And I'll sing once more

Just a spoonful of sugar
Helps the medicine go down

When the dog bites

The hills are alive

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

So strife exists among angels? I would never have guessed that!

This song is a somewhat variant version of what seems to be known better (in the U.S. at least) as "I Saw Three Ships". The words vary considerably from that familiar song, and the tune varies somewhat as well. The first two lines cited end the song's second verse, and what follows is in the third verse. Neither in these lines nore elsewhere in the song is there any hint as to how three ships suddenly turned to one ship, or why the reference suddenly went from three ships to the singular "that ship" without explanation. It is still nonsensical, even if it is intended to be an improvement over other versions of "I Saw Three Ships", with words such as "And what was in those ships all three?", with answers such as "'Twas Joseph and his fair lady" or "The Virgin Mary and Christ were there", creating most bizarre images indeed as to how either of those pairs might be in all three ships. This "Sunny Bank" version seems to mysteriously deal with that dilemma by having the three ships inexplicably turn into just a single vessel. Those aforesaid familiar "I Saw Three Ships" versions generally go on to say that the three ships sailed into (the non-seaport of) Bethlehem. At least this "Sunny Bank" version foregoes that absurdity.

To force a rhyme here, the word "explain" is pronounced in Cockney - which is how the character used to talk, but no longer does.

Julie Andrews forces rain, spain, main and plain to rhyme - they just don't!!

[Ed's note: Whether one can stand Julie Andrews is another matter, but I am speechless by the assertion that "Rain", "Spain", "Main" and "Plain" don't rhyme. By definition, they MUST rhyme. They are all single-syllable words that end with "ain" and there is no difference in the way the are pronounced!]

"Just You Wait" is from the 1957 Broadway musical "My Fair Lady" (music by Frederick Lowe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner). "My Fair Lady" was based upon George Bernard Shaw's play, "Pygmalian". Julie Andrews played the original Eliza Doolittle, but unfortunately would not get the role in the 1964 motion picture adaption, that would go to Audrey Hepburn.

Must I explain?