Consider Yourself

"Consider Yourself" is a song from the 1960 original West End and Broadway musical Oliver! and the 1968 film of the same name.[1] It was introduced on Broadway by Davy Jones and the ensemble.[2] In the 1968 film version, it is performed in the market and led by Jack Wild's Artful Dodger. In all versions, Dodger sings it when he first meets Oliver, after offering to get the destitute and alone boy food and lodging. Lyrically, it is an enthusiastic gift of friendship from Dodger and his as-yet-unseen gang to Oliver, assuring him warmly he can consider himself "our mate" and "one of the family" as "it's clear we're going to get along". The 1968 film builds it to a spectacular extended song-and-dance routine involving the street crowd, market workers, policemen and chimney sweep boys.

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  • This song was sung in the 1969 premiere episode of Sesame Street.[3]
  • In October 1975, this song was adapted into Japanese to welcome Emperor Hirohito at Central Park, New York City.[4][5]
  • In 1977, the song was sung by The Muppets on the seventh episode of the second season of The Muppet Show to its guest star Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy.[6]
  • A rearranged version of the song was used as the theme of the ITV sitcom Home to Roost.[7]
  • The first couple lines of the song were sung by Carlton Banks and the Alagaroos in the 13th episode of the 1st season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.[8]
  • In Christmas 2011, BBC One used famous celebrities to sing the song for promotion.[9][10]
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic a rewritten version of the song was aired during trailer breaks in CBBC and CBeebies programming, sung by cast members and presenters of TV shows aired on both channels and the objective of the song was wishing viewers well during national lockdown. The tagline was "consider yourself part of our family".[11][better source needed]
  • A parody of the song titled "Conceive of Yourself" appears in the 2nd season of the 2020 reboot of Animaniacs, in the episode "Wakkiver Twist: Part 2", which itself is a parody of Oliver!

References

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  1. ^ Eric Pace (5 April 1999). "Lionel Bart, 68, Songwriter; Created the Musical Oliver!". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Robert Simonson (29 February 2012). "Davy Jones, Member of The Monkees and a Tony Nominee for Oliver!, Dead at 66". Playbill. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015.
  3. ^ Greg Brobeck (17 October 2006). "Sesame Street Old School Volume 1". Muppet Central.
  4. ^ "When Royalty Shows Up at Home, Even Rocky Turns Camera Bug". Meredith Corporation. 20 October 1975. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  5. ^ Lucinda Franks (6 October 1975). "Hirohito Samples American Ways". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Edgar Bergen - Episode 31". Muppet Central.
  7. ^ "Home To Roost - Production Details". British Comedy Guide. The theme tune is an instrumental version of the song Consider Yourself, from the musical Oliver!.
  8. ^ "Damn Day One Soundtracks". IMDb.[unreliable source?]
  9. ^ Catriona Wightman (25 November 2011). "BBC One unveils Christmas trailer - Watch". Digital Spy.
  10. ^ "2011 re-cap: The BBC had a Christmas sweater motif throughout their programming, and BBC1 wrapped around it the song "Consider Yourself One Of Us"". Christmas UK. 16 September 2012.
  11. ^ Consider Yourself at Home - CBBC and CBeebies (2020) – via YouTube.
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