ALL TOGETHER, NOW....

Jeremy Irons - London Pride [BBC Proms, 1999]

London Pride - Lyrics

London Pride has been handed down to us,

London Pride is a flower that's free.

London Pride is our own dear town to us,

And our pride it forever will be.
Whoa, Liza,

See the coster barrows,

 Vegetable marrows and the fruit piled high.
Whoa, Liza,

Little London sparrows,

Covent Garden Markets where the costers cry.

Cockney feet 

Mark the beat of history.

Every street pins a memory down.

Nothing ever could quite replace

The grace of London Town.

There's a little city flower,

Every spring unfailing,

Growing in the crevices,

By some London railing.

Though it has a Latin name

In town and countryside,

We in England call it

London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,

London Pride is a flower that's free.

London Pride is our own dear town to us,

And our pride it forever will be.

Hey, lady,

When the day is dawning,

See the policeman yawning

On his lonely beat.

Gay lady,

Mayfair in the morning,

Hear your footsteps echo 

In the empty street.

Early rain,

And the pavement's glistening,

All Park Lane 

In a shimmering gown.

Nothing ever could break or harm

The charm

Of London Town.

In our city, darkened now,

Street and square and crescent,

We can feel our living past

In our shadowed present.

Ghosts beside the starlit Thames

Who lived and loved and died

Keep throughout the ages

London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,

London Pride is a flower that's free.

London Pride is our own dear town to us,

And our pride it forever will be.

Grey city,

Stubbornly implanted,

Taken so for granted

For a thousand years.

Stay, city,

Smokily enchanted,

Cradle of our memories,

Our hopes and fears.

Every Blitz,

Your resistance toughening.

From the Ritz

To the Anchor and Crown,

Nothing ever could override

The pride

Of London Town.

- Sir Noel Coward

Notes:
whoa - a command, usually used when speaking to horses, meaning "Stop". The speaker or singer is telling his companion to stop for a moment and look around.

coster [archaic]  - a seller of fruit or vegetables 

Cockney - traditionally someone born within the sound of the bells of the Church of St Mary-le-Bow in London. See also this post.

beat - [1] the passing of time [2] the area which a policeman patrols on foot

gay - here used with its old meaning of "happy"!

Blitz [here] - the bombing of Britain during World War II

Ritz - the Ritz Hotel

The Anchor & Crown - name of a pub

London Pride flower
[saxifraga x urbium]
Image:  Picture Esk on flickr

Now, you all have to clap your hands while you sing this one! Are you ready? Go!

The Business - Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner

Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner - Lyrics
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I love London so Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I think of her wherever I go I get a funny feeling inside of me Just walking up and down Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I love London town
- Hubert Gregg
Note:Towns and countries are sometimes referred to in the feminine gender.  This is mostly a poetic usage these days.
ENJOY THE LONDON OLYMPICS, EVERYBODY!