Food, Glorious Food
Songfacts®:
- This is the one of the more memorable songs from the award winning musical Oliver!, which was written in its entirety by the London-born composer Lionel Bart (1930-99). The show is an adaptation of the famous Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist; it opened in the West End in 1960, and on the big screen (directed by Carol Reed) in 1968.
"Food, Glorious Food" is the opening number, and is based on the famous scene in the book where a half-starved Oliver Twist has the temerity to ask for more gruel. Sung as a chorus, it is an obviously whimsical homage to fine cuisine, something that was just as obviously in short supply for workhouse boys in Victorian England. - The title has become a cliché, and the song lends itself readily to parody; it has for example been hijacked to advertise McCain French fries as "Chips, Glorious Chips." >>Suggestion credit:
Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2
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