[Nancy]
Small pleasures, small pleasures
Who would deny us these?
Gin toddies — large measures —
No skimpin’ if you please!
I rough it, I love it
Life is a game of chance.
I never tire of it —
Leading a merry dance.
Oom-Pah-Pah is a lively and somewhat risqué show tune with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart and appearing in the musical Oliver! when it is sung by Nancy and the crowd at the “Three Cripples” tavern. Nancy is creating a little commotion by starting this song so that she can steal and save Oliver from Bill Sikes, the fearsome robber. The word “oom-pah-pah” is seemingly used euphemistically to refer to both intoxication and fornication; however, as the song points out, the word’s meaning is only as dirty as the listener interprets it.
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