One of Dr Johnson's most memorable bon mots was "when a man is tired of London then he is tired of life" and one that he firmly believed in. For Dr Johnson, London was the epicentre of human civilisation. For many it is still true. Along with New York, it's arguably the most important city on Earth for arts, culture, finance, you name it, London has it. It's no exaggeration to say that probably most nations and races have a community there. This does of course, have its downside. Londoners can have a very snobby attitude to their city and London can be a cold, dangerous lonely and expensive place.
This dark side to London has frequently been explored in music, one of the most famous songs to criticise the city must be Ralph McTell's 'Streets of London' and it's a sad thing to reflect that nothing has changed since he wrote that song 40 odd years ago. The three songs I've chosen as examples are all by outsiders, non-Londoners jaded by their own experiences and the only other criterion was that London had to feature in the title.
Tricky's 'Bristol to London' is a collaboration with his errant younger brother and seems to me to describe London as almost a gangster 'finishing school' where crime is almost unavoidable if you are unlucky enough to be born the wrong side of the tracks. It's a deliberately aggressive tune that reflects the streetwise nature that they had to adopt to stop them from drowning.
Catatonia's 'Londinium' has the city as a leech sucking the lifeblood and humanity from their souls. The song lyrics annoy me somewhat as I can't help but think that there's always been a latent anti-Englishness to Catatonia and although they may have a point in what they say, there's a lot of prejudice within also. Money's 'Goodnight London' is fresh from their debut album and is a very melancholic tale of how they just don't feel able to live their anymore.
I will try to redress the balance with some songs in praise of our capital city but for now here's three songs that paint a picture of a city that doesn't care.
Tricky - 'Bristol to London'
Catatonia - 'Londinium'
Money - 'Goodnight London'
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