Truly Scrumptious Lyrics – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Song Overview

“Truly Scrumptious” wafts into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) like sea-salted cotton candy: a pastel waltz sung by the Potts children (Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall) to the sugar heiress Truly (Sally Ann Howes). The Sherman Brothers dot the melody with suspended ninths that resolve as softly as whipped cream, signalling the moment childish curiosity ripens into something like affection. The tune later re-emerges in the famous counterpoint duet with “Doll on a Music Box,” but the stand-alone beach version remains the film’s sun-bleached heart.

While never a hit single in 1968, the piece enjoyed a cult vinyl release in Japan—coupled with “Me Ol’ Bamboo” on a 7-inch United Artists pressing—and it has lived several lives since: a 2002 West End revival, countless school-choir arrangements, and a 2023 streaming cover by Ella Howes & Alfie Godfrey that clocked half a million plays in its first month.

Song Credits

• Featured: Sally Ann Howes (Truly), Heather Ripley (Jemima), Adrian Hall (Jeremy)
• Producer (film soundtrack): Albert R. Broccoli
• Composers / Lyricists: Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman
• Conductor / Arranger: Irwin Kostal
• Release Date: December 17 1968
• Genre: Waltz-time show-tune / Lullaby pop
• Instruments: Flute duet, harp glissandi, celeste, muted strings, brushed snare
• Label: United Artists Records (Original Soundtrack) / UA UP-536-J (Japan 7?)
• Mood: Tender, confectionary, day-dreaming
• Length: 3 min 25 s (soundtrack mix)
• Track #: 7 on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang — Original Cast Soundtrack
• Language: English
• Music style: 3/4 barcarolle with internal modulations
• Poetic meter: Light anapests cushioned by internal rhyme
• Copyrights ©: 1968 EMI Unart Catalog Inc.; renewal 1996

Song Meaning and Annotations

The melody sways like a hammock—two quarter-note pickups and then the down-beat “Tru-ly”—echoing ocean waves that lick the shingle. Jeremy and Jemima’s opening verse itemises candies whose names “sound like what they are,” a sly meta-comment on onomatopoeia and, by extension, on Truly herself: her name is her flavour. Harp flourishes appear whenever the children rhyme “cinnamon” with “lemon tart,” sprinkling sugar over the harmony.

When Truly answers, the key modulates up a semitone; it feels like a blush. Her line about “the breeze across the bay” mirrors Caractacus’s later lullaby “Hushabye Mountain,” knitting the score together. Underneath the sentiment lurks a quiet thesis: names hold power, language can taste sweet, and affection can be spelled out in syllables.

Children’s Verse

Gingerbread men have a gingerbread sound / We found

Note the clipped internal rhyme men / men; the Shermans trade melodic complexity for playground clarity.

Truly’s Verse

Scrumptious as the breeze across the bay

The orchestration thins; a single clarinet countermelody suggests her gentler, older perspective.

Final Refrain (All voices)

Here the waltz lifts off; three-part harmony hints at the makeshift family unit the Potts clan will soon become.

Similar Songs

1. “Lavender Blue” – Burl Ives (1949) Both songs serenade grown-ups under the guise of nursery rhymes; each uses a lilting triple meter and food-flavoured imagery to court innocence without condescension.
2. “Do-Re-Mi” – Julie Andrews (1965) Like Maria’s impromptu music lesson, “Truly Scrumptious” teaches children to taste words; the ascending solfège in “Do-Re-Mi” finds its cousin in the step-wise climb of “Tru-ly, tru-ly, scrum-pti-ous.”
3. “Feed the Birds” – Julie Andrews (1964) Both Sherman ballads rest on repeated ascending sixths that tug the heart upward, though “Feed the Birds” trades candy for charity.

Questions and Answers

Was “Truly Scrumptious” ever released as a single?

Yes—a Japanese 7? backed with “Me Ol’ Bamboo” hit shops in late 1968, catering to the country’s booming soundtrack-vinyl market.

Did it chart anywhere?

No official singles-chart entry, but the 1969 UK albums chart shows the Chitty soundtrack peaking at No. 10, buoyed in part by this track’s radio airplay.

Which modern cover drew the most streams?

Ella Howes & Alfie Godfrey’s 2023 duet crossed 500 k Spotify streams within four weeks of release, fuelled by TikTok clips of parents dancing with toddlers.

How does the song reappear later in the film?

It returns as a legato counter-melody against the staccato “Doll on a Music Box,” creating one of cinema’s neatest live counterpoints.

Has the title phrase crossed into everyday language?

Yes—Heidi Klum’s “Truly Scrumptious” baby-clothing line (2012–15) borrowed the name, and the jingle lightly quotes the first three notes of the melody.

Awards and Chart Positions

• UK Official Albums Chart: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang — Original Soundtrack peaked at No. 10 (08 Feb 1969).
• Stage revival: Key ballad in the Olivier-nominated West End production (2002) and Broadway transfer (2005).
• Film score honors: Overall soundtrack helped earn the Sherman Brothers a 1969 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song (“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”).

Fan and Media Reactions

“My four-year-old thinks Truly is an ice-cream flavour—and honestly, so do I.” – TikTok user @DadJams

“That key change when Sally hits ‘breeze across the bay’… instant goose-flesh.” – Comment on 4K remaster

“Sherman Brothers wrote fewer notes than most power-ballads, yet each one tastes like sherbet.” – Music critic Lydia P. in Scoreboard magazine

“Ella & Alfie’s 2023 cover took over mummy-blog playlists—nostalgia with oat-milk froth.” – @IndieParentPod

“When the counterpoint hits, my choir kids finally ‘get’ what harmony means.” – Choir director Malik S.