Mind over Matter (Sherman Brothers song)
"Mind Over Matter" is a song from the 1966 musical film featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. The song was also subsequently incorporated into the 1977 musical film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which is an amalgamation of the three previous Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes including "Honey Tree".
The song was written by Robert & Richard Sherman who have written most of the music for the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise over the years.
Originally the song was about tempting Pooh to think about getting thinner again. The original lyrics can be heard on the soundtrack album from Disneyland Records. In the end, it ended up being the "Heave Ho" song in the final film.
Lyrics
Mind over matter Will make the Pooh unfatter. It's a fine thing to go feasting, But feasting doesn't pay, For you have feasted and increased In a most obeastly way!
From food you must refrain, Or a wedged bear you'll remain, Though it will be a strain For a bear of little brain. Think shrinkage! Think thinage! Don't think of honey and spinach!
Mind over matter Will make the Pooh unfatter. Mind over matter Will make the Pooh unfatter! Dream shrinkage! Dream thinage! Don't dream of honey and spinach! It takes mind over matter To make a Pooh unfatter.
After many days of fasting, All hopes were high for Pooh. Then lighting flashed and thunder crashed. The rain fell from the blue. They knew if Pooh got wet Their plan would be upset. He'd swell up like a sponge, And down their hopes would plunge.
So they mopped him unsopped him. They put a roof atop him, But the splash and the splatter Was making Pooh bear fatter. Despite their good intentions, Pooh doubled his dimensions!
(Part II)
When the sun came out, the sky cleared up and the bear of little thinkage began to dry, and by and by showed a high amount of shrinkage.
Hooray for you! Hooray for me! Hooray, hooray, The Pooh will soon be free! Now the time has come for proving What the diet did for Pooh.
And since we pledged He'd be unwedged, That's what we're going to do. He'll be pulled and he'll be tugged, and eventually unplugged. We'll have a tug of war To open Rabbit's door.
Think heavage, think towage And out the Pooh will goage. For mind over matter Has made the Pooh unfatter.
Heave ho! Heave ho! Heave heave heave heave heave!
Literary sources
- Greene, Katherine; Richard Greene (2001). Inside the Dream: The Personal Story of Walt Disney. New York: Disney Editions. ISBN 0-7868-5350-6.
- Peterson, Monique (2002). The Little Big Book of Pooh. New York: Disney Editions. ISBN 0-7868-5364-6.
- Sherman, Robert B. (1998). Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond. Santa Clarita, Calif.: Camphor Tree. ISBN 0-9646059-3-7.