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.
In popular culture
- 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]
- In World Expo 88, the cast of Young Talent Time performed a version of the song as a tribute to the movie.
- The Seven Network used this song as part of their 1993 campaign.
- In 2007, Richard Fleeshman and the cast of Avenue Q performed a cover version for the charity album Over The Rainbow.[8]
- In Christmas 2011, BBC One used famous celebrities to sing the song for promotion.[9][10]
- In a 2015 episode of Doctor Who entitled "Sleep No More", Elaine Tan's character, Nagata, begins to tell the Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, to "consider yourself", to which he sings "part of the furniture", before being corrected and told to consider himself under her command.
- In the season one episode "M.E. Time" of the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Charles sings to this song in the car when Jake lets him choose the music.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic a rewritten version of the song was aired during trailer breaks in CBBC and CBeebies programming, featuring cast members/presenters of TV shows aired on both channels wishing viewers well during national lockdown. The tagline was "consider yourself part of the family". [11]
See also
- "Every Sperm Is Sacred", written as a pastiche of this song and its style
- H. R. Pufnstuf
References
- Eric Pace (April 5, 1999). "Lionel Bart, 68, Songwriter; Created the Musical Oliver!". The New York Times.
- Robert Simonson (February 29, 2012). "Davy Jones, Member of The Monkees and a Tony Nominee for Oliver!, Dead at 66". Playbill. Archived from the original on January 22, 2015.
- Greg Brobeck (October 17, 2006). "Sesame Street Old School Volume 1". Muppet Central.
- "When Royalty Shows Up at Home, Even Rocky Turns Camera Bug". Meredith Corporation. 1975-10-20. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- Lucinda Franks (1975-10-06). "Hirohito Samples American Ways". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- "Edgar Bergen - Episode 31". Muppet Central.
- "Home To Roost - Production Details". British Comedy Guide.
The theme tune is an instrumental version of the song Consider Yourself, from the musical Oliver!.
- "Over The Rainbow". Discogs.
- Catriona Wightman (November 25, 2011). "BBC One unveils Christmas trailer - Watch". Digital Spy.
- "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. September 16, 2012.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/saturday-mash-up-consider-yourself