Streets Of London by Ralph McTell
Every time I hear this song on the radio, and Radio 2 seems to be playing it quite a lot at the moment, I am transported back to School assemblys at Devonport Morice Town Primary School with teachers Mr Haydn and Mr Cornish and their guitars. Along with the more traditional One More Step Along the World I Go and At The Name of Jesus we sang songs like this one and Phil Collins’ Another Day in Paradise. We’d have the words up on the overhead projector at the front of the School hall and all the 200-or-so kids would sing loudly. Mr Haydn and Mr Cornish were musicians as well as teachers and used music and lyrics to teach us some of life’s important lessons.
It was a pretty cool School actually, I did enjoy my time there. I remember plays and musicals, gymnastics classes, melting wax in art club, district athletics competitions at Brickfields (and those number 44 running vests), walking on Dartmoor (yes, this was a Primary School), learning to canoe and sail at the week-long adventure trip, planting bulbs for the daffodil bank – I was only there four years but I have so many memories. And it’s courtesy of hearing songs like Streets of London that brings those memories back. Music does that, doesn’t it, it has the ability to conjure up feelings that were otherwise hidden or fogotten.
What did you sing at School? Anyone else have guitar playing teachers as cool as mine?! Was music used to teach you any of life’s valuable lessons? Does hearing a specific song you used to sing in Assembly bring back happy memories of School?
Veronica Addis
I heard achy-breaky heart on my way home from work today. It immediately reminded me of Mr Thomas & the Queensbury jazz band – without which I’d have never played the saxophone! 🙂
Splodz
I remember that! And yes, Queensbury did loads for both of us – I play trombone bass clef until we went there.