20 Things You Probably Missed In Speed

4. Payne Secretly Quotes A Tom Lehrer Song

Speed movie
Fox

When Payne reveals to Jack that he's kidnapped Annie and fitted her with an explosive vest, he quizzically quips to Jack, "Be prepared, that's the Boy Scouts' marching song."

Younger viewers in particular might've reasonably assumed that Payne was directly quoting a mantra from the Boy Scouts, but he's actually secretly quoting something else entirely.

Payne's in fact quoting the 1953 Tom Lehrer song "Be Prepared," which begins with the very same lyric, "Be prepared, that's the Boy Scouts' marching song."

The meaning in this context is more or less the same - that Payne had a back-up plan - but the fact that he's slyly referencing a 1950s song rather than a generic Boy Scout refrain is a very era-specific reference relevant to Payne's approximate age.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.