Ballad of The Sneak
From Homestar Runner Wiki
The Old-Timey equivalent of The Cheat Theme Song. Performed by DaVinci's Notebook.
Cast (in order of appearance): The Barbershop Trio, The Sneak, The Dapper Swindler, Old-Timey Bubs, Old-Timey Strong Bad, The Homestar Runner, Fat Dudley, Sickly Sam, Old-Timey Marzipan, Strong Man, The Football Player, Mr. Shmallow (on the box), The Kaiser
Places: The Cliff, The Field (Old-Timey)
Date : June 23, 2003
Running Time: 2:03
Page Title: The Ballad of The Sneak
Contents |
Lyrics
I know a lively fellow,
who is really quite unique.
He's small and smart and yellow,
with a rodent-like physique.
He doesn't play the cello,
and he never deigns to speak.
He's The Strong Man's Leporello,
and they just call him The Sneak!
If you've got a caper
then you know who to call.
It's The Sneak!
It's The Sneak!
Who's the Dapper Swindler
out of Tammany Hall?
Mo-mo-lo-de-oh-do
It's The Sneak!
That charming little whatzit
who's The Strong Man's greatest pal?
It's The Sneak!
It's The Sneak!
Who did the Hully-Gully
on the Panama Canal?
Doo-wacka-doo-wacka-doo
It's The Sneak!
Who's that jaunty jackanapes
with moxie and pizzaz?
It's The Sneak! (Yes, sir!)
It's The Sneak!
Who's been drinking bootleg hooch
and listening to the jazz?
Vo-vo-voh-de-oh-doh
It's The Sneak!
Who captures all the flapper girls' affections?
Who made off with my Fluffy Puff confections?
He's dastardly!
He loves catastrophe!
His schemes are masterly!
Takes tea at half past three!
That sneaky sneaker's sneakin' all over town!
Who dropped The Homestar Runner
from his flying machine? (Humdinger!)
Is it The Sneak? (28 skidoo!)
It's The Sneak!
Who put a Bengal tiger
in The Kaiser's latrine? (Ach Du lieber!)
It's The Sneak! (What's the rumpus?)
You know it's The Sneak! (Take it home!)
The Sneakity Sneak all day long!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: What?
Fun Facts
Remarks
- The song alternates between one-, two-, and three-part vocal harmony. The a cappella introduction seems to comprise three voices in homophony; they are most distinct on the lines "never deigns to speak" and "they just call him the sneak." The "jaunty jackanapes" section takes a call and response format, with a soloist calling and the other two answering in polyphony; again, a total of three parts.
Trivia
- This toon features all of the main characters' Old-Timey counterparts except for The Poopsmith and Homsar.
- The dance Sickly Sam does is the Charleston, a popular dance in the 1920s and '30s.
- Mr. Shmallow makes an appearance in this cartoon on the front of a Fluffy Puff box. This box is different than the one featured in Mr. Shmallow. The container in this cartoon appears to be a tin, while the other is a cardboard box. Also, the candies in the tin appear not to be marshmallows but a candy similar to the Choco-Lumps referred to in Mr. Shmallow.
- The Hully Gully didn't exist in 1936. It was a hit song and popular dance introduced by The Olympics in 1959.
- A jackanapes is a whippersnapper, an upstart or a rascal.
- This cartoon and That A Ghost both refer to illegal alcoholic beverages, which brings the Prohibition era to mind. However, the cartoons were supposedly made in 1936 or 1937, 3 or 4 years after Prohibition had been repealed, so strictly the illegality would have to be merely evading the appropriate taxes on their manufacture.
- Old-Timey Strong Bad flies over the Cliff in what appears to be a Wright Flyer. This airplane was developed by the Wright Brothers in 1903, over thirty years before this cartoon was supposedly made.
- "The Ballad of the Sneak" also appears on the album "Shame and Cookie Dough" by Paul and Storm, two former members of DaVinci's Notebook. The CD includes the original H*R.com version and one with commentary.
- The Sneak is mentioned as "yellow", giving weight to the theory he'd be that color before being "filmed" in black-and-white.
- The orientation of the Sneak's tail has changed since his appearance in Parsnips-a-Plenty.
Goofs
- When the Sneak's head explodes, his tail disappears for some reason.
Inside References
- The Sneak being silhouetted and going across hills may be a reference to the Old Intro 2.
- Seeing as the Sneak is the Old-Timey parallel of The Cheat, the scene of the Sneak's head being blown back and turned black by the phonograph is most likely a reference to The Cheat's Head Exploding.
- Ward Boss Tweed kicking the Sneak out of Tammany Hall may refer to Strong Bad's frequent kickings of present day The Cheat.
- The whistle has an engineer's hat like Homsar's in his character page.
- The Sneak falling off the cliff is a reference to Parsnips-a-Plenty.
Real-World References
- "Leporello" is a reference to the Mozart opera Don Giovanni. In it, Leporello is a side-kick to the Spanish legend.
- "Tammany Hall" was a political society in New York City (19th/early 20th century), known for its corruption and power. William Tweed was a strong figure in Tammany. (see below)
- A political cartoon appears briefly which features The Sneak getting booted out of a door by a foot that says "Prohibition?" The Sneak has dropped a paper that says "Hoot-Smalley Tariff" and the caption reads "Boss Tweed gives The Sneak what-for!"
- The "Hoot-Smalley Tariff" is a spoonerized play on the "Smoot-Hawley Tariff" that was enacted during The Great Depression, largely considered to be one of the most inept pieces of legislation ever passed by congress.
- The scene with the Sneak and the phonograph is a parody of a well-known advertisement for the old devices which featured a little dog looking into an RCA Victor gramophone ("His master's voice", or "HMV", as it is now known).
- Ach du lieber "Oh my dear!", is a reference to the Viennese folk song "Ach du lieber Augustin".
- "Moxie" is the name of a soft drink popular during the early 20th century. The name became a slang term meaning liveliness and daring.
- Bootleg Hooch (or "Moonshine") is homemade whiskey that is produced and/or sold through illegal methods.
- Flapper girl was a slang term common in the 1920s which referred to young women who flaunted contempt for the restrictions of "decency" imposed on their gender by society. They lived lavishly and openly wore short skirts, used cosmetics, bobbed their hair, and could often be seen smoking or drinking in public, far from what was considered to be acceptable behavior for women in that era. Many cartoon characters from the time period, such as Betty Boop and Minnie Mouse, for example, were "flapper girls".
- "28 skidoo" is a play on "23 skidoo", a bit of slang popular during the Roaring Twenties. It generally meant to leave quickly, sometimes specifically meaning to "get out while the getting's good" (very appropriate for the Sneak). Webster's Online Dictionary offers a number of possible origins for the phrase.
- "What's the rumpus" is probably a reference to Miller's Crossing, a Prohibition-era gangster movie, in which it is used as a greeting by several characters.
- The Sir Strong Bad watch is a reference to the old Mickey Mouse watches of the 1930s.
- The scene with the Sneak running inside an I-beam while other characters dance on top may be a visual reference to the old Atari game Pitfall. If nothing else, several cartoons from the time period featured characters playing in the I-beams of construction sites, such as Olive Oyl when she was hypnotized by Bluto in a Popeye cartoon.
- The poster with The Dappler Swindler has "known in the Northwest Territories as The Sneak" at the bottom. The Northwest Territories is a territory located in, well, the northwest of Canada.
- Prohibition was established in 1919 by the passage of the 18th amendment to the Constitution. It outlawed the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. It was eventually repealed in 1933 by the passage of the 21st amendment.
- "The Kaiser" is how German Emperor Wilhelm II was popularly referred to in the U.S. and Britain during World War I. Propaganda-laced political cartoons of the time would often exact comedic revenge on this enemy of Allied forces (1936 would be a little past date).
- The Kaiser is wearing a pickelhaube helmet, a 19th century Prussian invention, which at the time of World War One was outdated, and was relegated mostly to ceremonial garb, as befits a militaristic emperor. Note the Iron Cross on the helmet, a German military decoration of the early 19th century, re-introduced by Kaiser Wilhelm II in World War I.
- The train whistle may be a reference to many old cartoons, in which objects such as train whistles and brooms were depicted as "alive."
See Also
- The visuals that occur during the film.
