Little Known Facts

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Little Known Facts is a musical number in the Broadway musical comedy, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The music and lyrics were written by Clark Gesner in 1966. The song was in the original Off-Broadway production of the show in 1967 and was also in the revival production in 1999, where it was added an ending line by Andrew Lippa

The song is based on several Peanuts comic strips written by Charles M. Schulz. The strips show Lucy van Pelt teaching her younger brother, Linus van Pelt false facts.

In Little Known Facts, Charlie Brown is on stage. As the music begins, Linus and Lucy walk on stage. Charlie Brown asks Linus what he is doing. Linus replies that Lucy said a sister is responsible for educating her younger brother, so she's teaching him. He also adds that Lucy is intelligent. Throughout the song Lucy teaches these false facts to Linus:

• Fir trees produce fur to be made into coats. During winter, they produce wool.
• Elm trees begin small, but grow up and transform into oak trees. You can also tell how old elm trees are by counting its leaves.
• Clouds make the wind blow.
• Bugs make the grass grow by tugging at every tiny grass seedling until it grows into a giant blade of grass.
• A fire hydrant is similar to a plant, but grows on concrete everywhere, and Lucy is unaware why they give off so much water.
• Lucy points to Woodstock, and says it is an eagle, but is a younger one, so is called a sparrow, and we eat eagles and sparrows for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
• Stars and planets make rain.
• Snow comes up out of the ground like flowers. When Charlie Brown argues with Lucy that it comes down, she says the wind blows the risen snow around in the air, so it looks like snow comes down, but really comes up.
• If someone bangs their head on a tree, it is to loosen the bark for the tree to grow faster.

After each of most of Lucy's teachings, Linus agrees with Lucy and Charlie Brown tries to tell Lucy what she's telling Linus is not true. After Lucy explains snow coming up, Charlie Brown exclaims "Oh good grief!!", leaves, and bangs his head on a tree, which Linus questions. Lucy explains about the bark, and, only in the revival, sings the ending line.

Some listeners question Linus's agreement with Lucy because in other songs in the musical, The Book Report and Beethoven Day, Linus explains things intelligently and with a large vocabulary. Due to this issue, some productions of the play use the character Rerun van Pelt (a character not usually put in the play), who is Linus's younger brother, play the part Linus would play.

^Resources:

• 1967 Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording CD of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." (c 2000)
• 1999 New Broadway Cast Recording CD of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." (c 1999)
• Wikipedia page on You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown