The song celebrates the 160th anniversary of the National Heritage Blue Plaque scheme, which serves as a historical marker of the achievements of people in the past with buildings of the present. As lyricist Pete Feenstra explains; âI first had the idea of writing an article about the symbolic historical lineage in London after the 1997 unveiling of the Jimi Hendrix blue plaque. I thought about the significance of what has been called Londonâs âinvisible historyâ, which much later became the basis of a song. Then I discovered that 2023 marked the 160th anniversary of when the commemorative plaque idea was first presented to the House of Commons by William Ewart MP in 1863. This in turn gave me the first line of the song. Some of the names fitted the second verse perfectly, but I struggled with music for the bridge, until John applied his musical vision.â John Simpson: âPete's lyrics put me in mind of a Ray Davies or Ian Dury style narrative with some original subject matter. I set about coming up with something suited to thatâ. The final piece in the jigsaw is Stuart Ridgardâs video which seals a creative triumvirate of words, music and images. There's a lot of famous, people since 1863, Livinâ round the corner, not far from you and me, Fame shines its spotlight, on everything they do, See them on a clear day, in perfect shades of blue. chorus Cities full of history, and now they want it back, Find it on an outside wall, framed in a blue plaque, A name, date and achievement, written in three lines, A long lost bereavement, which just came back in style. See Mahatma Gandhi, and Charlie Chaplin too, Dickens, Newton, Mozart; Lennon & Keith Moon, Karl Marx in Camden, and Virginia Woolf, Handel down to Hendrix, they all went too soon. chorus Cities full of history and now they want it back, Find it on an outside wall, framed in a blue plaque, A name, date and achievement, written in three lines, A long lost bereavement, which just came back in style. Bridge Olden days of chivalry, remind us of our past, Helping solve a mystery with one we hope will last, Giving us a meaning, to everything we do, Must be more to living, than simply being cool. chorus Cities full of history and now they want it back, Find it on an outside wall, framed in a blue plaque, A name, date and achievement, written in three lines A long lost bereavement, which  just came back in style.
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