A British Bank (The Life I Lead)

A British bank is run with precision

A British home requires nothing less

Tradition, discipline, and rules must be the tools

Without them, disorder, chaos, moral disintegration

In short, you have a ghastly mess

I quite agree!

The children must be molded, shaped, and taught

That life's a looming battle to be faced and fought

In short, I am disturbed to hear my children

Talking about popping in and out of chalk pavement pictures

Consorting with racehorse persons, fox hunting

Yes, well, I don't mind that quite so much

At any rate, it's traditional

But tea parties on the ceiling?

I ask you, having tea parties on the ceiling?

And highly questionable outings of every other kind

If they must go on outings, these outings ought to be

Fraught with purpose, yes, and practicality

These silly words like

Superca–, superca–, superca–

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Yes, well done, you said it

And popping through pictures have little use, fulfill no basic need

They've got to learn the honest truth

Despite their youth, they must learn

About the life you lead

Exactly

They must feel the thrill of totting up a balanced book

A thousand ciphers neatly in a row

When gazing at a graph that shows the profits up

Their little cup of joy should overflow

Precisely!

It's time they learned to walk in your footsteps

My footsteps

To tread your straight and narrow path with pride

With pride

Tomorrow, just as you suggest, pressed and dressed

Jane and Michael will be at your side