London Loves.....Music (pt II)

Hello London lovers,

Just a very quick part II on music; my favourite subject in the entire world. Apart from sex. But I'll save that for another blog.

Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a little bit obsessed with this Lily Allen tune. I also absolutely adore this original video. The one where she rides around London on her little bike. It fits the bouncy, Brazilian-tinged, sunshine music perfectly. God knows why her record company decided she needed a more flashy, mainstream, over produced video when the song became a hit.

There are many London-themed songs. London by The Smiths, London Loves (obviously) by Blur, London Calling by The Clash, 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street by The Jam, I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Hairdresser On Fire by Morrissey, Dagenham Dave by The Stranglers, Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks, London Bye Ta Ta by David Bowie, It's A London Thing by Scott Garcia (still sounding brilliant) and of course the seminal London Is The Place For Me by Lord Kitchener.

But Lily's 'LDN' is my favourite of them all because it is so ultimately positive about the capital in the face of the underlying terrors creeping beneath the shiny Cockney veneer and it brings a smile to my face whenever I hear it.

...One thing I still have trouble with however. At 1min 47secs in the video above (and again repeated in the outro starting at 2mins 25secs, Ms Allen can be heard underneath the main vocal singing (or rather listing) in 4-4 time, a quiet, half-spoken ode to different areas of London. I only actually noticed this when listening to it through headphones recently. On a stereo it's almost inaudible. Even on headphones it's difficult to correctly identify all of the place names. I've got most of them but could do with some help. If you know what she says, please tell me!

Here's what I think she says, correct me if I'm wrong:
Enfield (could be Earlsfield?), Dalston, Stockwell, Clapton, Soho, Ladbroke Grove (could be Lambeth, Bow?). Camden, Brixton, Hackney, Tottenham, Chiswick, Old Kent Road (could be Aldgate, Bow?)

Whatever she says, it's genius. Listen to it and listen to it loud. Then listen to it again, just to be on the safe side. x