Lament for Denmark Street

[Andy Howell]

London's Denmark Street was that city's Tin Pan Alley, the place where Elton John, Bowie and others honed their songwriting craft. New development threatens this historic street. In a city where historical plaques rule supreme, there is no historical plaque to the musical history of Denmark Street.

The Ballad of Denmark Street

Walking east through old Soho
A winter wind blows right through my coat
Rain and sleet were soaking my feet
As I turned into Denmark Street

And the list from the windows so bright
Cuts through the dark, the damp of the night
In this fashionable street of extremes
In this tin pan alley of dreams

Chorus

And there in the alley at the back of the street
The past and present of music did meet
Whatever they do and whatever they say
The music, the memories won’t fade away

This here's been the home of the beat
Since Lionel Bart was King of the street
When Elton and Bernie worked above the shop
When we thought those hits would never stop

Where the Stones laid down tracks at Regent Sound
Where Bolan and Mickey were hanging around
When the rhythm and the blues seeped into the bricks
Where the Pistols reeked havoc up above Number six

Chorus

Middle Eight

There are no blue plaques here to tell the story
Of this street’s magical musical glory
So they build another temple of steel and glass
To a corporate culture that will never last

Walking east through old Soho
The winter wind blowing right through my coat
Rain and sleet were soaking my feet
As I turned into Denmark Street

No longer will my shuffling shoes
Tap the beat at the 12 Bar Blues
No longer will my pulse beat
To the creative rhythms of Denmark Street

Chorus