Step in Time
song composed by Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman with lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman performed by Dick Van Dyke
"Step in Time" is a song and dance number from Walt Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins which was composed by the Sherman Brothers. The choreography for this song was provided by Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood. It is sung by Bert, the chimney sweep (Dick Van Dyke) and the other chimney sweeps on the rooftops of London. It is similar to the old British music hall song "Knees Up Mother Brown".
In the 1964 film Mary Poppins
In the 1964 film Mary Poppins, during the first part of the song, the lines Bert says in the verses are "kick your knees up", "'round the chimney", "flap like a birdie", "up on the railing", "over the rooftops" and "link your elbows" followed by an interlude. The interlude continues with Bert, Mary Poppins, Michael, Jane and all the chimneysweeps dancing around the rooftops and as Admiral Boom, the Banks family's next-door neighbour, looks at them with the telescope, he thinks that they're Hottentot robbers, so he orders his assistant, Mr. Binnacle, to make them scram with colorful fireworks.
In the second part, as all the chimneysweeps get in the house of George Banks, Mrs. Brill walks into the living room looking at them and screams, "They're at it again!" and she runs away trying to strike one of the chimneysweeps with a frying pan. As Jane, Michael, Mary Poppins and Bert get in the same place, Ellen runs around the dining room with an "OW!!!" and the chimney sweepers flip her.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Step in Time” is song composed by Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman with lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman performed by Dick Van Dyke. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Step, Time and song, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “song composed by Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman with lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman performed by Dick Van Dyke” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 3, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7608016. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Step in Time” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.