The Streets of London

Some months ago, after an amazing curry at Tayabs in Whitechapel with 30 friends, three of us travelled home on the tube. We were sharing a can of Strongbow Super Strength (7.4% abv.) and we felt a little like singing. Arriving on the platform, we heard in the distance a rowdy chorus of that by now traditional drinking song New York, New York. We were in London but sadly it was not incongruous. London has no anthem of it's own. Or does it? Compare and contrast:

Streets of London - Ralph McTell (1968)

New York, New York - Ebb-Kander (1977) Start spreading the news, Iím leaving today I want to be a part of it -New York, New York These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it -New York, New York I wanna wake up in a city, that doesnít sleep And find Iím king of the hill - top of the heap These little town blues, are melting away Iíll make a brand new start of it - in old New York If I can make it there, Iíll make it anywhere Itís up to you - New York, New York New York, New York I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps And find Iím a number one top of the list, king of the hill A number one These little town blues, are melting away Iím gonna make a brand new start of it - in old New York And if I can make it there, Iím gonna make it anywhere It up to you - New York, New York New York

How different might seem Ebb & Kander's bombastic show tune and Ralph McTell's hit folk song and appropriate they to their respective cities. (Especially now, you might think.) London, the impoverished old man of undeniable quiet dignity. New York, the brash arriviste out for everything it can get. London, a slightly pathetic figure that no-one makes much fuss over. New York, a small island that thinks it's the centre of the universe. Come to think of it London is Ralph McTell; New York is Frank Sinatra. But like Ralph and Frank, London and New York are both great and flawed in equal measure.