Print This Page#01060 Print This Page
Let me take you by the hand,
And lead you through the streets of London;
I will show you something to make you change your mind.
Have you seen the old man in a closed down market,
Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you'll see no pride and, held loosely by his side,
Are yesterday's papers, telling yesterday's news.
And how can ya' tell me that you're lonely,
Or say that for you the sun won't shine?
Let me take you by the hand,
And lead you through the streets of London;
I will show you something to make you change your mind.
And have you seen that old girl who walks the streets of London,
With the dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking; she just keeps right on a-walkin',
Carryin' her home in two carrier bags.
And how can ya' tell me that you're lonely,
Or say that for you the sun won't shine?
Let me take you by the hand,
And lead you through the streets of London;
I will show you something to make you change your mind.
In that all-night café at a quarter past eleven,
The same old man sitting there on his own,
Looking at the world over the rim of his tea cup,
Each tea lasts an hour then he wanders home alone.
And how can ya' tell me that you're lonely,
Or say that for you the sun won't shine?
Let me take you by the hand,
And lead you through the streets of London;
I will show you something to make you change your mind.
And have you seen that old man outside the seaman's mission,
His memory fading like the ribbons that he wears?
Yes, and in this winter city, the rain cries a little pity,
For one more forgotten hero in a world that doesn't care.
And how can ya' tell me that you're lonely,
Or say that for you the sun won't shine?
Let me take you by the hand,
And lead you through the streets of London;
I will show you something to make you change your mind.
This variant was arranged and recorded by Ryan's Fancy (Looking Back, trk#6, 1972, Audat Records, Oshawa, ON).
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
A variant was also recorded by John Prince & A Piece Of The Rock, trk#8, 1997, Rattle Falls Publishing, Keswick, ON).
Another variant was recorded by Chris Hennessy (Sail Away To The Sea, trk#2, 2000, Ballyhoura Productions, Torbay, NL).
