Streets Of London

Album: Spiral Staircase (1969)
Charted: 2
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  • Have you seen the old man
    In a closed-down market?
    Kicking up the paper
    With his worn out shoes
    In his eyes, you see no pride
    And held loosely at his side
    Yesterday's paper
    Telling yesterday's news

    So, how can you tell me you're lonely?
    And say for you that the sun don't shine?
    Let me take you by the hand
    And lead you through the streets of London
    Show you something to make you change your mind

    Have you seen the old girl
    Who walks the streets of London?
    Dirt in her hair
    And her clothes in rags
    She's no time for talking
    She just keeps right on walking
    Carrying her home
    In two carrier bags

    So, how can you tell me you're lonely?
    And say for you that the sun don't shine?
    Let me take you by the hand
    And lead you through the streets of London
    I'll show you something to make you change your mind

    In the all night café
    At a quarter past eleven
    Same old man
    Sitting there on his own
    Looking at the world
    Over the rim of his teacup
    Each tea lasts an hour
    And he wanders home alone

    So, how can you tell me you're lonely?
    Don't say for you that the sun don't shine
    Let me take you by the hand
    And lead you through the streets of London
    Show you something to make you change your mind

    Have you seen the old man
    Outside the seaman's mission?
    Memory fading with
    The medal ribbons that he wears
    In our winter city
    The rain cries a little pity
    For one more forgotten hero
    And a world that doesn't care

    So, how can you tell me you're lonely?
    And say for you that the sun don't shine?
    Let me take you by the hand
    And lead you through the streets of London
    Show you something to make you change your mind Writer/s: Ralph McTell
    Publisher: T.R.O. INC.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

  • Jim from BelfastA truthful song
    A reality check and makes me sorrowful and angry in equal amounts
    I see the same images on the streets of Belfast as I walk in the streets of Belfast but nowadays in the year 2020 the old soldiers have long since died by now on the streets in the damp and cold Irish winters
    But now we no longer see old men and old ladies with their world in bags they carry but young boys forced out of their lodgings and thrown onto the streets by uncaring landlords and a Westminster parliament that behaves as if they aren’t really there

    But for the old men with their medals who fought and sacrificed for our freedoms
    Our generations may not have been able to be born and live good and free lives

    Unless we start caring and act on these great injustices the spectre of evil will once more rise up as it did in the 1930s

  • Thyrocyte from Bangkok, ThailandThis song reminds all of us that there always be some other people who are suffering more than we are. Somehow, these people can go on their lives. So, there is no use to let ourselves down. No use to waste our time moaning. We have to get up and fight for our goals to achieve whatsoever we want.

    Its music seems to be sorrowful but the lyric is encouraging anyway.
  • Kerry G. from Detroit Rock City, MiWOW, thats beautiful. One of the best songs ever made.
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