The Roses of Success Lyrics - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Song Overview

Personal Review

“The Roses of Success” is the Shermans at their most optimistic: a shop-floor anthem that turns failure into fertilizer. The lyrics read like a pep talk pinned above a workbench, yet the orchestration keeps it jaunty, not preachy. On screen, Grandpa Potts is surrounded by prisoner-inventors who sing him out of despair. It’s motivational music-hall - and it works, because the lyrics are funny, unfussy, and delightfully specific about flops blooming into something useful.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The message is engineering-simple: mistakes power progress. That’s the gag and the gospel. Each couplet uses cheerful cause-and-effect - burst bubbles, abysmal failures, glowing paths gone astray - to reframe error as momentum. In context, it rescues Grandpa’s pride after a classic tinkerer’s setback.

Musically it sits in bright music-hall territory, with Irwin Kostal’s orchestra giving the chorus a communal bounce. You hear crisp brass punctuations, a friendly two-step undercurrent, and room for call-and-response - ideal for a workshop full of oddballs. The arrangement is transparent enough that the diction stays crystal, which matters when a comic lyric does the heavy lifting.

Historically, the film places this number in the Baron’s domain, where inventors are conscripted and morale runs on fantasy. The song works as a cultural postcard: British music-hall banter, American can-do sparkle, and a roll call of science heroes folded into a singalong.

“Every bursted bubble has a glory”

Opening thesis: even a pop can be applause. The internal rhyme keeps it buoyant, like a valve releasing pressure before you try again.

“Every shiny dream that fades and dies / Generates the steam for two more tries”

Steam-for-tries is perfect Shermans logic - a rhyme that’s also a diagram. Failure becomes fuel; the lyrics literally power the next attempt.

“Disaster didn’t stymie Louis Pasteur… Edison took years to see the light… Alexander Graham knew failure well”

Science-as-patter. These namechecks turn the workshop into a classroom, reminding kids and grownups that prototypes usually wobble before they sing.

Production context: on the original soundtrack the credit pairing is classic - songs by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, score supervised and conducted by Irwin Kostal. On later cast albums for the 2002 London stage musical, the number returns as an Act 2 highlight, usually led by Grandpa with the Inventors.

Why it sticks: the hook is communal. “Grow the roses” is an instruction you can chant while you tinker, the way a workshop might hum while someone tightens a bolt. The lyrics aren’t precious - they’re shop-safe, grease-friendly, meant to be sung with a grin and a bit of grit.

Creation history

Written by the Sherman Brothers for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and recorded for the 1968 United Artists soundtrack with Irwin Kostal conducting; performed onscreen by Lionel Jeffries with the Inventors. The song reappeared in the 2002 London Palladium stage musical and on that production’s cast recording, led by Anton Rodgers as Grandpa Potts.

Verse Highlights

Verse 1

Quick couplets define the worldview: mistakes are maps. The scansion is light anapestic, which lets consonants sparkle without rushing the smile.

Call-and-response

Grandpa tosses a worry, the Inventors volley back an answer. It’s community theater for problem solvers - shared rhythm equals shared courage.

Historical namechecks

Pasteur, Edison, Bell: three patron saints of persistent tinkering. The jokes land because the rhyme never gets in the way of sense.

Final build

“Grow the ro-, grow the ro-” turns the chorus into a mock engine. You can almost hear pistons - a neat sonic metaphor for trial, error, ignition.

Key Facts

• Featured: Lionel Jeffries as Grandpa Potts with the Inventors ensemble; Irwin Kostal conducting the studio orchestra.
• Producer/Conductor: Irwin Kostal (supervision and conducting on the film soundtrack).
• Composer-lyricists: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.
• Release Date: December 17, 1968 on the UK soundtrack.
• Genre: show tune, music-hall march with communal chorus.
• Instruments: full studio orchestra - brasses, woodwinds, strings, light percussion; ensemble vocals.
• Label: United Artists Records.
• Mood: chipper, resilient, workshop-jolly.
• Length: ~2:52 on common soundtrack editions.
• Track #: 12 on many LP/CD sequences.
• Language: English.
• Album: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack; revived on the 2002 Original London Cast album.
• Music style: brisk two-step feel, patter-friendly phrasing, call-and-response refrains.
• Poetic meter: largely anapestic with trochaic punches on slogan lines.
• © Copyrights: United Artists-licensed soundtrack; composition by the Sherman Brothers.

Questions and Answers

Where in the film does “The Roses of Success” appear?

In Act 2’s Vulgarian inventors’ workshop, where Grandpa Potts is being coerced into making a floating car; the song is a morale booster from fellow inventors.

Who performs it on the soundtrack?

Grandpa Potts, played by Lionel Jeffries, with the Inventors ensemble, backed by Irwin Kostal’s orchestra.

Is the number included in the stage musical?

Yes. The 2002 London Palladium production and subsequent runs retain “The Roses of Success” in Act 2, led by Grandpa and Inventors.

How long is the track on most soundtrack listings?

Approximately 2 minutes and 50 seconds to 2 minutes and 52 seconds depending on release.

Any notable later recordings?

The Original London Cast Recording (2002) features the song with Anton Rodgers as Grandpa Potts.

Awards and Chart Positions

The individual song was not released as a chart single, but the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack album reached No. 10 on the UK Official Albums Chart on February 8, 1969, and logged multiple weeks in the Top 20. The film’s title song received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

How to Sing?

Keep the bounce, not the blast. The tempo sits like a friendly two-step - let consonants ping so the lyrics stay legible over the ensemble. Grandpa sits well for a character baritone who can switch from spoken warmth to tuneful patter; the Inventors need crisp cutoffs on the repeated “grow the roses” lines. Shape the long vowels on “success” and “roses” with easy breath, then pop the S gently so the rhyme doesn’t smear. If staging, stagger breaths around the call-and-response so the engine never stalls.

Songs Exploring Themes of Perseverance & Invention

“Pick Yourself Up” - Swing Time. Failure becomes choreography. The lyric’s thesis mirrors “The Roses of Success,” but Kern and Fields set it to a suave fox-trot glide. Where the inventors chant as a crew, Astaire and Rogers turn resilience into footwork - same ethic, different shoes.

“Everybody Says Don’t” - Anyone Can Whistle. Sondheim’s contrarian pep talk tilts harmonically, teasing risk as a moral duty. It’s trickier on the tongue than the Shermans’ plainspoken lyrics, yet both songs make defiance feel practical - try, fail, laugh, repeat.

“Go the Distance” - Hercules. Pop-anthem posture meets mythic quest. The verse builds like a blueprint, the chorus releases like a test flight. Put it beside “Roses” and you hear cousins: purpose-forward writing, clean hooks, and faith that sweat pays off.