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
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
may be 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
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