It Was London

Album: Listen (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This gritty tune finds Luke Pritchard recounting the 2011 London Riots, which left England's capital city in a state of mayhem. The Kooks vocalist explained to Sound Of Boston how the song tried to capture the band's feelings at the time: "A big city like that, London, Paris, you have this illusion that everything's safe, and that sort of thing happens and the walls come crashing down," he said. "The police brutality that happened around that time… we wrote a song about that."
  • Thousands of mostly young males rioted in several London boroughs for several days during early August 2011 as well as in other places in England. The resulting chaos generated looting and arson as well as the deaths of five people. The riots inspired a number of songs including:

    "Kids" by Mikky Ekko

    "Uptight Downtown" by La Roux

    In addition the video for Plan B's single "Ill Manors" features footage of the riots.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."