“You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two” is a song from the musical and film Oliver!, based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The musical was penned by Lionel Bart, and was first shown in London’s West End in 1960.
The song is part of Act One of Oliver!, and is sung in Fagin’s lair. The scene is based on the section of Dickens’s book where Fagin (played by Ron Moody in the film) teaches Oliver Twist and the rest of the boys how to pick the pockets of gentlemen so as to be able to steal their handkerchiefs, etc., without being detected.
Fagin loosely dangles various ‘hankies’ from his pocket while dancing around the room and doing gymnastics to show Oliver how easy it is to steal one without it being noticed.
Watch this video. Your teacher will give you a worksheet with its lyrics so that you can feel in the blanks.