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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Lanfranc Date: 11 Jul 05 - 05:33 AM Jim Garrett does a storming version of this - he revived it when we did a "songs of WWII" session at Blackmore recently and has repeated it a couple of times since by popular request. Coward was a very clever songwriter, the tune is simple, singable (and whistlable) and to parody DUA and include a reference to a traditional London streetcry at the same time was a masterstroke. I, too, will be attempting to add it to my repertoire, though not for anywhere that Jim's version has been heard. I'll take advantage of Brian Quinn's update and may tweak it a bit myself. Alan |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Flash Company Date: 11 Jul 05 - 05:01 AM If there is anyone out there who is thinking of using this song, here is another verse. Not the work of The Master, after about 50 years of messing about with other people's melodies, I'm still only the apprentice. Though we live in a different century London Pride is still with us today, Though we've changed I would like to venture, we Still show Pride in the very same way Hey neighbour, though to bombs you waken Show them they're mistaken and you're not afraid say neighbour, though your feeling shaken Turn out in your thousands for the big parade See the Queen standing proud in Majesty Join the chorus or laugh at the clown No mad bombers will ever dim The Pride of London Town. Flash Company (aka Brian Quinn)July 2005 Its a pity I couldn't use 'standing tall', but our darlin' Queen doesn't do tall! Better go now, the sun is shining and Sheila's looking for me! see y'all later FC |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Dave Roberts Date: 10 Jul 05 - 05:51 AM Trivia fans, An adaptation of the 'Who will buy...' tune was used as the ident music for Thames Television, which used to proudly identify itself as 'Thames, from London'. Now of course, all that sort of thing has gone out of the windowm and all we have is the trashy ITV 'Network'. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Phil Cooper Date: 09 Jul 05 - 01:25 PM Yes, appropriate again, sadly. Richard Thompson did a version of London Pride in his 1000 years of popular music show. Did a great job of it. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: GUEST,Ian, Buntingford Date: 09 Jul 05 - 05:45 AM Never more so appropriate a song in the wake of the July 2005 London bombings. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 01 May 04 - 07:40 PM Listen to the tune on the link I gave, Hans - I think you'd have quite a job singing Deutschland Uber Alles to it, once you're past the first line. And see this page. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: GUEST,Hans Date: 01 May 04 - 05:40 PM Mr Coward used the melody of Deutschland Über Alles for his song otherwise someone would substantiate his statement that it was an English folksong to begin with. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Flash Company Date: 01 May 04 - 08:05 AM Got to add another Cowerd story in the same vein as the Italian Job one. Whe he was filming In Which We Serve whic involved sloshing around in a tank of dirty water at Pinewood for days, He turned up for filming every day in an immaculate Captains uniform, plunged overhead in the tank, surfaced and said 'AH! Salmonella in every drop!' FC |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Jim McLean Date: 30 Apr 04 - 05:18 PM I'm afraid I think the melody of DUA and LP is very distincly related, not remotely, but when did the melody for 'Who will buy ...' first appear? Did Haydn nick it from the English (or Croatia)? Or did Noel Coward really satirise DUA, as I suspect? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: GUEST,MCP Date: 30 Apr 04 - 05:00 PM Oops. For DUL in that post read DUA. Mick |
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Subject: Tune Add: DEUTCHLAND UBER ALLES From: GUEST,MCP Date: 30 Apr 04 - 04:54 PM For comparison, here's a transcription of DUL, Haydn's original an anthem and a theme in the quartet as noted above. Also used for the hymn Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken, whose notes in my edition say: "Croatian folk melody adapted by Franz Joseph Haydn". Mick X:1 T:DEUTCHLAND UBER ALLES C:Tune: FJ Haydn("Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser") Words: AH Hoffman ("Deutchland uber alles") L:1/4 Q:1/4=86 M:4/4 K:Eb E> F G F|A G (F/D/) E|c B A G|F (G/E/) B2| E> F G F|A G (F/D/) E|c B A G|F (G/E/) B2| F G (F/D/) B,|A G (F/D/) B,|B A G> G|=A> A B2| e> d (d/c/) B|c> B (B/A/) G| F> G (B/c/)(A/F/)|E (G/F/) E2| e> d (d/c/) B|c> B (B/A/) G| F> G (B/c/)(A/F/)|E (G/F/) E2|| |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 30 Apr 04 - 04:08 PM I suppose any sort of 'Pride' may be considered non-PC these days! First time I've ever heard anyone suggest that, and I don't think it's at all true. There are times when people take pride in the wrong things, and for the wrong reasons, but that's quite another matter. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: LindsayInWales Date: 30 Apr 04 - 04:04 PM it's a lovely song...the first I ever heard of it was during the 70s TV series "Colditz" when the British prisoners were whistling it in the exercise yard...I did, of course, recognise the similarity between "London Pride" and "Deutschland Uber Alles"...and supposed that if it ever was whistled at Colditz it was done with the express purpose of annoying the "Goons"... Incidentally, a friend of mine, now retired, who was a film stuntman, was one of the stunt drivers in "The Italian Job" (the original, not the cheap Yank imitation) and drove one of the Minis in the sewers in Italy. I once asked him what it was like to work with the great Sir Noel Coward, and he told me, "Every night after filming, he would come up, pat me on the shoulder and say, 'loved the way you drove the car today, dear boy'..." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Willa Date: 30 Apr 04 - 03:53 PM Thanks, Kevin and Mike. I agree with you about the words, Kevin, though sadly i suppose any sort of 'Pride' may be considered non-PC these days! I'd never seen the full words before; think I may try to learn this. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 30 Apr 04 - 03:42 PM As Noel Coward says in that note, the tune is related to Deutschland - but pretty remotely. Whether Haydn picked up the basis of it listening to flower-sellers on the streets of London, as Noel Coward rather implies, is an interesting speculation. It's a lovely bit of songwriting, with its internal rhymes and all. And lines like In our city darkened now, street and square and crescent, We can feel our living past in our shadowed present with shadowed having a literal and a symbolic meaning at one and the same time. Or Grey city Stubbornly implanted, Taken so for granted For a thousand years. Stay, city, Smokily enchanted, Cradle of our memories and hopes and fears. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: GUEST,MCP Date: 30 Apr 04 - 03:12 PM That's for Deutschland Uber Alles, which as Kevin pointed out above is not the same tune as London Pride, although the 1st line is not dissimilar. Mick |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: GUEST,Hans Date: 30 Apr 04 - 02:34 PM The music is taken from the String Quartet in C major (the Kaiser-Quartet), Op. 76,3 of Joseph Haydn, composed in 1797. |
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Subject: Tune Add: LONDON PRIDE (Noel Coward) From: GUEST,MCP Date: 30 Apr 04 - 11:25 AM And the tune: Mick X:1 T:London Pride C:Words & Tune: Noel Coward S:The Noel Coward Songbook L:1/4 M:C| K:Eb "^Moderato (not too slowly)"E F G E/F/|A G F/D/ B,|D E F A/G/|F/D/ B, E2| w:Lon-don Pride has been hand-ed down to us. Lon-don Pride is a flow-er that's free. E F G E/F/|A G F/D/ B,|D E F A/G/|F/D/ B, E2| w:Lon-don Pride means our own dear town to us, And our pride it for ev-er will be. e2 c< e|d3/4c/4B3/4c/4 d< B|d3/4c/4B3/4c/4 d3/4c/4B3/4d/4|c c D2| w:Woa Li-za see the cos-ter bar-rows, Veg-e-ta-ble mar-rows and the fruit piled high. B2 G< B|A3/4G/4F3/4G/4 A< F|G3/4G/4G3/4G/4 F3/4F/4F3/4F/4|G G B2| w:Woa Li-za lit-tle Lon-don spar-rows, Cov-ent Gar-den Mar-ket where the cos-ters cry. E F G E/F/|A G F/D/ B,|D E F A/G/|F/D/ B, c2| w:Cock-ney feet mark the beat of his-to-ry. Ev-'ry street pins a mem-o-ry down. E F G F/E/|B e _c e|e E G G|E3 z|| w:Noth-ing ev-er can quite re-place The grace of Lon-don Town. M:C L:1/8 "^INTERLUDE" GBdB =AB G2|FG=AF G2 G2| w:There's a lit-tle ci-ty flow'r ev-'ry spring un-fail-ing GBdB =AB G2|FG=AF G2 G2| w:Grow-ng in the cre-vi-ces by some Lon-don rail-ing dddd dced|fffe G4| w:Tho' it has a Lat-in name, in town and coun-try side e_dBA _GEGA|B8|| w:We in Eng-land call it Lon-don Pride. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Nigel Parsons Date: 30 Apr 04 - 07:53 AM Also, clearly, the basis for the intro to "Who Will Buy This Wonderful Morning?" in Bart's "Oliver". The scene opens with a flower seller: "Who will buy my sweet red roses, Two blooms for a penny?" Nigel |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 30 Apr 04 - 07:38 AM I dug out a record with Noel Coward singing it, and here is the note about it he wrote for the sleeve: London Pride was written in the spring of 1941. I was standing on the platform of a London railway station on the morning after a bad blitz. Most of the glass in the station roof had been blown out and there was dust in the air and the smell of burning. The train I was waiting to meet was running late and so I sat on a platform seat and watched the Londoners scurrying about in the spring sunshine. They all seemed to me to be gay and determined and wholly admirable, and for a moment or two I was overwhelmed by a wave of sentimental pride. The song started in my head then and there, and was finished in a couple of days. The tune is based on the traditional lavender-seller’s song, "Won't You Buy My Sweet-Smelling Lavender, There Are Sixteen Bunches One Penny". This age-old melody was appropriated by the Germans and used as a foundation for "Deutschland Uber Alles", and I considered that the time had come for us to have it back in London where it belonged. I am proud of the words of this song. They express what I felt at the time, i.e. London Pride. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 30 Apr 04 - 07:12 AM And here is a picture of the flower And no, the tune isn't the same as Deutschland Uber Alles. There's a sound file of it on this link, sung by a soprano, Catherine Bott. Noel Coward sang it much more efectively. I'd love to hear John Kirkpatrick do it though - I believe he recorded it one time, though that might have just been the tune. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: Nigel Parsons Date: 30 Apr 04 - 04:52 AM What two word term can describe A Beer,or A Flower, or A Morris Group or, of course, a song? Nigel (Trivia for the masses) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: GUEST Date: 30 Apr 04 - 04:45 AM To the tune of Deutschland, Deutschland uber Alles |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: London Pride (Noel Coward) From: LindsayInWales Date: 30 Apr 04 - 04:15 AM thanks McG... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: LONDON PRIDE (Noel Coward) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 29 Apr 04 - 09:59 PM London Pride has been handed down to us. London Pride is a flower that's free. London Pride means our own dear town to us, And our pride it for ever will be. Woa, Liza, See the coster barrows, Vegetable marrows And the fruit piled high. Woa, Liza, Little London sparrows, Covent Garden Market where the costers cry. Cockney feet Mark the beat of history. Every street Pins a memory down. Nothing ever can quite replace The grace of London Town. INTERLUDE 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 country-side 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 means our own dear town to us, And our pride it for ever 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. INTERLUDE In our city darkened now, street and square and crescent, We can feel our living past in our shadowed present, Ghosts beside our 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 means our own dear town to us, And our pride it for ever will be. Grey city Stubbornly implanted, Taken so for granted For a thousand years. Stay, city, Smokily enchanted, Cradle of our memories and 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. (From this site) |
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Subject: London Pride From: LindsayInWales Date: 29 Apr 04 - 08:56 PM Can anyone please give me the lyrics to the Noel Coward song "London Pride" - I know some of it: London Pride has been handed down to us London Pride is a flower that's free London Pride means our own dear town to us ......? the rest, please, anyone....? |
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