Blunt, Emily - A Cover Is Not The Book Lyrics






[MARY POPPINS:]
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 favourite 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

[AUDIENCE:]
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ra-ta-ta-ta!
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ra-ta-ta-ta!

[PENGUIN:]
Mary Poppins, could you give us an example?

[MARY POPPINS:]
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 blooming there
He took root despite her bark
And now there's seedlings everywhere

[MARY POPPINS & JACK:]
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

[JACK:]
Should we do the one about the wealthy widow?

[MARY POPPINS:]
Oh, by all means!

[JACK:]
Always loved that one

[MARY POPPINS:]
Well, go on then!

[JACK:]
Lady Hyacinth Macaw
Brought all her treasures to a reef

[MARY POPPINS:]
Where she only wore a smile

[JACK:]
Plus two feathers, and a leaf

[MARY POPPINS:]
So no one tried to rob her
'Cause she barely wore a stitch

[JACK:]
For when you're in your birthday suit

[MARY POPPINS & JACK:]
There ain't much there to show you're rich!

[ALL:]
Oh, a cover is not the book
So open it up and take a look
Cause under the covers one discovers
That the king maybe a crook
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ru-ra-la, ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ra-ta-ta!

[MARY POPPINS & JACK:]
You'll find your first impression was mistook (Ya-da-da-da)
For a cover is nice
But a cover is not the book

[MARY POPPINS:]
Oh, give us the one about the dirty rascal, why don't ya?

[JACK:]
Isn't that one a bit long?

[MARY POPPINS:]
Well, the quicker you're into it, the quicker you're out of it.

[JACK:]
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 scepters 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 Missus and the Messers
The more or lessers
Bring me all the land's professors"
Then she went to the hair dressers

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 kind of person that you're not
So they sang and they laughed
For the king had found a friend
And they ran onto 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 better hide
Petrified!
No, the truth can't be denied
As I now have testified
All that really counts and matters
Is the special stuff inside

[AUDIENCE:]
He did it!

[ALL:]
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

[MARY POPPINS:]
So please listen to what we've said

[JACK:]
And open up a book tonight in bed

[MARY POPPINS & JACK:]
So one more time before we get the hook

[JACK:]
Sing it out strong!

[AUDIENCE:]
A cover is nice

[MARY POPPINS:]
Please take our advice!

[AUDIENCE:]
A cover is nice

[JACK:]
Or you'll pay the price!

[AUDIENCE:]
A cover is nice

[ALL:]
But a cover is not the book

[AUDIENCE:]
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ru-ra-la-la
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ru-ra-la-la
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ru-ra-la-la, la, la!





Other Lyrics by Artist

Rand Lyrics

Last Posts

Blunt, Emily A Cover Is Not The Book Comments
  1. A.... J....

    I play Call of Duty Like if you do to %D

  2. B.... J....

    LOVE THIS SONG!!

  3. S.... N....

    There is good news about Disney+ in other countries. It comes out in March 2020 while this was posted in January 2020. And that's the gospel truth.

  4. N.... 1....

    Fun fact:(well first idk if u knew this or not) the guy singing with Mary Poppins is the person who made Hamilton the musical.😀

  5. C.... K....

    *Dir- e rascal*

  6. J.... ....

    Cockney Mary Poppins is well worth the price of admission.

  7. M.... M....

    This is incredibly horrific

  8. D.... V....

    i love this song

  9. n.... r....

    This is one of my favorite songs
    From the movie and one of the best things was that the penguins were back!

  10. B.... 1....

    3:38

    Slight sassy hip wiggle

  11. S.... Y....

    3:29 hamilton is shining through-

  12. S.... Y....

    i love lin Manuel Miranda

  13. S.... F....

    I kinda wish this really good song had more to do with the movie. Like it's kinda weird how even with this song the banker who seemed like the bad guy still ended up being the bad guy.

  14. S.... C....

    Mary Poppins: Oh no, I haven't sang in YEARS!
    So you weren't just singing a few minutes ago about
    the "Royal Doulton Music Hall",eh?

  15. I.... ....

    I can't help it but Emily Blunt is so hot with that accent, hair etc

  16. J.... A....

    I Love this movie 😍

  17. N.... S....

    The song is actually is Db, a cool detail, but the note is usually adressed as C#, lol

  18. D.... S....

    Lin, your Hamilton is showing 😁

  19. M.... &....

    Oh no the penguin abuse someone call Peta

  20. M.... ....

    I get it, Hamilton is good, and Lin is in here, but let’s appreciate the song for what it is. Not everything has to revolve around Hamilton. I understand the fans, I used to be one of them (and quite obsessive at the time. I now cringe at that phase of mine.), but it’s getting annoying.

  21. V.... M....

    I mean, i didnt like the movie even a little but, i love miranda

  22. S.... ....

    Oh my god lin looks good in purple and pink

  23. h.... ....

    Any people actually here becuase of the original Mary Poppins instead of Lin Manuel Miranda?

  24. z.... ....

    Rather than cotton candy like Annabelle, John and Georgie went for, I see myself more with a bag of meltaway mints.

  25. t.... v....

    emily never said supercalifragilisticexpialidocious once in the movie. im so sad. 🥺
    i still loved it doe 💗

  26. K.... ....

    I JUST got the “Unless it’s Dr. Jekyll then you’d better Hyde” joke
    4:13

  27. S.... S....

    I love how they made the clothes look like they are just paintings.

  28. z.... ....

    Been doing similar work in Photoshop involving crossing live action with 2d animation where I edit my Mortal Kombat cosplays in with scenes from Disenchantment. For example I posed as Scorpion and edited a flame on my thumb so it'd look like I was lighting a smoke for Luci.

  29. D.... Y....

    Reality check for the deluded...they're not real penguins....bless

  30. O.... K....

    As a grown man, with no kids, I felt silly going into the movies to see this, but I had checked out of my Air B&B and my flight wasn't for several hours later and this was playing...…..Holy Toledo!!! I recommend this movie to everyone. I mean seriously, this was great.

  31. p.... ....

    Lin, your Hamilton is showing....

  32. P.... 2....

    Lin: *sings in british*
    Me: :0

  33. E.... Y....

    Lin used to rap against the British and now is rapping as a British character

  34. [.... s....

    "A cover is not the book!"

    The designer that spent hours on it: *Am I a joke to you?*

  35. T.... K....

    Isn’t Lin Manuel Miranda from Hamilton??

    T.... K....

    Yes he is Hamilton

  36. S.... T....

    Nice and beautiful song!!! 😃

  37. a.... b....

    I love the song too much

  38. �.... ....

    😍😍😍

  39. W.... ....

    I never thought I'd see good ol' Hamilton in pink.

  40. N.... W....

    I just realized that they treated those penguins like total sh*t lol

  41. A.... C....

    Almost all of this movie was just penguins being abused

  42. M.... V....

    Mary Poppins hair in this song reminds me of willy Wonka.

  43. b.... ....

    2 feathers and a leaf 😂

  44. O.... H....

    fun fact:




    Mary Poppins and Pennywise are the same species (not human). Find out why !

  45. D.... ....

    I love the animation parts ❤️

  46. A.... _....

    Am i the only one who realized that Lin is casually throwing penguins around? no? just me?

  47. M.... .....

    Everyone in class: I heard our next teacher isn't in
    The teacher when we get to that class: 4:25

  48. E.... M....

    the start of this scene is just that one vine.
    "This is so stupid! I don't even know when to come in-"

  49. J.... ....

    Lin: I hate Britain

    Also Lin: lOvEly lOndOn sKy

  50. S.... N....

    Disney is pathetic. They take one of the all time children’s classics and include a quasi burlesque musical number with Mary Poppins doing pelvic thrusts to innuendo about a man taking root in a woman to produce seedlings. Watched with shock with my kids the other night. I have ZERO desire for my 7-yr-old to watch garbage like that.

    S.... N....

    It's not like the child got the innuendos, that was there for the adults. This song is amazing and funny too. If you can't see past that and only see "omg they were naked omg disgusting" in this great song then I feel bad for you. Also this scene took 14 months to create, just so you know, they got the old Disney animators to animate this over a long time so I wouldn't say that pathetic.

  51. A.... H....

    I'd like to think no penguins were harmed during the making of this...

  52. B.... &....

    When I heard Lin starting to rap I was like:
    "THERE GOES THE SAVAGE HAMILTON SPIRIT"

  53. l.... p....

    love this place the staff has toys are you sure your family will get their life to come back from a new year or something

  54. M.... V....

    This act looks like it was so much fun to perform omg

  55. D.... M....

    0:45 oh is Mary Poppins a striptease 1:16 the director of Chicago you say

  56. A.... A....

    0:09 , 0:17 ❤️🥰😂

  57. A.... A....

    When I choose a book, first I look the cover because it makes me feel good and then see the inside of book I don’t know why

  58. A.... A....

    I made this reference when our librarian at my school was talkin bout a book he read that he thought was just a stupid book but was actually quite enjoyable and he just looked at me with a face that said “I hate it but awesome timing” and like two people looked at me and carried on with the next two lines it was so awesome xD

  59. F.... 9....

    Can we just appreciate how fluid and cartoony the animated characters look
    I just love it so much!

  60. L.... L....

    Is Mary Poppins Emily blunt?

    L.... L....

    Other way around but yes

  61. C.... D....

    All these comments about cooling it with the Hammie stuff....and yet hardly any of the comments are about Hamilton on this song soooooh maybe cool it with the anti Hammie stuff😂

  62. n.... 2....

    i cant help but imagine bettany woodruff play mary poppins

  63. D.... ....

    3:08 dirty rascal

  64. B.... G....

    Im honestly obsessed with this song, I've rewatched it soo many tines i could know the song of by heart.
    I love mary poppins

  65. C.... F....

    i nEvER rEaLiZeD tHaT Was lIn, tHe gUy wHo pLAyEd aLexANDer hAmiLtoN iN hAMiLtoN! oMgoShHHH. After he made the big chop i never reconize him XD

  66. C.... T....

    I don’t care if been said best line ever.
    Oh no I couldn’t possibly-D flat major.

  67. B.... F....

    Phone "

  68. B.... F....

    An Asian woman.

  69. D.... m....

    I'm sorry but the old version of Mary Poppins is better no one can beat it

    D.... m....

    This one is like a love letter to the old one, it's nice to watch.

  70. S.... D....

    Female Willy Wonka

    S.... D....

    Male Mary Poppins

  71. A.... w....

    No I couldn't possibly-
    *d-flat major*

  72. B.... a....

    I swear he said « and I oop-«  at 3:23

  73. t.... ....

    3:08: "Challenge Accepted"

  74. W.... C....

    Me- I’m gonna go to bed early tonight

    Me at 4 am- 4:25

  75. d.... s....

    on the movie i started screaming HAMILTON!!!!!!!!!!

  76. A.... H....

    My fave lines "You'll be a happy king if you enjoy the things you've got. You should never try to be the kind of person that you're not"

  77. e.... ....

    This song litteraly rips off the melody of "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight" by Ween.

  78. a.... m....

    Lin Manuel Miranda playing a British character - how ironic.




    I AINT COMPLAINING THO

  79. K.... ....

    I came for the-HAMILTON HAMILTON HAMILTON HAMILTON!!!

  80. B.... A....

    2d disney.. we need it.

  81. M.... ....

    Did Mary Poppins just do a pelvic thrust while singing "Open it up and take a look" ? I promise I'm not trying to cockney block anyone here, but the burlesque seems just a little out of place, no?
    *ding*

    M.... ....

    It's not burlesque it's music hall which is not quite as raunchy.

    M.... ....

    Nobody noticed I was quoting Cinemasins?! Just you correcting me on what this scene is...
    Wow, tough crowd XD

  82. J.... W....

    AMAZING performance and lovely song

  83. M.... C....

    Just an ok Movie....I will never understand the reason why Disney or other studios try to do a remake of classics or just tepid sequels just like this one...really ? A Hamilton kinda scene ?.. nah..it wasn’t even funny in my opinion..Bad casting ( Lin Manuel Miranda )...and Mrs Blunt did all that she could .

  84. c.... ....

    *five minutes of Lin Manuel Miranda abusing cartoon penguins*

  85. N.... ....

    Anyone confused by the Mary singing accent here Google Marie Lloyd

  86. A.... J....

    I love both mary poppins XD

  87. M.... P....

    I love the actors British voice

  88. K.... G....

    Everyone gangsta until Mary Poppins says *D flat major* Like actually though, d flat major is pretty hard.

  89. S.... B....

    lin is showing his Alexander Hamilton, emily is showing her tempest shadow-






    ICONIC DUO!

    S.... B....

    Hamilton and My Little Pony!

    S.... B....

    Yeah. Alexander hamilton and tempest shadow but with a British accent

  90. R.... Y....

    mary poppins: no i will not sing
    no, i couldn't possibly-
    *_d flat major_*
    audiences' pov: she literally said she wouldn't sing

  91. D.... A....

    A lot of purist hate this movie but I thought this was a good love letter for the original. My friend hated it because he said Miranda rapped but I don’t think that’s right, he just talks very fast.

  92. A.... G....

    Her accent is countryside

  93. J.... a....

    I though she was gonna say “STUPID JACK!!” And I was like what!?!

  94. T.... ....

    I can’t NOT enjoy this movie, it’s has musical references, 2-D animation and Lin Manual Miranda. That Jekyll and Hyde reference made me smile so wide

  95. C.... ....

    i'd def bang Mary

  96. �.... F....

    I was hoping that they would bring back superkalafragilisticsxpealadosh but I guess this is 2.0? (if your sn OG mary Poppins watcher you would know what I'm talking about)
    Edit: I cant spell ^_^

  97. p.... ....

    00:29. (4-year old self) EEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!!! IT’S THE PENGUINS!!!!♥️😁

  98. f.... v....

    Is a great song and i love english axcent

  99. N.... 1....

    0:38 Mary poppins yeeted that poor hat and jacked yeeted penguins several times: 2:13 3:31 3:53 4:18 😂🤣😂

  100. N.... 1....

    I WAS SO MAD WHEN I SAW NO PENGUINS THEN I SAW THEM SO NVM OMG I NEED TO GET OUT OF CAPS