London Calling

February 14, 2010 3:37 AM

'A site dedicated to songs about London. The only rules are that the songs must be brilliant and that the blindingly obvious numbers are excluded.' The London Nobody Sings takes you on a musical tour of the capital, by bus, train and tube, via Camden Town, Parliament Hill, Portobello Road, Shepherd's Bush, Southall, Tottenham and Tooting Broadway. And if it's too late to take the Underground? Don't worry, the trams may have gone, but you can always catch the Nightbus home.
posted by verstegan (14 comments total)

yay, twelfth link has Robyn Hitchcock!
posted by scruss at 6:35 AM on February 14, 2010

Brilliant!
posted by fallingbadgers at 6:37 AM on February 14, 2010

What no Carter USM?
The Only Living Boy In New Cross, The Taking Of Peckham 123, Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill
posted by memebake at 7:07 AM on February 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

Is "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks way too obvious to be on this list?
posted by deacon_blues at 7:26 AM on February 14, 2010

Awesome...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 8:07 AM on February 14, 2010

No one mentioned Ralph McTell's folk revival classic, "Streets of London."

My favorite London-evocation in song is Dire Straits' "Wild West End."
posted by fourcheesemac at 9:09 AM on February 14, 2010

Saint Etienne's "London Belongs to Me" starts off with lyrical imagery that really puts you right there... "Took the Tube to Camden Town, walked down Park Way and settled down..."

thanks for sharing this! i've wanted to find more songs that evoke London.
posted by kuppajava at 10:36 AM on February 14, 2010

London's nothing if not a Dirty Old Town.
posted by philip-random at 10:48 AM on February 14, 2010

Suspect that Waterloo Sunset, Streets of London and Dirty Old Town are a little too obvious, though all great songs.

Waiting and hoping for 'A' Bomb in Wardour Street by the Jam, or Piccadilly Circus by Stiff Little Fingers.

Nice find.
posted by Infinite Jest at 11:07 AM on February 14, 2010

London's nothing if not a Dirty Old Town

Except McColl wrote Dirty Old Town about Manchester. Or – more specifically, lest I succumb to its residents' wrath – Salford.
posted by Len at 11:58 AM on February 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I presume Guns of Brixton would make the 'too obvious' list, so I'll propose DAVE the Drummer & Chris Liberator's 'One Night, in Hackney'.
posted by pompomtom at 12:58 PM on February 14, 2010

or, of course, the London Underground Song.
posted by pompomtom at 1:02 PM on February 14, 2010

Except McColl wrote Dirty Old Town about Manchester. Or – more specifically, lest I succumb to its residents' wrath – Salford.

I suspected as much. Doesn't make London any cleaner.
posted by philip-random at 1:33 PM on February 14, 2010

STREETS OF LONDON!
posted by Harry at 4:22 AM on February 15, 2010