Turning Turtle

"Turning Turtle" is a song sung by Topsy Turvy Poppins in the film Mary Poppins Returns.

Lyrics
Uncle Gutenberg was a bookworm And he lived on Charing Cross The memory of his volumes brings a smile He would read me lots of stories When he wasn't on the sauce Now I'd like to share the wisdom of my favorite bibliophile

He said a cover is not the book So open it up and take a look 'Cause under the covers one discovers That the king may be a crook Chapter titles are like signs And if you read between the lines You'll find your first impression was mistook For a cover is nice, but a cover is not the book

Mary Poppins, could you give us an example? Certainly.

Nellie Rubina was made of wood But what could not be seen was Though her trunk up top was barren Well, her roots were lush and green So in Spring when Mr. Hickory saw her blossoms bloomin' there He took root despite a bog And now there's seedlings everywhere

Which proves a cover is not the book So open it up and take a look 'Cause under the covers one discovers That the king may be a crook Chapter titles are like signs And if you read between the lines You'll find your first impression was mistook For a cover is nice, but a cover is not the book

Should we do the one about the wealthy widow? Oh, by all means. I always loved that one Well, go on then.

Lady Hyacinth McCord brought all her treasures to a reef Where she only wore a smile Plus two feathers and a leaf So no one tried to rob her 'cause she barely wore a stitch For when you're in your birthday suit There ain't much there to show you're rich

Oh, a cover is not the book So open it up and take a look 'Cause under the covers one discovers That the king may be a crook Taroo-ra-li taroo-ra-la, taroo-ra-li tara-ta-ta You'll find your first impression was mistook Ya-da-da-da For a cover is nice, but a cover is not the book

Oh, give us the one about the Dirty Rascal, why don't ya? Isn't that one a bit long? Well, the quicker you're into it, the quicker you're out of it.

Once upon a time, in a nursery rhyme There was a castle with a king hiding in a wing 'Cause he never went to school to learn a single thing He had sceptres and swords and a parliament of lords But on the inside he was sad, egad! Because he never had a wisdom for numbers, a wisdom for words Though his crown was quite immense, his brain was smaller than a bird's

So the queen of the nation made a royal proclamation To the Misses and the Messrs, the More-or-Lessers, bring me all the land's professors Then she went to the hairdresser's And they came from the east and they came from the south From each college they poured knowledge from their brains into his mouth But the king couldn't learn, so each professor met their fate For the queen had their heads removed and placed upon the gate And on that date, I state their wives all got a note their mate was now the late great

But then suddenly one day a stranger started in to sing He said I'm the Dirty Rascal, and I'm here to teach the king And the queen clutched her jewels, for she hated royal fools But this fool had some rules they really ought to teach in schools Like you'll be a happy king if you enjoy the things you've got You should never try to be the finer person that you're not

So they sang and they laughed, for the king had found a friend And they ran on to a rainbow for the story's perfect end So the moral is you musn't let the outside be the guide For it's not so cut and dried Well, unless it's Dr. Jekyll, then you'd better hide, petrified Now the truth can't be denied As I know I've testified All that really counts and matters is the special stuff inside (He did it!)

Oh, a cover is not the book So open it up and take a look 'Cause under the covers one discovers That the king may be a crook So please listen to what we've said And open a book tonight in bed So one more time before we get the hook (sing it out strong!) A cover is nice Please take our advice A cover is nice Or you'll pay the price A cover is nice But a cover is not the book! Taroo-ra-li taroo-ra-la, taroo-ra-li taroo-ra-la, taroo-ra-li taroo-ra-la, la, la!