The theme for today’s Song Lyric Sunday, as Jim tells us in his post Conducting A Performance, is to play songs performed with orchestras and/or choirs, which was the penultimate suggestion by Nancy, aka The Sicilian Storyteller in her ten week residency. They have all been great suggestions so far, but I can tell you now that next week’s isn’t going to be easy for me! But that is yet to come: we are still in this week, and I am playing you something which I think is rather special. I was intending to play you just one song this week but it is now going to be two, for reasons I’ll explain later.
My main choice for this week is one that I first played in December 2022. No doubt many of you will know the song, especially those in the UK as it is very much a folk standard here nowadays, and has even been a UK Singles chart hit. This version was made for the Crisis charity in 2017, specifically to raise funds for their efforts to provide food, accommodation and other support for homeless people: they do this all the year round, but place special emphasis on Christmas. A number of those they have supported appear in the video, as the ‘Crisis Choir,’ with guest vocals by Annie Lennox. Last week I played you a song which made some get the tissues out, and this may be the time to do that again:
The lyrics are heartfelt and meaningful:
Have you seen the old man In the closed down market Kicking up the papers With his worn out shoes?
In his eyes, you see no pride Hand 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 Show you something to make you change your mind
In the all night cafe At a quarter past eleven Same old man Sitting there on his own
Looking at the world Over the rim of his tea cup 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 I’ll show you something to make you change your mind
Ralph McTell originally recorded Streets Of London in 1969 for his Spiral Staircase album, but it wasn’t a UK single until a re-recorded version was released in 1974, after the first had been a top ten hit in the Netherlands. It reached #2 in the UK chart that year, and in his shows Ralph still introduces it by saying “now it is time for my greatest hit” – I know this, as I’ve seen him do it. Though this later version only peaked at #92 on the combined UK charts, the CD single was #1 in the Christmas 2017 Official Physical Singles Chart (for CD sales). The release marked fifty years of the Crisis charity’s work, which continues and is probably needed more now than ever.
I first played this in my annual Christmas event, as I think there are messages we shouldn’t overlook even at the time when we are anticipating the coming of the festive season. There is a reason Crisis concentrate a lot of their efforts around that time of year, when the homeless and lonely are even more likely than usual to need some support. The guys in this video may not be what you might think of as a traditional ‘choir,’ but there is no doubting the sincerity behind what they are doing. You can see whole lifetimes etched on their faces.
As I said at the outset, I had been planning just to play that one song today, but I’m adding a second. Last Wednesday the sole remaining original member of one of my all time favourite bands passed away: Mike Pinder, of the Moody Blues. The Moodies were the first to release an album which blended their music with an orchestra, in the shape of Days Of Future Passed, which was released in November 1967 and reached #3 in the US, though its highest ever UK chart position is a measly #27. Mike played keyboards for the band, and was responsible for introducing the mellotron into their music, which gave them their signature sound. For later albums they used the instrument to take the place of a real orchestra, but this one was recorded with the London Festival Orchestra. There is one obvious song from the album that I could play, but I’m not doing that. Mike wrote and sang vocals on The Sunset, the first part of the album’s Evening sequence, and this for me is a more appropriate tribute. It is also a perfect fit for the other part of today’s brief. This is that sequence in full:
R.I.P. Mike, and thank you for the music, which will live on as your legacy.
