The Surrey with the Fringe on Top

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"The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" is a show tune from the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!. It is the second song of the show, following the famous opening number sung by Curly "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'".

When Curly asks Laurey to go to the box social with him, he uses this song to persuade her with the prospect of going in a fancy rented ride after she asks how he's going to take her. In the movie version, the surrey (a four wheel covered carriage, in this case pulled by two horses) is initially seen in a brief fantasy sequence, but appears for real at the end when Curly and Laurey ride off in it to their honeymoon.

An exchange from this duet:

Laurey: "Has it really got a team of snow white horses?'"
Curly: "One's like snow, the other's more like milk."

[edit] Pop culture

In the film When Harry Met Sally..., Harry sings a karaoke version of "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top".

Laura Love borrows a few of Hammerstein's lyrics for her song "I Was Wondering".

[edit] As jazz standard

Versions of the song were recorded by Ahmad Jamal, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Betty Carter, Blossom Dearie and McCoy Tyner, Wes Montgomery, Wynton Kelly, Johnny Smith, Ray Brown, Barney Kessel, among others. One of the most unusual and rich arrangements is the up tempo treatment by the J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding Trombone Octet.