Song 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 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

Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ra-ta-ta-ta!
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ra-ta-ta-ta!

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 blooming there
He took root despite her bark
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!

Always loved that one

Well, go on then!

Lady Hyacinth Macaw
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 maybe a crook
Ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ru-ra-la, ta-ru-ra-lee, ta-ra-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 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

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

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!

Scott Wittman, Marc Shaiman

The duration of A Cover Is Not the Book is 4:25 minutes and seconds.