The Life I Lead facts for kids
"The Life I Lead" is a famous song from the 1964 Walt Disney movie Mary Poppins. Two brothers, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, wrote the music and lyrics for this song.
The song's tune is used as a special musical theme, called a leitmotif, for the character George Banks. It helps show how organized and strict he is in his daily life.
The song is first sung by George Banks (played by David Tomlinson) when he comes home from work. He sings about his very precise and orderly routine. The song is sung again several times in the movie, and even Julie Andrews, who plays Mary Poppins, sings a part of it. Later in the film, when George Banks feels like he has lost everything, the song's music becomes sadder and is called "A Man Has Dreams".
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Hidden Meaning in the Lyrics
Some of the song's lyrics are:
At 6:01, I march through my door, My slippers, sherry and pipe are due at 6:02, Consistent is the life I lead...
The lyricist, Robert B. Sherman, put a secret message in the song about his own life! When he started working for Walt Disney Company, he bought a house in Beverly Hills, California. The address of that house was 601 North Oakhurst Drive. So, "6:01" in the song's lyrics was not just a time, but also a clever nod to his home address.
Even though Robert Sherman moved from that house in 1969, a later owner put up a special sign that says "Casa Poppins." This was done because Sherman lived there while writing the songs for Mary Poppins. The sign is still there today!
The Song in the Movie's Story
This song is important because it tells us the exact year the Mary Poppins story takes place. It's the only time the year is mentioned in the film. A line in the song says: "It's grand to be an Englishman in 1910 / King Edward's on the throne; it's the age of men!"
The original Mary Poppins books were set in 1934. However, because the movie became so popular, 1910 became the official time period for the stories. This new date was even used for the 2018 sequel movie, Mary Poppins Returns, which was set in the 1930s, many years after the first film.
- A similar song, called "Precision and Order," is used in the stage musical version of Mary Poppins.
The Song and a Play
The Life I Lead is a comedy play from 2019. It was written by James Kettle and is about the life of David Tomlinson, the actor who played George Banks. The play's title comes from this song, and the song is also sung in the play by Miles Jupp, who plays Tomlinson.
More About the Song
If you want to learn even more about the Sherman Brothers and their work, you can check out these books:
- Sherman, Robert B., Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond. Santa Clarita, CA: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.
- Sherman, Robert B., Moose: Chapters From My Life. Baltimore, MD: Orchard Hill Press, 2016.
