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The Song of the Cebu is the seventh Silly Song with Larry that debuted in the VeggieTales episode Josh and the Big Wall!.

Larry is presenting a “sequential image, stereophonic, multimedia event” (which is really just a slide projector and bedsheet) about the story of a boy, his three cebús, and a hippo. (A cebú is kind of like a cow.)   Disorganized and unprepared, however, his presentation ends up going spectacularly off the rails. The events of this Silly Song led to the infamous Song of the Cebú incident, which lasted until 1998 with "The End of Silliness?".

Lyrics

(The Silly Song title card appears, depicting Larry with a slide projector.)

Announcer: And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry — the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song.

(It crossfades to Larry standing on a wooden platform on the countertop; manning his slide projector in front of his audience [Junior, Jimmy and Jerry]. We see a makeshift projector screen showing various blank pastel colored slides in front of them.)

Announcer (cont'd): Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Larry the Cucumber presents, in a sequential image, stereophonic, multimedia event: The Song of the Cebú!

Larry: Cebú!

(As Larry speaks, he shows corresponding hand-drawn slides depicting what he describes.)

Larry (cont'd): This is a song about a boy. A song about a little boy and his cebús. A song about a little boy and his three cebús. The little boy who had a sick cebú, a sad cebú, and a mute cebú. … And also a hippo.

(Larry’s slides begin to show his vacation photos instead.)

Larry (cont'd): Um... um... this is me at the airport. This is my Aunt Ruth. This is me at a bullfight. This is me fighting a bull!

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Ooh!

Larry: This is me and the bull.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Ahh!

(The slide shows a photo of a bandaged and bruised Larry, the bull, and a cebú who looks like the sick cebú in Larry's drawing.)

Larry: This is me and the bull and … I think that's the bull's cousin. He's a cebú!

(Larry continues to show blank slides as Archibald enters from behind the projector screen.)

Archibald: Hold it! You call this a multimedia event? This is a slide projector and a bed sheet! And what on Earth is a Cebú, anyway?

Larry: It's kind of like a cow...

(Larry shows a slide of a drawing comparing a cow to a Cebú)

Larry (cont'd): See?

Archibald: Yes. Well, very good. This could be interesting. Carry on!

(Archibald leaves.)

Larry: Cebú!

Sing it with me!

Cebú!

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Cebú!

(The screen shows slides of the boy riding with his three Cebú in a canoe)

Larry: Boy is riding with Cebú

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Boy is riding with Cebú

Larry: Into town in his canoe

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Into town in his canoe

Larry: Sick Cebú is rowing and sneezing. Achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo moo moo.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo moo moo.

(The screen shows slides of the Hippo chewing on bamboo shoots.)

Larry: Hippo chewing on bamboo

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Hippo chewing on bamboo

Larry: Can't see boy and three Cebú

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Can't see boy and three Cebú

Larry: Sad Cebú is rowing and crying. Boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo moo moo.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo moo moo.

Larry: Cebú!

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Cebú!

Larry: Cebú!

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Cebú!

All: Achoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, achoo moo moo, boo-hoo moo moo, Cebú!

(Sheet shows a drawing of the Mute Cebú turning his attention towards the Hippo.)

Larry: Hippo seen by Mute Cebú.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Hippo seen by Mute Cebú.

Larry: Tries to tell the other two.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Tries to tell the other two.

Larry: Mute Cebú is waving and grunting Mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm mmm mmm.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm, mmm-hmm mmm mmm mmm mmm.

(Suddenly, a squeak is heard. Junior, Jimmy and Jerry look around in confusion as Larry tries to fix the slide projector.)

Larry: Uh-oh.

(Archibald re-enters, now very invested in the song.)

Archibald: Wait! What happens next?

Larry: Um ...

Archibald: Does the hippo see them? Is the poor Mute Cebú successful in communicating the imminent danger to the other passengers? Is the boy injured? Why is the Sad Cebú sad? Is the canoe wood or aluminum?

(Larry continues fixing the slide projector until it displays a new photo.)

Larry: Oh look!

(The photo shows him at Sea World, with The Peach in the background wearing scuba gear. A dolphin is playing with Bob by tossing the poor tomatoes in the air.)

Larry (cont'd): There's me and Bob at Sea World!

(He displays another photo, which is shown offscreen.)

Larry (cont'd): Oh, wow.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Ooh!

Larry: Forgot about that one.

(He displays another photo, which is a previous one, showing him and the bull.)

Larry (cont'd): There's me and that bull again.

Archibald: You can't just start a song and leave it hanging like that!

(Screen shows the photo of Larry and his Aunt Ruth again.)

Archibald (cont'd): You know, I've come to expect a lot more from you.

(Screen shows the first drawing of the boy again.)

Archibald (cont'd): This is quite disappointing!

(Sheet shows the photo of Larry and Bob at the airport again.)

Archibald (cont'd): I'm going to have to speak to Bob about this.

(Sheet shows a drawing of a bovine looking animal.)

Larry: Oh look! A cebú!

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: Cebú!

(It crossfades back to the title card.)

Larry (offscreen): No, wait. ... That's a water buffalo.

Junior, Jimmy and Jerry: No more song about Cebú!

Need another verse or two!

Audience is standing and leaving,

Bye-bye moo, bye-bye moo, bye-bye moo, bye-bye moo moo moo moo.

Jimmy: I want my money back!

Jerry: Yeah. That'd be … That'd be good.

Behind the Scenes

Mike Nawrocki got the idea for this song after going on a trip to Columbia with his wife and learning about the cebú. It was also inspired by a bullfight he went to while dealing with really bad back pain.

Fun Facts

Trivia

Goofs

CebuGoof
  • During the opening shot, a black patch appears in the top-left corner for a millisecond (see image).
  • There are a few instances of Larry missing his tooth:
    • In the title card.
    • After Larry shows the embarrassing photo.
    • In the slide where Aunt Ruth is shown
  • In some shots, part of Jerry’s body clips through Junior's chair.

Inside References

  • A few nods to the first silly song were made here, such as Archibald interrupting it and it being a song about bovine creatures. A Water Buffalo is also shown at the end.
  • When Larry shows a slide of him at the airport, you can see his Larry-Boy mask in his suitcase.
  • Aunt Ruth is mentioned again for the third time, having previously being mentioned in the songs "I Can Be Your Friend" and "Love My Lips."

Real-World References

  • The Sea World theme parks are referenced in one of Larry’s slides, depicting himself, Bob and The Peach dressed for swimming while Bob is tossed around by a dolphin.

Gallery

TheSongOfTheCebuTitleCard
TheUltimateSillySongCountdown55
SingAlongsILoveMyLips9
IfISangASillySong92
CebuTitleCard

Song

References

  1. “BigIdea.com News - Esther: A Premiere Event.” BigIdea.com, 19 Oct. 2000, http://web.archive.org/web/20001019030338/http://bigidea.com:80/company/about/news/estherpremiere2.htm.
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