I present a Literary Analysis of “The Hairbrush Song” or “Oh, Where is my Hairbrush?”
2020 continues to suck so bad and so I am canceling all discourse. No more. I’m done. From now on we talk only about how Veggietales’ classic Silly Song “Oh, Where is my Hairbrush?” is the greatest operetta of our time. It has everything: intrigue, distress, hope, identity crisis, betrayal, charity, friendship, grief, loss, acceptance. Renewed lease on life.
Intrigue: We start act 1 with the titular question: where is Larry’s hairbrush? Why is it not in the bathroom where Larry believes he ostensibly left it? Who might have taken it? Why? Where might Larry have left it without remembering? Larry’s distress is palpable in this timeless anthem of wonder and sorrow, quoted by myself and countless others every time we ourselves have been unable to locate our own hairbrushes.
Act 1 concludes with hope as Pa Grape enters and informs Larry that he “thought [he] saw a hairbrush back there!” This news elates Larry, and begins the theme of pure, enduring friendship we see throughout the operetta. Fresh from his bath or shower, Larry is in a towel. But his cries attract the attention of his friends, who rush to his aid, and though there is awkwardness abounding as they encounter Larry in a towel, his friends push through this embarrassment in order to give Larry their messages, as they want to help their friend no matter how awkward the situation. The news that his hairbrush may soon be located fills Larry with joy.
But his joy is short lived. Act two begins with the arrival of Junior Asparagus, who attempts to help in his own way, by asking the question that the entire audience has been thinking, but has not yet had reason to voice, captivated as they are by the emotion of Larry’s predicament: what does Larry, a bald cucumber, even need a hairbrush for anyway? Larry is shaken! Taken aback! Identity crisis ensues as Larry bemoans his lack of hair, and therefore his lack of need of a hairbrush, and wonders what this will mean for him and his hairbrush. His search for his hairbrush has been given new dimension. He has never before asked himself this question. Never before wondered how this might affect his beloved hairbrush! (And we could go deeper here as well. Why does Larry own a hairbrush? Was it a gift from someone he loves? Perhaps his Great-Aunt Ruth, who has a beard, gifted it to him in case Larry too one day grew a beard. Or maybe Larry once had hair for his hairbrush? Is Larry a compulsive shopper or even a hoarder who purchased this hairbrush on a whim, unable to resist a sale, even though it was for an item he had no need of?)
Act 3. A guilt-ridden Bob the tomato enters and makes his startling admission: he has given Larry’s hairbrush to the Peach, who has hair. After all, Larry doesn’t need his hairbrush. In fact, he does not use it! (Why then, has he been searching for it? He is emotionally attached to it. It is old, he has had it for awhile, according to Bob. We could use these clues to ascertain why exactly Larry has the hairbrush to begin with, or what he was intending to do with it once he found it, but the truth is that it doesn’t really matter. It goes beyond suspension of disbelief. Veggietales has masterfully crafted a tale where the audience is too swept up in the emotion of the protagonist and his love for his missing hairbrush to care about the base inconsistency of a bald character owning a hairbrush!)
Bob and Larry are the best of friends. Despite their banter and bickering on occasion, they are clearly the very best of friends. And yet Bob has betrayed his friend’s trust by giving away his hairbrush! The play reaches its darkest moment. Though Bob has apologized, Larry is not yet ready to forgive. “Not fair! Oh my hairbrush!” Larry laments, anger in his eyes and voice. His hairbrush is not just missing, it has been taken! Given away! And why? Because the peach has hair, and he doesn’t? Not fair! Larry speeds past denial, as Bob would never lie about something like this. He has no time for bargaining, he dwells on anger and skips to depression. His hairbrush is gone, and he is left with only anger at his friend and sadness at the loss of his hairbrush.
Act 4 commences with Larry in the midst of his grief, which is interrupted by the arrival of none other than the Peach himself! As they are both in towels, the status quo of the scene is shaken up. For the first time an intruder has made Larry feel shocked and slightly embarrassed, throwing him out of his angst, and presenting an emotional palate-cleanser to the scene. This restart is essential, as it pulls Larry out of his sorrow and anger and allows him to feel the emotions elicited by the Peach’s words: “Thanks for the hairbrush.”
Everything changes. It was one thing for Bob to explain that he gave the hairbrush to someone who needed it and would use it more than Larry; it is another for Larry to meet face to face with the recipient of his hairbrush; to see for himself the truly epic head of hair the Peach possesses. This is a head of hair truly worthy of his hairbrush! Furthermore, though it was Bob who gave the Peach the hairbrush, he had made it clear who the hairbrush came from, and Larry is clearly touched by the Peach’s gratitude. He silently forgives Bob. He reaches acceptance. He acknowledges the charity of the situation. He still loves his hairbrush, but he has accepted that it has gone on to a better life with one who needs it. But because he still loves it, he finishes the show by calling out to the retreating Peach, imploring him to take care of the hairbrush. He circles back through the emotional journey he has been on in his final verse, showing succinctly where he has been and where he has arrived. “Take care” The hairbrush is valued, please take care of it. Just because he is letting it go does not mean he does not still care about its wellbeing. “Nice hair” at heart Larry is still a good person and he will of course compliment the Peach’s hair. There is no bitterness against the Peach here; Larry has let go of his anger and found peace with the situation. “No fair” echoing his earlier angry “no fair”s about Bob giving away his hairbrush, now Larry says the phrase to himself, following his compliment of the Peach’s hair, acknowledging that he does not have nice hair like the Peach, and therefore has no need of a hairbrush, and that’s kind of no fair, but also not that big a deal, as long as, of course, the Peach “Take[s] caaaaaaaaaaare! Of my hairbrush!”
The Larry who turns to bow is a happy one. He has survived his tribulation, solved the mystery of the missing hairbrush, and found peace with his own self, his emotional attachment to things, and his relationships with other people in his life. He is a happy cucumber ready for the new day.
A theatrical masterpiece, all taking place beginning to end in 3 minutes, 6 seconds, counting introduction and outro.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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