Let's Get Together (The Parent Trap) Lyrics — Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic

Song Overview

Personal Review

“Let’s Get Together” is bubblegum with backbone. The lyrics are simple, sticky, and agenda-free, and that’s the charm - a pep talk disguised as a playground chant. It’s brisk, bright, and proudly lightweight, the kind of record that makes two minutes feel like a grin. Snapshot: twin teens pitch friendship-as-strategy and accidentally tap a nation’s sweet tooth.

Key takeaways: the hook lands fast because the lyric scans like spoken language; the handclaps keep the bounce honest; the double-tracked vocal turns a studio trick into story. And yes, the lyrics repeat on purpose - it’s an invitation you can remember after one listen.

Song Meaning and Annotations

At heart it’s a recruiting song. Two voices - really one voice doubled - sell the upside of teaming up. The language is cheerfully literal, then winks at itself.

“Let’s get together, yay-yay-yay!”

That opener is all cadence. The “yay-yay-yay” isn’t filler - it’s glue. It sets a skip-step meter that the rhythm section mirrors with claps and straight-ahead drums.

The pitch is partnership over swagger, practical over poetic.

“Why don’t you and I combine?”

It’s not romance-forward; it’s coalition-building. Very Shermans - sell the idea in first-grade English, make grown-ups hum it anyway.

The lyric keeps naming the reward in modest terms, which makes the promise believable.

“We can have a swinging time”

That period slang sits on a beat built for hopscotch, not a nightclub. You hear camp social, not cocktail hour.

The record even budgets for scarcity, which is why kids and parents heard themselves in it.

“And though we haven’t got a lot / We could be sharing all we’ve got”

It’s generosity without sermon, a tidy moral in 12 words.

Then the bridge goes from pitch to personality. Compliments, goofy rhymes, and a little call-and-response.

“Oh! I really think you’re swell… say ‘hey alligator’!”

That’s vaudeville DNA - corny on paper, charming on tape - and it keeps the mood from turning saccharine.

The close returns to arithmetic-as-ethic.

“Two is twice as nice as one”

It’s the thesis, stated plain. Musically, the line lands on sturdy downbeats so the message sticks even if you miss a word.

Message

“You can always count on me”

Promise, not posture. The song treats togetherness as a tactic that multiplies small resources.

Emotional tone

“We’d be a crazy team”

Buoyant, a little impish, never coy. The energy stays up without shouting because the arrangement leaves air around the voice.

Historical context

“Let’s get together… every way and everywhere”

1961 Disney was perfecting radio-ready show tunes. This one moved from screen to single because the hook didn’t need pictures to work.

Production and instrumentation

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!”

Producer Tutti Camarata’s pop sense is all over it: dry, present vocal; crisp drum-kit; guitar-and-bass walking in step; handclaps on the twos and fours; a touch of room reverb so the double-tracking feels like two kids, not one ghost.

Language and idiom

“Yay-yay-yay… ring the bell… hey alligator”

Playground idioms turn the sales pitch into a game chant. The Shermans knew nursery rhythms sell faster than clever metaphors.

Creation history

Written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman for Walt Disney’s The Parent Trap (1961). On screen, Hayley Mills sings the “duet” with herself via double-tracking. A later LP, Let’s Get Together with Hayley Mills, followed the single’s success with Camarata at the board and an easy-going vocal set built around the hit.

Verse Highlights

Verse 1

Cold open with the title line, then a straight sales pitch - combine forces, have some fun, make a scene. The drum groove keeps the walk lively.

Verse 2

Resourcefulness takes center stage - share what you have, go everywhere you can. The tune keeps phrases short, so even the youngest listeners can sing along.

Bridge

Flirty without heat, silly without apology. The rhyme-and-response gives the ears a break from the chant and sets up the final push.

Verse 3 / Tag

Arithmetic again: two beats one. The vocal stacks - a tiny choir of Hayleys - wrap the message with a wink.

Key Facts

• Featured: Hayley Mills as Sharon McKendrick & Susan Evers - vocal double-tracking to simulate twins
• Producer: Tutti Camarata
• Composers/Lyricists: Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
• Release Date: June 21, 1961
• Genre: Pop, soundtrack pop
• Instruments: drum kit, electric bass, rhythm guitar, handclaps, light keys, backing vocals
• Labels: Buena Vista (US single and LP); Decca (UK single)
• Mood: upbeat, cheeky, communal
• Length: ~1:28 (single/film version)
• Track #: 12 on the LP Let’s Get Together with Hayley Mills (1962)
• Language: English (notable adaptations: French - “Nous deux ça colle”)
• Album: Let’s Get Together with Hayley Mills
• Music style: mid-tempo jangle-pop with clap-along backbeat
• Poetic meter: mostly trochaic with snappy anacrusis pick-ups
• B-side of US single: “Cobbler, Cobbler”
• © Copyright: Disney / Wonderland Music; Phonographic Copyright: Walt Disney/Buena Vista Records

Questions and Answers

Did Hayley Mills really duet with herself?

Yes. The film and single used vocal double-tracking to create the twin effect, matching the split-screen visuals.

Who wrote the song?

Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman crafted the melody-and-chant lyric for The Parent Trap.

How did it perform on the charts?

It became a U.S. Top 10 hit and reached the UK Top 20, a rare crossover for a Disney teen performance in 1961.

Where does it appear in the movie?

First as a record at the camp dance, then as a reprise by the twins - turning the plot’s “team up” into a tune you can whistle.

Any notable later versions?

The 1998 remake includes a nod with Lindsay Lohan humming the hook, and a soundtrack cover by Nobody’s Angel; The Go-Go’s recorded it for Disneymania 5; Sylvie Vartan cut the French “Nous deux ça colle.”

Awards and Chart Positions

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 8 in late October 1961. UK Official Singles Chart peak: No. 17 with an 11-week run. The success pushed Disney to issue the LP Let’s Get Together with Hayley Mills the following year and cemented the song as a radio-era Disney standard.

How to Sing?

Range & key. Most arrangements sit comfortably for a young or light voice around the middle staff - think A3 to C5 for the lead line, with optional higher harmony if you stack parts.

Tempo & feel. Mid-tempo bounce - count a clean 2 and keep the claps on the backbeat. Don’t rush the bridge patter; let the rhymes click.

Diction. Crisp consonants on chant words - “yay-yay-yay,” “ring the bell,” “hey alligator.” Short vowels keep the pep without shout-singing.

Blend for doubles. If you track yourself, match vowel shape and mic distance on both takes. Pan slightly and keep reverb short so the “twins” feel like two kids in the same room.

Story cue. Smile as you sing. The lyric sells partnership, not perfection. Keep it bright, keep it human, and quit before it overstays.