The Best Lyrics from “Mary Poppins” and “Mary Poppins Returns”

If you’ve seen Mary Poppins Returns, then you no doubt have every song stuck in your head on loop. While poring over the soundtrack, I found myself revisiting the original Sherman Brothers music and feeling particularly inspired by lyrical selections from both films. It was also fun to find parallels between them and the way they reference one another. To help fuel your obsession, here are what I consider to be the best lyrics from Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns, presented in an order that may reveal connections you never noticed before.

“Can You Imagine That?”

Some people like to laugh at life
And giggle through the day
They think the world's a brand new shiny toy
And if while dreaming in the clouds
They fall and go kersplatt
Although they're down and bent in half
They brush right off and start to laugh
Can you imagine that?

“Spoonful of Sugar”

The honey bees that fetch the nectar
From the flowers to the comb
Never tire of ever buzzing to and fro
Because they take a little nip
From ev'ry flower that they sip
And hence (And hence),
They find (They find)
Their task is not a grind.

“A Man Has Dreams”

You've got to grind, grind, grind
At that grindstone
Though childhood slips like sand through a sieve
And all too soon they've up and grown
And then they've flown
And it's too late for you to give
Just that spoonful of sugar
To help the medicine go down
The medicine go down, the medicine go down.

“Trip a Little Light Fantastic”

For if you hide under the covers
You might never see the day
But if a spark can start inside your heart
Then you can always find the way
So when life is getting dreary
Just pretend that you're a leerie
As you trip a little light fantastic with me

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

So when the cat has got your tongue
There's no need for dismay
Just summon up this word
And then you've got a lot to say
But better use it carefully
Or it can change your life
One night I said it to me girl and now me girls my wife

“Feed the Birds”

Come feed the little birds,
Show them you care
And you'll be glad if you do
Their young ones are hungry
Their nests are so bare
All it takes is tuppence from you

“The Place Where Lost Things Go”

Time to close your eyes
So sleep can come around
For when you dream you find
All that's lost is found
Maybe on the moon
Or maybe somewhere new
Maybe all you're missing lives inside of you

“Chim Chim Cher-Ee”

Up where the smoke is all billered and curled
'Tween pavement and stars is the chimney sweep world
When there's hardly no day nor hardly no night
There's things half in shadow and halfway in light
On the rooftops of London, coo, what a sight!

“(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky”

Though the lamps I’m turning down
Please don't feel blue
For in this apart of London town
The light shines through
Don't believe the things you’ve read
You never know what's up ahead
Underneath the lovely London sky

“Let’s Go Fly a Kite”

With tuppence for paper and strings
You can have your own set of wings
With your feet on the ground
You're a bird in a flight
With your fist holding tight
To the string of your kite

“Nowhere to Go but Up”

The past is the past
It lives on as history
And that's an important thing
The future comes fast
Each second a mystery
For nobody knows what
Tomorrow may bring

All lyrics and music in this article are the work or Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman.

Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).