This song breaks my heart. I was on the streets for a short time in 2017 with my then boyfriend then we were lucky enough to get a little studio flat in a shared house. It was tiny but it was paradise to us after trying to sleep out in the elements for weeks. This was in summer too, I don't know how people survive winter outside. I've since moved back to my hometown where there's not a big problem with homelessness but I still think of all the people who are living on the streets of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. I make an effort to help every person I see begging now. I don't care what they spend it on. As long as it helps them cope with the situation. I live about ten miles North of Newcastle and there's loads of homeless people there too. We shouldn't have anyone living on the streets in 2022 ffs. It's not just the homeless part that gets me though, it's the lonely old man. It makes me think of my dad. If he was that old man. Oh God I'm gonna cry so I better leave it here. Beautiful song and definitely gonna be one of the first songs I attempt to play when I finally learn to play like this, picking through chords. I'm probably a good two years away from even thinking about it though
I listened to this in my last year of school in 1975 Today I have turned into that old man I never dreamed i would be an old age pensioner sitting in that Cafe looking over the rim of a tea cup
This should be called An Anthem for the Lonely and Homeless .... it makes me cry every time I hear it! Just a beautiful ballad and as important today as ever......💙💙🥲💙💙🥲💙💙
2020 Coronavirus updated verse In March 2020, Ralph McTell agreed to write another verse to the song, inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic gripping the world at the time. The new verse is as follows: In shop doorways, under bridges, in all our towns and cities You can glimpse the makeshift bedding from the corner of your eye Remember what you're seeing barely hides a human being We're all in this together, brother, sister, you and I.[1
@@leewalker662 LMFAO tell us what you really think pal 😅 seriously though, An Anthem for the Lonely and Homeless doesn't quite have the same ring to it as The Streets of London does it? Obviously it IS one but the title shouldn't be a description of the song.
In 1975 I worked as a signal's technician at London Underground when word got around that there was a very talented guitar player singing in the underground walkways . We would then go and listen to him..he was very good. Later this song was released, and the rest is history. Many thanks Ralf
The first song I learned to pick on the guitar. I as aged 7, and Dad wouldn't teach me to play Streets, because it would be too hard for me at my age. I taught myself instead. When he heard me play it, he gave me his guitar. I still have it, 42 years later.
Ralph McTell songs are like little stories. Here he takes us on a tour of a city, focusing our minds on the lost and lonely. The guitar ripples capture beautifully the fragments and impressions of a less than gentle life.
I think you’re kinda missing the whole point of the song It’s about true deprivation, despair, depression and loneliness. I can’t see that any of these phenomena are in any way linked to her
I've seen him sing/play this live very close up. Absolutely jaw dropping to observe - note perfect picking and his voice is actually richer than this...amazing.
So sorry for your loss Same bro, split with my partner, lost my home family and was on the streets. Then had a serious bike crash and spent a year unable to work. This song kept me going Take care
I remember years ago that the children's TV programme 'Saturday Superstore' asked the kids to enter their talented teachers into a competition, on the first week, a teacher sat and played this song on his guitar and sang it with all the emotion he could muster, he went through the elimination round every week and won the competition, rightly so!
It was a few years from the time it was written, to the time it was heard commercially in Australia. I had the privilege of hearing it around '68 - '69 played and sung by a young Englishman who was boarding with my next door neighbour. I was 12yo and seriously impressed.
I live in Australia. I clearly remember this being a big radio hit in Oct-Nov 1974 on Melbourne radio. Incredibly, it was in the 3XY charts for Apr & May 1975!?!?
Sadness is unavoidable in our lives. But to wallow in self pity is unhealthy, often somewhat dishonest, and often driven by regrets and guilt. It clouds our eyes, closes our minds to our neighbor's plight, gets in the way of making our world just a little warmer and better. So be sad but don't exaggerate. Be honest about what drives it, and, if necessary, ask for forgiveness to begin healing and rejoining the good and necessary work of helping those in need.
I met Ralph around 1968/9. Of course he sang this , absolutely brilliant. He gave me a plectrum and signed my blood donor's card. So did Krysia Kocjan who supported him that night. Sadly no longer with us.
I first heard this song when i was a child in the 70s. I had no clue what it meant but after having experienced familial rejection and losing everything and being homeless for six months in 2020. I was lucky because my best friend stood by me and made sure that i could sleep on her sofa until i was finally rehoused. As a transgender woman, i wouldn't have survived a day on the streets. I am still struggling but not dead yet. Apparently the market referred to in the first verse is Surrey Street Market in Croydon, where i used to go with my Mum. I heard it played in a Dublin pub yesterday and immediately burst into tears. thank you Ralph McTell for caring about the unloved and the unwanted.
Hat tip to you. Admire the courage of trans people and others who are rejected and excluded but decide to stay, survive, and fight. All power to you from India
When i was a Baby my dad sang it every evening when i was in Bed. I olso dont understand it but now i am 14 and can understand english an its so Emotional for me.
Sorry to dispell your dilusional thinking but you are not a woman . Thinking that you are doesn't help you , and other people supporting your claim that you are a woman are no friends of yours . They are miss-guided liars who have been reduced to fantasy by marxist extreme left wing propagander and lies . For instance , what is your chromosome mix as regards x and y and were you born with a prostate ? You were born a biological man and you still are a biological man . Maybe it is your way of coping with the fact that you are homosexual - just as I am . And maybe , due to your upbringing and " tabbo's " around homosexuality when you were growing up ,you found it far easier to convince yourself that you are a woman and thus it wouldn't be homosexuality you had but femininity because you are a " woman " ? That is obviously pure speculation on my part because you really are only fooling yourself when you think and say that you are a woman . You are not , and as i have just proved , you are a man who likes / loves men .
Have you seen the old man In the closed-down market Kicking up the paper With his worn out shoes? In his eyes you see no pride Arms held loosely at his side Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news So how can you tell me you're lonely And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and Lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind Have you seen the old girl Who walks the streets of London Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags? She's no time for talking She just keeps right on walking Carrying her home in two carrier bags So how can you tell me you're lonely And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and Lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind In the all night cafe At a quarter past eleven Same old man sitting there on his own Looking at the world Over the rim of his teacup Each tea lasts an hour And he wanders home alone So how can you tell me you're lonely Don't say for you that the sun don't shine Let me take you by the hand and Lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind Have you seen the old man Outside the Seaman's Mission Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears In our winter city The rain cries a little pity For one more forgotten hero And a world that doesn't care So how can you tell me you're lonely And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and Lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind
I learned this song when still living in the Netherlands, back in the 70's, now living close to London (but in Canada) i still see the homeless here in the streets in London. It hurts to see it and to know it can be rectified if only our politicians get their act together
...and nothing has changed from the 70s. My mum n dad have this on 7 inch vinyl, remember it so well. Hey kids, watch out for the chimps in suits (circa 2023) re opening the mines!
Took me almost 30 years to realise what a man and musician he was and till is. Remember this song being released in 75 but took me all this years to realise his wonder.
I can't help it, but I think that the fashions and haircuts of that time were ridiculous. Imagine a teenager of today looking at the young people then. He is she would have a good laugh.
I learned the words of this song so that I could sing it (off key) to my daughter every night at bedtime. She loved it, but 20 years later when she hears it she says "so sad!"
With all the prices going up and everything increasing in prices. Have a thought for the poor young people living on the streets. No food no bed just a peice of cardboard to sleep on. God bless them.
I recall walking along of Oxford Street as a student. This guy stopped outside McDonalds, routed around in the bin found something and went straight into his mouth. Whenever I feel hard done by I think about that.
A song and voice for the ages.... regretfully but strangely at the same time i proudly (I don't want to desecrate this absolute classic but merely pay homage and pretend I'm even nearly as talented as the great man) I belt this tune out whenever theres a late nighter and an opportunity.....
I know! I thought "WTF" They are dancing to this song? Maybe the shows producers told them to, which would prove how ignorant the producers were. McTell is a pro - he maintained his composure throughout.
This song breaks my heart. I was on the streets for a short time in 2017 with my then boyfriend then we were lucky enough to get a little studio flat in a shared house. It was tiny but it was paradise to us after trying to sleep out in the elements for weeks. This was in summer too, I don't know how people survive winter outside. I've since moved back to my hometown where there's not a big problem with homelessness but I still think of all the people who are living on the streets of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. I make an effort to help every person I see begging now. I don't care what they spend it on. As long as it helps them cope with the situation. I live about ten miles North of Newcastle and there's loads of homeless people there too. We shouldn't have anyone living on the streets in 2022 ffs. It's not just the homeless part that gets me though, it's the lonely old man. It makes me think of my dad. If he was that old man. Oh God I'm gonna cry so I better leave it here. Beautiful song and definitely gonna be one of the first songs I attempt to play when I finally learn to play like this, picking through chords. I'm probably a good two years away from even thinking about it though
Heart warming words my mum and dad are gone but I think they are in a better place
You sound like a lovely person
A compliment to this song is Thomas Cole's four paintings Journey through Life.
I hope your doing well 💚
Homeless for most of my life believe me winter is tough but find a good sleeping bag and an underground car park that’s how I I survived
I listened to this in my last year of school in 1975 Today I have turned into that old man I never dreamed i would be an old age pensioner sitting in that Cafe looking over the rim of a tea cup
This should be called An Anthem for the Lonely and Homeless .... it makes me cry every time I hear it! Just a beautiful ballad and as important today as ever......💙💙🥲💙💙🥲💙💙
2020 Coronavirus updated verse
In March 2020, Ralph McTell agreed to write another verse to the song, inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic gripping the world at the time. The new verse is as follows:
In shop doorways, under bridges, in all our towns and cities
You can glimpse the makeshift bedding from the corner of your eye
Remember what you're seeing barely hides a human being
We're all in this together, brother, sister, you and I.[1
It is a ballad for the homeless and lonely you fucking silly twat...
Only the lonely by roy orbison
@@leewalker662 LMFAO tell us what you really think pal 😅 seriously though, An Anthem for the Lonely and Homeless doesn't quite have the same ring to it as The Streets of London does it? Obviously it IS one but the title shouldn't be a description of the song.
I still have it on cassette tape
This song is an absolute classic, and as such never gets old.
Ralph McTell folk legend.
In 1975 I worked as a signal's technician at London Underground when word got around that there was a very talented guitar player singing in the underground walkways . We would then go and listen to him..he was very good. Later this song was released, and the rest is history. Many thanks Ralf
This Song helps me to Survive my childhood in homesickness and lonelyness. Thanks a lot for this emotional Song.. 🙏🥰
In all the years that ol' Ralph has been playing this song sadly nothing has changed.
@000matthias000 well said mon ami.
In The Netherlands it is getting worse
Even more relevant today than all those years ago when it was written. A classic never dies
One of the most beautifully heart felt songs ever written
The first song I learned to pick on the guitar. I as aged 7, and Dad wouldn't teach me to play Streets, because it would be too hard for me at my age. I taught myself instead. When he heard me play it, he gave me his guitar. I still have it, 42 years later.
That's great . Many blessings to you and your wonderful father .
This song still cries out for those who are less fortunate than we are.. Always take time to chat with the homeless folk assure them of you're love.
My uncle ,who recently passed away played this to me as a child ,he did it so well ,memories will never fade.RIP uncle Mick X
so sorry for your loss xx
🙏🏼
One of my favourites, just beautiful♥
Ralph McTell songs are like little stories.
Here he takes us on a tour of a city, focusing our minds on the lost and lonely.
The guitar ripples capture beautifully the fragments and impressions of a less than gentle life.
Beautifully rich voice. And my dads favourite song. Memories
Ich musste das Lied damals in Englisch Unterricht lernen, seit dem lässt mich das Thema nicht mehr in Ruhe.❤❤❤
Ich fühle mich nie einsam, wenn ich dieses Lied höre! Ich liebe den Text.
Makes me bawl my eyes out every time.
Has come to my heart alot this week with the queen's passing
I think you’re kinda missing the whole point of the song
It’s about true deprivation, despair, depression and loneliness.
I can’t see that any of these phenomena are in any way linked to her
I've seen him sing/play this live very close up. Absolutely jaw dropping to observe - note perfect picking and his voice is actually richer than this...amazing.
This song did became a bit of cliché for third-rate buskers…but this belies Ralph’s brilliant voice and superlative fingerstyle technique
This song inspired me to become a musician,thanks Ralph
Hope your drems come true, im hopin for you
I love this song so much.. I dont know why..
I think its because this song makes us think about all the unfortunates in this world. Very touching
60S and 70S such a lovely innocent time! love to go back for just one week!
This man saved my life. I lost my Girl and Mother in the same year. I thought it must be to be. But hope came from from his song.
Al
Chris Wilson hope you're well bro sorry for your losses keep fighting on. This song is fucking mind blowing.
So sorry for your loss
Same bro, split with my partner, lost my home family and was on the streets. Then had a serious bike crash and spent a year unable to work. This song kept me going
Take care
One of my dad's favourites. Lost him in 96 to lung cancer. Special memories
This is very moving...
I remember years ago that the children's TV programme 'Saturday Superstore' asked the kids to enter their talented teachers into a competition, on the first week, a teacher sat and played this song on his guitar and sang it with all the emotion he could muster, he went through the elimination round every week and won the competition, rightly so!
It was a few years from the time it was written, to the time it was heard commercially in Australia. I had the privilege of hearing it around '68 - '69 played and sung by a young Englishman who was boarding with my next door neighbour. I was 12yo and seriously impressed.
The base of the tune is Pachebels Canon in D major …but that’s no bad thing…👍
@@mudskipper0075 obviously.....
I live in Australia. I clearly remember this being a big radio hit in Oct-Nov 1974 on Melbourne radio. Incredibly, it was in the 3XY charts for Apr & May 1975!?!?
Such a beautiful song x
Such warming words
One of the most hard hitting songs ever written.
I played a club with a school friend in our last years at school and we always finished with this song
Those were lonely times....by the way this same song can be played in jazz style or country+anyway you desire!
Not many songs bring a tear to my eye
A truly beautiful song.
One of the best songs ever made words are mean full his voice was perfect for it 😋
Super good song🥳🥳🥳
I don't want the traditional British old songs to be lost 😭😭😭😭😭
Sadness is unavoidable in our lives. But to wallow in self pity is unhealthy, often somewhat dishonest, and often driven by regrets and guilt. It clouds our eyes, closes our minds to our neighbor's plight, gets in the way of making our world just a little warmer and better. So be sad but don't exaggerate. Be honest about what drives it, and, if necessary, ask for forgiveness to begin healing and rejoining the good and necessary work of helping those in need.
Great advice
You delivered this song 20 years later and i still love it ..thank you ralf
One glorious day the Last shall be first & the first shall be Last!
I met Ralph around 1968/9. Of course he sang this , absolutely brilliant. He gave me a plectrum and signed my blood donor's card. So did Krysia Kocjan who supported him that night. Sadly no longer with us.
So beautiful, such an important message delivered so sensitively and compassionately. This song means an awful lot to me.
and me but jesus saved me
I first heard this song when i was a child in the 70s. I had no clue what it meant but after having experienced familial rejection and losing everything and being homeless for six months in 2020. I was lucky because my best friend stood by me and made sure that i could sleep on her sofa until i was finally rehoused. As a transgender woman, i wouldn't have survived a day on the streets. I am still struggling but not dead yet.
Apparently the market referred to in the first verse is Surrey Street Market in Croydon, where i used to go with my Mum.
I heard it played in a Dublin pub yesterday and immediately burst into tears. thank you Ralph McTell for caring about the unloved and the unwanted.
Hat tip to you. Admire the courage of trans people and others who are rejected and excluded but decide to stay, survive, and fight. All power to you from India
When i was a Baby my dad sang it every evening when i was in Bed. I olso dont understand it but now i am 14 and can understand english an its so Emotional for me.
Sorry to dispell your dilusional thinking but you are not a woman . Thinking that you are doesn't help you , and other people supporting your claim that you are a woman are no friends of yours . They are miss-guided liars who have been reduced to fantasy by marxist extreme left wing propagander and lies . For instance , what is your chromosome mix as regards x and y and were you born with a prostate ? You were born a biological man and you still are a biological man . Maybe it is your way of coping with the fact that you are homosexual - just as I am . And maybe , due to your upbringing and " tabbo's " around homosexuality when you were growing up ,you found it far easier to convince yourself that you are a woman and thus it wouldn't be homosexuality you had but femininity because you are a " woman " ? That is obviously pure speculation on my part because you really are only fooling yourself when you think and say that you are a woman . You are not , and as i have just proved , you are a man who likes / loves men .
Always loved the song- this is the earliest version I have seen or heard. Thanks for posting.
I love the sound of his voice.
His voice shows how pure his soul is...
This song always makes me count my blessings and reach an inner part of me.
Song for heroes and forgotten lost loved ones remember them they are decent people
Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper
With his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
Arms held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news
So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and
Lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind
Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags
So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and
Lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind
In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven
Same old man sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his teacup
Each tea lasts an hour
And he wanders home alone
So how can you tell me you're lonely
Don't say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand and
Lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind
Have you seen the old man
Outside the Seaman's Mission
Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears
In our winter city
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care
So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and
Lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind
❤
🙏🌺🎉😊
Such a sad song when you see the lyrics, especially "Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears"
Back when Ralph and others like him could compose and sing music, not trash. With a message.
Look harder for music. There’s still plenty of good music being produced. You just have to look harder
This is the first time I've ever seen/heard this guy (I'm from Canada). He reminds me a lot of Elvis.
Very good Song with serious contents. Although I am from Germany I understand every word
Brilliant song & lyrics....❣️
Still love ❤️ this song. We used to sing it at school when I was 7 years old. It used to make me cry 😢. It still moves me.
I remember this when it first came around. Poignant then and now.
Ralph, thank you for this great song, that will go into history. I saw a different London, though.
Like all cities London has a dark underbelly just below the surface.
I learned this song when still living in the Netherlands, back in the 70's, now living close to London (but in Canada) i still see the homeless here in the streets in London. It hurts to see it and to know it can be rectified if only our politicians get their act together
Get rid of Trudeau and you'll have most of the problem fixed.
@@MoreToTheTruthThanMeetsTheEye they frown on the way how i'd like to get rid of him :(
What a great song and so well done. Thanks Ralph.
This is why folk music is unmatched fucking mind blowing how good this is
this song has always made me cry,i imagine those people in the song,i feel for them
Always a great song. Thank you.
...and nothing has changed from the 70s. My mum n dad have this on 7 inch vinyl, remember it so well. Hey kids, watch out for the chimps in suits (circa 2023) re
opening the mines!
You are right, half a century has passed and NOTHING has changed.
In fact if anything it has gotten worse.
A timeless classic.
Took me almost 30 years to realise what a man and musician he was and till is. Remember this song being released in 75 but took me all this years to realise his wonder.
I can't help it, but I think that the fashions and haircuts of that time were ridiculous. Imagine a teenager of today looking at the young people then. He is she would have a good laugh.
Absolutely beautiful song! I actually cried.
Great song love it from newfoundland canada
Because of this song, I would like to take a walk on the streets of London.
Not a good idea, full of violence.
Still a great song 1975
Saw he just the other night, his voice has gotten better.
I was ten. I still remember listening this
i was only 3 lol
I learned the words of this song so that I could sing it (off key) to my daughter every night at bedtime. She loved it, but 20 years later when she hears it she says "so sad!"
I used to sing it for my little boy 20 years ago. Walking back and forth, gently rocking. It's a sad song but the melody is soothing for the youngins.
My wonderful grandfather we sang and played this song. He died a year ago today
so sorry for your loss xx
Sorry
I didn’t feel anything when I was young, now I can feel the sad, good or bad? Luckily, I still have a warm home to stay.
I love London
I use to, live there in the mid 70's was a wonderful vibrant city, not any more.
@@malcolmjones9109 It’s still a very vibrant city, but not always in the ways that it used to be.
Amazing Singer , amazing song , Saw him in Poole last week , he was excellent !!
Yes not just of london now and then, it is every street in every country i think..
With all the prices going up and everything increasing in prices. Have a thought for the poor young people living on the streets. No food no bed just a peice of cardboard to sleep on. God bless them.
This is pure class, unlike Bruno Mars this song will last forever.
Let's not mention names like that on great songs like this.
Wtf is that free shot on Bruno Mars?
I played this song on my guitar as an English lesson at a school in Germany!
Hi Robert,
You just sent me the link of this song via Camly. It’s so beautiful.
Thanks a lots.
@@linhtalinhtinh_ No worries...see you soon!
Great song, a classic ❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏
Takes me back, oh the memories.
Lovely. Thanks Ralph.
A perfect song
Bless you Melody hope your life is getting better now x
great song and great voice
A few months before Punk. Sometimes i feel it still inside after such a long time 😊😢
I recall walking along of Oxford Street as a student. This guy stopped outside McDonalds, routed around in the bin found something and went straight into his mouth. Whenever I feel hard done by I think about that.
there by the grace of God.
Music is the most immediate and powerful method of contact with the spiritual realms.
Beautiful...makes one weep
Thanks for listening
Absolutely fabulous song!!!!!!
Ralph McTell, a true son of Croydon.
Sang it through with Ralph..... loved it.
Lovely song.
This song was already a hit in my home country the Netherlands in 1972, in the UK where it’s made in 1975, bit strange.
He wrote it in 1969 I believe but he may have rerecorded it in 1975.
A song and voice for the ages.... regretfully but strangely at the same time i proudly (I don't want to desecrate this absolute classic but merely pay homage and pretend I'm even nearly as talented as the great man) I belt this tune out whenever theres a late nighter and an opportunity.....
This song gets my heart!
Mine to
True👌Streets💯% Of London 🏴♥️
I'm still Alive ? If you are a 60s child, please respond. I love you
.
He was handsome
O.K. kids, now we want all of you to dance to this..look like you're having a great time...shuffle around... rock out!
I know! I thought "WTF" They are dancing to this song? Maybe the shows producers told them to, which would prove how ignorant the producers were. McTell is a pro - he maintained his composure throughout.
immer wieder schön
Fab song from 1975
Maravillosa
We used to sing this at my junior school!
That's great it made me grateful
Lots of versions .will always be ralphs song!
What a handsome man
Presentation is realy insulting, but ding so lovely and realy make you aware of all homeless people ❤️
Why insulting?.