Morning:
6°c
I had a mission. Could I, like a latter-day Mary Poppins, bring a ray of sunshine into the lives of the City workforce and get them singing?
If I managed it, I would be fulfilling the vision of Sing London, the festival that wants to unite the capital in song using 30 pianos emblazoned with the instruction "Play Me, I'm Yours".
Around one o'clock, I rocked up at the piano placed slap bang in the middle of St Mary-le-Bow churchyard. My potential choir were bank workers grabbing lunch and looking like they had things on their minds.
No one seemed to have been drinking - that would have helped. Trepidatiously, I opened the piano and dived into Rocket Man. I started too high. I also forgot the verse - plus my singing voice isn't very nice. But by the second chorus I was in my stride. Casting an inclusive glaze around the square I issued my rallying cry: "Sing along now!" The silence was so debilitating I forgot the next chord.
I had to make it clear that this was a group activity. So I fell to asking passers-by if they wanted to sing - offering the books chained to the piano. Sasha from the Anglo Irish bank was my first volunteer - she picked Hey Jude.
This would get the onlookers singing. No one resists joining in Hey Jude. They resisted, though Sasha gave a fine performance. We even sang the na-na-na-na bit seven or eight times, so it wasn't that they didn't know the words.
They resisted Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head and Dancing Queen too. Nicola and Sayeda were among the few to join in. The problem wasn't us, it was them. In a minor huff, I moved to the piano by the Millennium Bridge. There, a Californian called Krista Johnson agreed to sing Bridge Over Troubled Water (the songbooks are themed). We belted through - switching octaves when it became clear neither of us was Art Garfunkel. It was ragged, but it was loud, and a crowd gathered. I knew what to play now.
I don't know how many people were singing Hey Jude behind me but from the noise I would guess 3,000. Joy filled the air. I had done it. I had taken on the London masses and broken down their apathy. "Awesome! Fantaschtick!" the choir cried, and stamped their boatshoes. Still, I reckon there must have been some Londoners there somewhere.
Reader views (3)
Best surpise in the whole of London! Thanks for the memories.
- Krista Johnson, Rocklin, CA, 23/06/2009 12:06
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Does he know any Morrissey songs?I only ask as there's really nothing to smile about at the moment.
- Steve, London, 23/06/2009 08:48
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What a great pity the residents in the Republic of Morecambe, Lancashire could not join in!!
Knowing our luck, before we could have uttered the opening line of Hey! Jude, the council gestapo freaks would have been well in attendance dishing out fixed penalty notices for anything which moved.
- Reuben Camara, Republic of Morecambe, UK, 22/06/2009 14:57
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