Okay, so here’s one last blog post about London, following our trip there last month. This time, it’s songs about London. As usual, you can listen along on Spotify.
- “London Calling” by The Clash. If you asked most people to name a song about London, this is probably the first one that they would name and is one of The Clash’s most popular song (third most played on Spotify).
- “London Bridge” by Fergie. This refers more to the traditional song about London Bridge falling down, but the music video is at least set in London. Even if it focuses on Tower Bridge, rather than London Bridge, which, to be fair, is comparatively boring.
- “Londinium” by Catatonia. Catatonia are famously very Welsh, and so this song is about everything that is wrong with London. “I come alive outside the M25” indeed.
- “London Boy” by Taylor Swift. Considering how many songs Swift has written over the years, it’s not surprising that she has written a song about London. Ostensibly an album track, like much of Taylor’s work, it charted in some countries.
- “LDN” by Lily Allen. This is from Allen’s first album and is about her cycling through London. It describes the shiny veneer of London, and its sometimes grimy reality.
- “Take Me Back To London” by Ed Sheeran featuring Stormzy. Ed Sheeran has collaborated with just about everyone in recent years and so it’s no surprise that he’s collaborated with Stormzy for this song about London.
- “Waterloo Sunset” by The Kinks. Another classic pop song about London. It’s inspired by the view from St Thomas’ Hospital, looking along the River Thames by Waterloo Bridge.
- “Warwick Avenue” by Duffy. Another Welsh pop act, this time singing about the famous street in West London, known for its markets.
- “Brixton Briefcase” by Chase & Status featuring CeeLo Green. This song is about the Brixton riots of 2011, although having it sung by American singer CeeLo Green is certainly a choice.
- “Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant. Finishing with another song about Brixton is this classic song by Eddy Grant, about the first market street to be lit by electric lights. I prefer the 2001 Ringbang Remix, but this isn’t on Spotify unfortunately.
