Another Kinks tune in this special post paying tribute to London. It essentially talks about isolation, but there are some positive aspects to the track, and it is simply sublime.
Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don’t need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset’s fine
Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don’t want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don’t feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset’s fine
Millions of people swarming like flies ’round Waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And they don’t need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
They are in paradise
Waterloo sunset’s fine.
What can you do with it? Well, there are many great examples of adjectives and verbs to describe the river, the city and the people in the song, adverbs of frequency “everyday” and the present tense.
A follow-up activity could be to get students to write a similar text about their favourite place or the town they come from. They could present this to the rest of the class.
Stay strong, London x
(The photo featured in this post is just one example of the amazing photographic art my friend Stephanie Mackenzie has made.)
