The capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of around 8.8 million. It dates back to Roman times and is located in the south-east of the country, on the banks of the Thames. Regraded as one of the world’s major global cities, London has a strong influence across all the performing arts, including music. Indeed, if you extend the focus out to just beyond the city limits and into the neighbouring counties in the south-east, you can end up with a list of half-decent and influential singers and bands that will stretch into many hundreds.
mp3: The Smiths – London
And yet, the song selected today isn’t from any of them. But it does symbolise what many have long said throughout the history of popular music, that you have to head to the capital in order to make it – but that depends on what you mean by ‘make it’. Tony Wilson and a few others from Manchester, where the train in the song is heading from, would loudly disagree. And they’d be right.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
A song that has aged better than some of their others. Found myself quoting the lines about how you think that they’re sad when you’re leaving in a conversation last Sunday with a mate about why it’s so difficult to move back if you’ve left/emigrated, as we had, – how folk resent you as well as miss you. He’s got a few years on me and wasn’t that aware of the smiths but laughed at how spot on it was. As for London, I like it but I wouldn’t want to live there.
WinterInMaypark
One of Tne Smiths finer moments (they had many of those). I haven’t listened to The Smiths for a long time – one day I hope I can as I know the band to be greater than its mouthpiece, but… perhaps just the instrumentals then.
London, my least liked city.
Flimflamfan
The other song I have with that title is by Pet Shop Boys from their guitar-heavy 2002 album Release. Johnny Marr features heavily on that album, but misses out on a double here since PSB’s London happens to be one of the tracks he’s not on.
Léon Macduff
Has your Morrissey boycott formally ended?
Good question Robster. Always great to hear from you….hope you’re well.
The answer is no. Still haven’t played anything in years…..but in wanting to cover London as part of the series, this was the song I couldn’t get out of my head. It’s been linked to, but from a file that was put op on my box.net account a long long long time ago.
Great song, perfect marriage of lyrics and guitars.
A good choice, I loved this track at the time as I was going through a psychobilly phase, for a few months (Cramps, King Kurt, Guana Batz etc) and this was very much on tempo. Surprisingly few London titled tracks in my archive – Gene, Clash, Lily Allen, Noonday Underground.
Probably very frowned upon these days, my favourite London Town referencing song came from the Cash Pussies “Cash Flow” tune, b-side of the Sid Vicious sampling 99% is Sh*t single.
I left the North (Manchester) to travel South (London) for seven or so years in the 90s, preferred Manchester though I think.
Sidders