You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two Lyrics – Oliver!

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

I hear a sly swing in this tune - a minor-key shuffle with a music-hall grin and a klezmer tint in the woodwinds. It’s catchy by design, built on a call-and-response that lets Fagin preach and the boys echo, as if criminal wisdom were just another school lesson. Ron Moody doesn’t sing it straight; he sells it with arched eyebrows and conspiratorial asides. The joke lands, then the message lingers.

Creation History

Lyric and music come from Lionel Bart, who premiered the number in the West End in 1960, then carried it to the 1968 film. On the soundtrack, conductor-arranger John Green keeps the orchestra nimble - crisp bass, tight reeds, little glints of brass. It’s staged as an on-the-job training montage, the room fluttering with handkerchiefs while Fagin turns morality upside down. Critics have long noted how the film balanced bustle and shadow (as The New Yorker once noted), and this scene is the hinge - all smiles hiding hard lessons.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Dodger brings the new kid to Fagin’s den. What looks like a laundry is actually a classroom where dexterous hands and quick feet keep everyone fed. Fagin demonstrates the “curriculum” - distraction, teamwork, and timing - while the boys practice on him and each other. By the final refrain, the rules of the room feel obvious: survival first, scruples second.

Song Meaning

Under the jokes sits indoctrination. Fagin reframes theft as common sense - a clever way to dodge the taxman, a harmless correction to an unfair world. The number isn’t about greed as much as it is about group belonging. “We” becomes the shield. The mood runs puckish-to-triumphant: it starts as a wink and ends as a chant. Context matters too: Victorian London, a city where a child’s choice was often hunger or hustle. Contemporary revivals lean into that tension - the giddy tune and the grim calculus sit side by side (according to the Financial Times’ recent West End review).

Annotations

“You see, Oliver...”

Fagin doesn’t waste time. He opens like a patient mentor, easing a frightened boy into the house rules.

“These don’t grow on trees.”

The proverb does the heavy lifting. If money is scarce, then scruples are luxuries - or so Fagin would have Oliver believe.

“You’ve got to pick-a-pocket or two.”

The mantra sells a method and a mindset. Repetition works like a sales pitch - and a spell.

“Let’s show Oliver how it’s done, shall we, my dears?”

Demonstration doubles as initiation. The gang turns technique into choreography, a streetwise ballet.

“Untaxed income.”

That throwaway line rebrands crime as financial prudence. Fagin speaks the language of ledgers, not laws.

“Who says crime doesn’t pay?”

He flips another proverb. If common sayings are wrong, then maybe common morals are, too.

“Robin Hood, what a crook! … Charity’s fine, subscribe to mine.”

Folk-hero altruism gets mocked. Redistribution is fine - so long as it flows toward Fagin. The joke lands because we know the myth; the twist lands because we hear the self-interest.

“Bill Sikes … I recall, he started small.”

Role model, but darker. The kids are invited to dream big - by dreaming ruthless.

“Stop thief!”

A safe scare. The cry is part of the exercise - rehearse the panic so the real run feels easier later.

Rhythm, style, and instrumentation

The 4/4 pulse has a jaunty, almost trotting feel, with patter-ready phrasing. Clarinet and strings carry a sly, modal color; brass punch the cadences. The melody leans minor and bends toward a Jewish-tinged line, which gives Fagin’s patter its characterful bite.

Cultural touchpoints

Beyond the stage, the hook turned up years later in hip-hop sampling and in revival cast albums. Comedy isn’t a dodge here; it’s the delivery system for a street ethic. The number keeps sparking new interpretations because it captures a timeless barter: security traded for small sins.

Key Facts

• Artist: Oliver (Musical Cast Recording), Ron Moody
• Composer/Lyricist: Lionel Bart
• Album: Oliver! (Soundtrack) - film version
• Release Date: June 30, 1960 - stage premiere; 1968 - film soundtrack
• Label: Colgems (original US issue); later reissues via BMG
• Length: 2:40
• Track # on film soundtrack: 5
• Genre: Musical theatre, soundtrack
• Language: English
• Time/Key: 4/4 - F minor
• Instruments: orchestra - strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion
• Music style: music-hall swing with klezmer inflection
• Mood: sly, conspiratorial, upbeat
• Poetic meter: patter lines with anapestic lift

Questions and Answers

Where does the number sit in the story?

Early in Oliver’s time with Fagin - the “orientation.” It happens in the den, framed as a hands-on lesson.

Was this song written specifically for the film?

No. It debuted in the 1960 stage musical and was later filmed for the 1968 adaptation.

Did it ever chart on its own?

Not as a standalone single. The film soundtrack, however, was a significant hit and award-winning.

Any notable afterlives - covers, samples, revivals?

Yes. Hip-hop artist Ludacris sampled the Broadway-Cast version on “Large Amounts,” and Rowan Atkinson performed it in the 2009 London revival recording.

What makes the groove feel so “cheeky”?

A minor-key bounce, clipped orchestral hits, and call-and-response writing that turns mischief into a singalong.

Awards and Chart Positions

How to Sing Pick a Pocket or Two

Range & key: commonly in F minor for Fagin, with lines that sit around baritone territory. Typical published ranges for Fagin fall near A2 to F4. The chorus parts ride higher for the boys.

Issues & breath: it’s patter-driven, so prioritize crisp consonants over sheer volume. Breathe at logical commas; avoid gulping before the hook so the phrase tumbles naturally into “pick-a-pocket or two.”

Tempo & feel: moderate 4/4 with a buoyant swing. Think “light on your feet” rather than heavy stomp. Smile on vowels - it brightens the line and keeps the mischief audible.

Acting notes: the subtext is salesmanship. You’re recruiting. A raised eyebrow and a conspiratorial half-whisper do more than a shout. When invoking Robin Hood or Bill Sikes, switch tone - a quick, comic “lecture” before snapping back to charm.

Additional Info

Ron Moody originated Fagin in London and brought him to the screen. He once said he turned the character toward clowning to make the part playable: “I made him into a clown” - and the songs followed suit. Hip-hop later pinched the hook for new hustle logic, and the 2009 London revival put the number back in the limelight with Rowan Atkinson leading the charge. Current revivals still find a modern edge in its grin-and-grift energy.