Consider Yourself

"Consider Yourself" is a song from the 1960s 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

• In Christmas 2011, the BBC used famous actors to sing the song for promotion.^[3][4]
• In 2007, Richard Fleeshman and the cast of Avenue Q performed a cover version for the charity album Over The Rainbow.^[5]
• This song was also sung in the pilot episode of Sesame Street.^[6]
• A rearranged version of the song was used as the theme of the ITV sitcom Home to Roost.^[7]
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their 1969 album The Chipmunks Go to the Movies.^[8]
• 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.^[9]
• In the 1963 Christmas episode of The Judy Garland Show, she sang it with her children Liza (Minnelli), Lorna and Joey (Luft).
• In the 2015 episode of Doctor Who, 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.

See also

• "Every Sperm Is Sacred", written as a pastiche of this song and its style
• H. R. Pufnstuf

References

1. Eric Pace (April 5, 1999). "Lionel Bart, 68, Songwriter; Created the Musical Oliver!". The New York Times.
2. 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.
3. Catriona Wightman (November 25, 2011). "BBC One unveils Christmas trailer - Watch". Digital Spy.
4. "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.
5. "Over The Rainbow". Discogs.
6. Greg Brobeck (October 17, 2006). "Sesame Street Old School Volume 1". 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. "The Chipmunks Go To The Movies (1969)". Discogs.
9. "Edgar Bergen - Episode 31". Muppet Central.

External links

• Oliver! Movie Clip of Consider Yourself
• Consider Yourself Lyrics