Cherry Tree Lane is a song from the stage adaptation of Mary Poppins written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe based on the home of the Banks family and also serves as the main theme for George within the score.
The first musical number, it addresses the Banks' dilemma of finding the right nanny for Jane and Michael and is reprised through the show. One prominent reprise appears in the Act 2 opening number where Winifred hires George's old nanny Miss Andrew thinking it will please him.
Lyrics[]
Lyrics taken from the Original London Cast Recording.
(Spoken)
Mrs. Brill: Katie Nanna! Who gets stuck with the children with no nanny in the house? Me, that's who.
Katie Nanna: I've said my say, Mrs. Brill, and that's all I'll say, I've done with this house forever!
Mrs. Brill: Well good riddance, then!
Winifred: Katie Nanna!
(Sung)
Gone? Are you quite sure...
Mrs. Brill: Gone! And is it any wonder?
Winifred: Choosing the right nanny - I keep drawing blanks
Do you really think I made another blunder
What on earth am I to say to Mr. Banks?
George, dear
I'm feeling so bereft dear,
Every nanny goes
We're unlucky I suppose.
Winifred, Mrs. Brill, & Robertson Ay:
We are never going to find the perfect nanny
(Spoken)
George:
Nonsense!
(Sung)
Precision and order
That's all that I ask
The running of a household
A straightforward task
The children, the servants,
They're all your domain
Whilst I remain the sovereign of Cherry tree lane.
(Spoken)
Coat!
Mrs. Brill: Coming sir.
George: The simple truth is you've engaged six nannies over the last four months, and they've all been unqualified disasters!
(Sung)
A nanny should govern,
A nanny should rule
A nanny is a paragon who suffers no fool
A nanny's stalwart
Our children would gain
By having such a nanny in cherry tree lane.
(Spoken)
Winifred: Of course, George, but...
(Sung)
George: So take control of situations
Show your authority when interviewing staff
You know your role, They know their stations,
Efficiency and forethought cut the jobs in half
(Spoken)
Briefcase!
Winifred: I thought Katie Nanna would be firm with the children. She always looked so cross.
George: Winifred, never confuse efficiency with a liver complaint.
(Sung)
Winifred: Clear thinking
Sound judgment
George: That's how to advance
Both: Then things will run like clockwork.
George: Leave nothing to chance
When nannies go missing
The answer is plain
Our children must be monsters.
Winifred: Oh how can they be monsters
Both: In Cherry Tree Lane.
(Spoken)
George: Umbrella!
Winifred: If only we could find someone like your old nanny.
George: I'm afraid that's not realistic, my dear. Few women alive could manage Miss Andrew's standards of efficiency. Besides, we could never afford someone of her caliber.
Mrs. Brill and Robertson Ay: Precision and order
He wants nothing less
Robertson Ay: It's like an army barracks
Mrs. Brill: Yes and we're in the mess
Mrs. Brill and Robertson Ay: No wonder the Nannies are driven insane
We're living in a madhouse in Cherry Tree Lane.
(Spoken)
George: Now place an advertisement in the Times stating that Jane and Michael Banks require the best possible nanny at the lowest possible wage.
Jane: Father, we've written our own advertisement.
George: What!
Winifred: Please, George. I think we should hear it.
Jane: Wanted. A nanny. For two adorable children.
George: Adorable? Well, that's debatable, I must say.
(Spoken)
George: That is quite enough tommy rot for one day!
Would you please go upstairs and let me get to work!
(Sung)
I might have guessed
The wind is blowing
And it's an easterly, It's bound to bring a chill!
I'm underdressed
I must be going
Fetch my gloves and scarf or I'll be later still
(Spoken)
Where's my hat?
He's brushed it with boot polish!
(Sung)
All: Precision and order
That's all that I ask (he's asks)
The running of a household
A straightforward task
The children, the servants
They're all your domain
George: Whilst I remain the sovereign
Mind you use your day well.
Winifred: You remain the sovereign
George: I shall be home at six o'clock sharp.
All: He remains the sovereign
Of Cherry Tree Lane.
George: What good are rules if you can bend them?
We need a nanny who is disciplined and stern
With boys and girls you don't befriend them
I fear that Mary Poppins has a lot to learn
Precision and order, A credo for life
It's always been a comfort for me (and my wife)
Yet now in our midst there's, well I can't explain
But something is unsettling in Cherry Tree
Winifred: Lane
Mrs. Brill: Cor, they get through nannies for a flippin' pastime
Now when one returns they make this fearful fuss
Never liked her much when she was here the last time
Robertson Ay: 'Least she makes life easier for both of us
[...]
Michael: Do you think that she's returned
To get things back the way they were?
(Spoken)
Jane: The note said "Till we meet again."
(Sung)
Jane, Michael: I just know it must be her
(Spoken)
Winifred: Oh my goodness, she'll be here any moment. Now, where is
(Sung)
George, dear
You're going to be surprised, dear
(Spoken)
George: Winifred, you know very well I hate surprises at the best of times.
Winifred: Not this one. Oh George, I do believe you're going to be proud of me for once!
(Sung)
Precision and order
It's perfectly true
Can really make a difference
I've found her for you
'Clear thinking, sound judgement'
And now we'll regain
A home you can be proud of in Cherry Tree Lane
(spoken)
Hurry up everyone! Into the hall! I want her to find everything--
(Sung)
Spit spot and span
All: Spit spot and span
Jane, Michael, Winifred: Our sense of excitement is hard to contain
Mrs. Brill, Robertson Ay: Order is returning
Jane, Michael, Winifred: Wonder is returning
All: Someone is returning to Cherry Tree Lane
