A Man Has Dreams

Music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robetrt B. Sherman
Performed by David Tomlinson and Dick Van Dyke


Mr. Banks
A man has dreams of walking with giants
To carve his niche in the edifice of time
Before the mortar of his zeal
Has a chance to congeal
The cup is dashed from his lips
The flame is snuffed aborning
He's brought to rack and ruin in his prime

Life is a rum go, guv'nor, and that's the truth.
You know what I think? It's that woman Mary Poppins. From the moment she stepped into this house, things began to happen to me.
Mary Poppins?
Yes, of course.


My world was calm, well ordered, exemplary
Then came this person, with chaos in her wake
And now my life's ambitions go with one fell blow
It's quite a bitter pill to take

It's that Poppins woman! She did it!
I know the very person you mean. Mary Poppins. She's the one what sings

Bert

A spoonful of sugar that is all it takes
It changes bread and water into tea and cakes

That's exactly what I mean! Changing bread and water into tea and cakes! Indeed!
No wonder everything's higgledy-piggledy here.


A spoonful of sugar goes a long, long way
'Ave yourself a 'ealthy 'elpin' ev'ry day

An 'ealthy 'elpin' of trouble, if you ask me.
Do you know what she did? I realize it now. She tricked me into taking Jane and Michael to the bank. That's how all the troubles started.
Tricked you into taking the children on an outing?
Yes.
Outrageous! A man with all the important things you have to do. Shameful!

You're a man of 'igh position
Esteemed by your peers
And when your little tykes are cryin'
You 'aven't time to dry their tears
And see them grateful little faces smilin' up at you
Because their dad, 'e always knows just what to do

Like you say, guv'nor
You've got to grind, grind, grind at that grindstone
Though child'ood 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 'elp the medicine go down
The medicine go down, the medicine go down

Well, goodbye, guv'nor. Sorry to have troubled you.