Larry's High Silk Hat

Larry's High Silk Hat is the eleventh Silly Song with Larry. It was featured in Lyle the Kindly Viking.

In a continued attempt to keep the show's content sophisticated, Archibald Asparagus presents "Classy Songs with Larry." Sung to the tune of "Funiculì, Funiculà," Larry expresses his joy of having a lovely stovepipe hat and a box of chocolates while sitting in a bench waiting for the trolley to arrive. Soon, however, Larry finds himself having to contend with other nosy people at the trolley stop, the heat of the sun, and a great big squash.

Lyrics

Intro

(The opening title card shows Larry in a clown outfit.)

The Announcer: And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry, the part of the show...

Archibald: Stop! Stop! Don't even think about it! As if Omelet wasn't bad enough. Ahem. Phillipe, Jean-Claude?!

Jean Claude and Phillipe: Oui, oui!

(Pushes the background, replacing the title card with a dark background featuring Larry wearing a stovepipe hat)

Archibald: And now it is time for Classy Songs with Larry, the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a classy song.

Song

(Song intro, as a feather falls from the sky and lands onto Larry's hat. He blows the feather off his hat and it falls to the ground.)

Archibald: One day, while he was waiting for the trolley, he had a hat.

Larry: My high silk hat.

Archibald: He wore it high upon his head so proudly, a beautiful hat.

Larry: My high silk hat.

Archibald: A hat like this just makes him feel so grandly

Now fancy this, and fancy that.

The splendor of his hat in all its majesty.

Larry: Like a king, in a royal cap!

I feel so swell and handsome in my hat.

(Art Bigotti walks up and sits on the bench. He looks at Larry, confused)

I bet that others wish they had in fact...

Larry and Archibald: A hat as this, a hat as that, a hat so fine, a high silk hat!

Larry: Oh, Mr. Art Bigotti,

Now what do you think of that?

(Art Bigotti rolls his eyes, gets up from the bench, and walks until he gets behind the bench.)

Archibald and Chorus: Now his hat was not all he wore so proudly,

Archibald: I must in fact share more than that.

Archibald and Chorus: For upon his lap there sat a treat so fondly, of chocolate this.

Larry: And chocolate that.

Archibald: Deliciousness that makes him feel so dandy, a chocolate bliss.

Larry: A chocolate snack.

(Mr. Nezzer walks up and sits on the bench, then notices Larry's box of chocolates.)

Chorus: Confections such as these are more than candy, somewhat like life, a box of that.

Larry: I have my chocolate placed upon my lap.

I feel so good you just cannot top that.

Larry and Chorus: I have my snack, a chocolate pack of chocolate this and chocolate that!

Larry: Oh golly, Mr. Nezzer, now what do you think of that?

(Mr. Nezzer gets up from the bench and walks until he gets behind the bench.)

Archibald: Now time was passing and the sun grew hotter upon his hat.

Chorus: And chocolate snack.

(Jean Claude and Phillipe pass by riding a bike)

Archibald: So beneath his hat he thought and pondered:

Larry: What should I do to save my hat?

Archibald: He thought and contemplated as he perspired, beneath his hat.

(Jean Claude and Philippe pass by on their bike again, this time, from the opposite direction; Jean Claude hops off the bike near the bench and looks surprisingly at Larry and his chocolates)

Chorus: Upon his lap.

Archibald: He feared his chocolate treats would soon retire into a pool.

Chorus: A chocolate vat.

Larry and Chorus: I won't feel grand if I take off my hat.

The sun's getting hot and my hat just might go flat.

My hat, it might go flat, and my sweets will melt like that!

Larry: Oh, hurry Mr. Trolley, before my dapperness goes flat!

Archibald and Chorus: He decided to forgo his looks so dashing to save his hat.

Jean-Claude: And little snack!

Archibald and Chorus: So he placed the treats upon the seat beside him.

Mr. Nezzer: And put his hat on top of that.

(Miss Achmetha walks up to the bench and sits)

Larry: Oh please.

Chorus: Oh please, oh please!

Larry: Don't anybody sit close to me, upon my hat.

Larry and Chorus: I ask if all of you could be so kindly

Larry: and just stand back, away from my snack!

(Apollo Gourd sits on Larry's hat and chocolates, wearing a shirt saying "GOURD'S GYM".)

Larry: A great big squash just sat upon my hat!

A great big squash just squished my hat real flat!

He squashed my hat, he made it flat, he squished my snack, oh what of that?

Oh, tell me, anybody, now what do you think of that?

All: A great big squash just sat upon his hat!

A great big enormous squash squished his hat real flat!

He squashed his hat, he made it flat, he squished his snack, oh what of that?

(The trolley arrives and all get on except Larry. Scallion #1 then walks up.)

Larry: Oh, golly! (Spoken) Uh, what's your name?

Scallion #1: (Spoken) They've never given me a name. I've been around since show one and I still don't have a name!

Larry and Chorus: Now what do you think of that?

Characters

Fun Facts

Trivia

This song was number 8 in The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown.
This marks the first physical appearance of both Art Bigotti and Apollo Gourd.
The Silly Song Larry was about to sing shows him dressed up as a clown, but Archibald replaced it with the other title card (see image's below).
- This marks the last appearance for the original title card background until A Mess Down in Egypt.
This, along with There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea, was featured on the TV version of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jiggle and Mr. Sly".
A widescreen version of this song can be seen as a bonus feature on the original DVD of "Lyle the Kindly Viking".
This song is featured in Lyle the Kindly Viking, The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown, Sing-Alongs: Dance of the Cucumber and Lessons from the Sock Drawer.
This is the second silly song not to be written by Mike Nawrocki.
Mike suggested that Larry should bop gophers while in tune with the music.
This is one of Bob's favorite songs within VeggieTales "because he got to drive the trolley".
This was played on the DVD menu of "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush".
This is the second time when Archibald interrupted the Silly Song announcer, this first was in Madame Blueberry before His Cheeseburger.

Goofs

After Larry blows the feather off of his hat, it falls through the ground. It then reappears when Art Bigotti sits on the bench. It stays on the ground throughout the song but then it disappears after Jean-Claude's close-up shot.
When Larry puts his hat on top of his chocolate, the ribbon on the chocolate clips through the brim of his hat.
In the shot where Apollo sits on Larry's hat and chocolate, Archibald is standing between Art Bigotti and Mr. Nezzer. However, in the very next shot, Art Bigotti and Mr. Nezzer are standing right next to each other without Archibald in the middle.

Inside References

Scallion One says that he's been around since show one which is a reference to the first VeggieTales show "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?".
The chocolate box has a chocolate bunny symbol from Rack, Shack and Benny.
This is Bob's favorite song because he got to drive the trolley.
The hat that Bob wears near the end of the song is a recolored version of Mordecai's hat from Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen.

Real-World References

Larry's entire motif and him waiting for a trolley while holding his box of chocolates is similar to what the title character Forrest Gump did in the 1994 film. The lyric "somewhat like life, a box of that" is a reference to Forrest's line in the film, "My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates." Additionally, the falling feather is very similar to the opening of said film.
The idea for the title card was when Tim Hodge found a photo of Greta Garbo and showed it to a lighting artist to do something similar with Larry.
This song is set to the tune of the famous Neapolitan song "Funiculì, Funiculà".
- According to Tim Hodge, it is also heavily inspired by the song "My High Silk Hat", a parody of Funiculì, Funiculà written by Arthur Fields and Fred Hall in 1933.
- The opening of the song also features "'O sole mio" before the tune begins.