike Nawrocki—Larry sings a song in Spanish while dancing around Bob, who translates. The words are insulting to Bob, however, and the song ends with Bob chasing him angrily from the set.
- "I Love My Lips" (Dave and the Giant Pickle) Written by Mike Nawrocki—Larry lies on a couch while he sings to his psychiatrist (played by Archibald Asparagus) about his fear of losing his lips. In addition to asking him questions about the problem and Larry's childhood, Dr. Archibald gives Larry a Rorschach test where Larry sees everything as a lip (and sings as much to the tune of the William Tell Overture).
- "Oh, Santa!" (The Toy that Saved Christmas) Written by Mike Nawrocki—Larry awaits the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, but is first visited by a bank robber, a Viking, and an IRS agent. They take his cookies and when Santa (Bob) arrives, we discover they have stolen parts of his outfit as well.
- "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" (Very Silly Songs!) Written by Mike Nawrocki—The infamous pirates (Larry, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape) sing of their lack of ambition, but Larry doesn't seem to grasp the concept of the song. This song was covered by Relient K for the Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie soundtrack and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie soundtrack.
- "The Song of the Cebú" (Josh and the Big Wall!) Written by Mike Nawrocki—In a "sequential image, stereophonic, multimedia event", Larry sings during a slide show about a boy and three cebús (that is, zebus) in a canoe. Archibald keeps intervening to question the quality of the presentation.
- "His Cheeseburger" (Madame Blueberry) Written by Mike Nawrocki—This Silly Song is presented as Love Songs with Mr. Lunt. Mr. Lunt sings of Jerry Gourd's unrequited love for a cheeseburger in this spoof of a rock 'n' roll ballad. (In the intro, Archibald announces the cancellation of Silly Songs with Larry.)
- "The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps" (The End of Silliness?) Written by Mike Nawrocki—Larry is a veterinarian who believes he is able to cure sick pets by yodeling to them. Meanwhile his nurse (Pa Grape) is slipping medicine to the pets' owners behind his back. Larry realizes the truth when a Bear stuck in a trap is entirely unaffected by his 'treatment' and runs amok.
- "Endangered Love" aka Barbara Manatee (King George and the Ducky) Written by Mike Nawrocki—While watching a soap opera on television, Larry sings of his love for a stuffed manatee and holding a date for this ball and all of his other noble things.
- "Larry's High Silk Hat" (Lyle the Kindly Viking)—Archibald Aspragus, having taken over the show, presents the first (and last) Classy Songs with Larry. Larry, sitting at a trolley stop, expresses his joy at having a lovely hat and a chocolate bunny. Sung by Archibald and Larry, with appearances by Art Bigotti, Mr. Nezzer, Miss Achmetha, Apollo Gourd, and Scallion #1. Sung to the tune of Funiculì, Funiculà. Bill Thompson later recalled that this songs never went online.
- "Bellybutton" (The Ballad of Little Joe)—In the introduction to this song, the latest boy band "Boyz in the Sink" (Mr. Lunt, Larry, Jimmy Gourd, and Junior Asparagus) dramatically state their intent to be "serious" artists. Mr. Lunt confesses that he lacks a navel in this song, with special appearances by Miss Achmetha and Khalil the Caterpillar.
- "Sport Utility Vehicle" (A Snoodle's Tale)—Larry and Miss Achmetha sing of their admiration for each other's SUV's. But stuck in their sedentary lifestyles, they can only dream of going off-road or performing daring rescues.
- "Schoolhouse Polka" (Sumo of the Opera)—Presented as Schoolhouse Polka with Larry, this song is a parody of Schoolhouse Rock!. Larry plays the accordion and sings a song about homophones. (Larry's appearance in this song, with hair, glasses and clothing, is based on a real-life teacher named Hans who was one of Mike Nawrocki's childhood teachers.) Sung to the tune of Oklahoma.
- "The Blues With Larry" (Duke and the Great Pie War)—Larry enthusiastically tries to sing the Blues, but lacks the life-experience. Joined by Blind Lemon, his version of the Blues is filled with sunshine and happiness. A frustrated Lemon gives up, but a Bavarian polka singer arrives to give Larry more appropriate backup.
- "Pizza Angel" (Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush)—Larry ordered his Pizza Angel pizza several hours ago, and sings a desperate 50's-style love ballad as he waits. Three peas appear as backup singers with halos and wings.
- "My Baby Elf" (Lord of the Beans)—Presented as "Silly Songs with Elves, the part of the show where Ear-a-Corn comes out and sings a silly song for elves", Larry dresses as Elvis Presley and sings a song about an elvish girl, who twice comes out and shouts in a foreign language her disdain for Ear-a-Corn, who seems to think she's complimenting him. Leg-o-Lamb (Jimmy Gourd) interrupts near the end, accusing Ear-a-Corn of being an "elvish impersonator".
- "Gated Community" (Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler)—Larry's ball bounces behind the wall of a gated community; instead of helping him, the residents of the community just sing about how lovely life is there.
- "Lance the Turtle" (Gideon Tuba Warrior)—Presented as "Ukulele Karaoke with Bob," a confused and unprepared Bob sings the lyrics handed to him just moments before, and has three peas as backup singers named "The Wiggly Turtle Toobies" who are perched on turtle-shaped cutouts. (Larry couldn't perform because The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything took over the show and he was with them). Just as Bob is starting to enjoy doing the song he accidentally shreds the lyrics through the fan, and though the French peas tape it back together the resulting lyrics are nonsensical and they must take over after Bob gives up.
- "A Mess Down In Egypt" (Moe and the Big Exit)—The would-be boy band, Boyz In The Sink (Larry, Mr. Lunt, Jimmy Gourd, and Junior Asparagus) interrupts the silly song announcer in order to tell the Moses story their own way.
- "Monkey" (The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's)—While on a photo safari, Larry continually repeats what he heard from an expert about "if it has a tail then it's a monkey, if doesn't have a tail then it's an ape", applying such logic to everything he sees. Bob repeatedly tries to correct Larry, but after Larry mistakenly identifies a cow as a monkey, gives up in frustration.
[edit] Compilation albums
- "Silly Songs with Larry", Action Music ASIN B00005N8X1, Nov. 16, 2001.
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