The 4 minutes song sung by Ralph McTell shows real street scenes and people of London followed by a brief talk about how he came to write this simple haunting song. It was sung by guitar players even before hitting the charts in 1974 and many people learning to play the guitar today still start with this one……
Streets Of London
Have you seen the old man,
In the closed down market,
Picking up the papers,
With his worn out shoes,
In his eyes you see no pride,
And hanging loosely at his side,
Yesterdays paper,
Telling yesterdays news,
So how can you tell me you’re lonely,
And say for you that the sun don’t shine,
Well 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,And have you seen the old dear,
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,
Well 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,And 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 teacup
And each tea lasts an hour,
And he wanders home alone,
So how can you tell me that you’re lonely,
And say for you that the sun don’t shine,
Well 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,And have you seen the old man,
Outside the seaman’s mission,
Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears,
And in the winter city,
The rain cries a little pity,
One more forgotten hero,
And a World that doesn’t care,
So how can you tell me that you’re lonely,
And say for you that the sun don’t shine,
Well 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 closed down market,
Picking up the papers,
With his worn out shoes,
In his eyes you see no pride,
And hanging loosely at his side,
Yesterdays paper,
Telling yesterdays news,
So how can you tell me you’re lonely,
And say for you that the sun don’t shine,
Well 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,And have you seen the old dear,
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,
Well 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,And 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 teacup
And each tea lasts an hour,
And he wanders home alone,
So how can you tell me that you’re lonely,
And say for you that the sun don’t shine,
Well 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,And have you seen the old man,
Outside the seaman’s mission,
Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears,
And in the winter city,
The rain cries a little pity,
One more forgotten hero,
And a World that doesn’t care,
So how can you tell me that you’re lonely,
And say for you that the sun don’t shine,
Well 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.
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Gill McGrath 
I liked the song and the words. Thank you.
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Glad you enjoyed and letting me know! 🙂
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I added to favorite. Thank you.
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Thank you kindly! 🙂
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I love that song. I used to play it in class and we would spend the next week of English classes talking about it. I love it.
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So glad you love it! You played it on guitar?
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I have never played any musical instrument. One of my many regrets.
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And I just posted a new one. It’s your fault. you made me do it. “Songs for the classroom.”
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Thanks for replying . I will look up what you posted. 🙂
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http://suchled.wordpress.com/2014/11/22/songs-for-classrooms/
Here is the link to Suchled’s response to the post here.
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Thank you for this, Gil. Homelessness can happen to anyone….and we need to remember this. Every day I wake up in a warm bed and home with food to eat, I am very grateful.
I only wish that the divide between rich and poor wasn’t so huge…..and seems to be getting bigger by the day…..
Have a wonderful weekend. janet:)
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This time of year, an especially terrible time. With the weather rolling in and the long nights … thanks Janet for appreciating the message here. 🙂
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Quite moving.
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Yes it is indeed. Thanks fro appreciating the message 🙂
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Makes you think – the images are a bit of our sad world – dignity should be a right for every person!
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Yes and things are even worse now for some!
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You’re right, too many people are having less and less, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping!
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