LDN (song)
Encyclopedia
"LDN" is a single by Lily Allen
which was released in the UK on 25 September 2006. It was co-written by Future Cut
, and features a Colombian porro
from the country's Caribbean coast. The song was originally released on strictly limited edition 7" vinyl (500 copies) in the UK on 24 April 2006, accompanied by album track, "Knock 'Em Out," and was re-released in September following the huge success of Allen's first mainstream single "Smile". The re-release peaked at number six on the UK singles chart
. The song is used in the soundtrack of the film The Nanny Diaries
, and in the trailer for Happy-Go-Lucky
. This song was number 30 on Rolling Stone
s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. In 2008 the song was included in the soundtrack of the Mike Leigh film Happy-Go-Lucky. Allen claims that the inspiration for the song was William Wordsworth
's poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
"
25,000 in 2005, when she signed to the label, a fact which she considered to be a "small development idea". The money was to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases. Taking advice from Lady Sovereign
, the singer created an account on MySpace
and began posting demos
in November 2005. By March 2006, they attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of one of the demos, a song titled "LDN", were rush-released and sold for as much as £40, thus the song becoming her first actual single. Allen also produced two mixtape
s to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, The Observer Music Monthly
took interest. Few people outside of her label's A&R
department had heard of Allen, so the label was slow in responding to publications who wanted to report about her. Her label wasn't pleased with the sound of the demos, so they assigned the singer to top producers and songwriters, and after, they finally approved some of her songs, confident on the inclusion on the album. Among the songs that Allen claimed she was happy with was "LDN".
. Set to a cheerful tune, the lyrics first appear to describe a lovely scene "A fella looking dapper, and he's sittin' with a slapper", but follow up revealing a less glamorous reality, "Then I see it's a pimp
and his crack whore."
Several episodes from "city life" are described, suggesting that things may not be what they seem: "When you look with your eyes everything seems nice, But if you look twice you can see it's all lies." However, Allen finds these sights "priceless", and asks (possibly sarcastically), "Oh why, oh why, would I wanna be anywhere else?". The lyrics might take part of their inspiration from William Blake
's poem "London
", which paints the city in a similar light.
"LDN" is a ska song composed in the key of F major
(with its 5th interval played on Bass Guitar on the First Beat). The song is written in cut time and moves at 100 beats per minute. It features a guitar using a tonic
-dominant
chord progression
. It samples "Reggae Merengue" performed by Tommy McCook And The Supersonics, which is based on Nestor Montes's "Cógeme la caña".
Amy Winehouse
's ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, features in the music video trying to sell flowers to Allen.
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
which was released in the UK on 25 September 2006. It was co-written by Future Cut
Future Cut
Future Cut is the stage name of drum and bass producers Darren Lewis and Tunde Babalola. They share production duties.The duo first met whilst promoting rival Drum 'n' Bass nights in Manchester...
, and features a Colombian porro
Porro
The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian Cumbia rhythm that developed into its own sub-genre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballroom dance...
from the country's Caribbean coast. The song was originally released on strictly limited edition 7" vinyl (500 copies) in the UK on 24 April 2006, accompanied by album track, "Knock 'Em Out," and was re-released in September following the huge success of Allen's first mainstream single "Smile". The re-release peaked at number six on the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The song is used in the soundtrack of the film The Nanny Diaries
The Nanny Diaries (film)
The Nanny Diaries is a 2007 American comedy-drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, it stars Scarlett Johansson, Alicia Keys, Paul Giamatti, and Laura Linney; and was produced by Richard N...
, and in the trailer for Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky is a 2008 British Comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. The screenplay focuses on a cheerful and optimistic primary-school teacher and her relationships with those around her...
. This song was number 30 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. In 2008 the song was included in the soundtrack of the Mike Leigh film Happy-Go-Lucky. Allen claims that the inspiration for the song was William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
's poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
"Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" is a sonnet by William Wordsworth describing London and the River Thames, viewed from Westminster Bridge in the early morning. It was first published in the collection Poems in Two Volumes in 1807....
"
Background
Regal Records gave Allen £Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
25,000 in 2005, when she signed to the label, a fact which she considered to be a "small development idea". The money was to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases. Taking advice from Lady Sovereign
Lady Sovereign
Louise Amanda Harman , better known by the stage name Lady Sovereign, is an English rapper & grime artist. She is noted for her professional success in performing styles of music generally dominated by males...
, the singer created an account on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and began posting demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
in November 2005. By March 2006, they attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of one of the demos, a song titled "LDN", were rush-released and sold for as much as £40, thus the song becoming her first actual single. Allen also produced two mixtape
Mixtape
A Mix Tape or Mixed Tape is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.A Mix Tape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a...
s to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, The Observer Music Monthly
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
took interest. Few people outside of her label's A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
department had heard of Allen, so the label was slow in responding to publications who wanted to report about her. Her label wasn't pleased with the sound of the demos, so they assigned the singer to top producers and songwriters, and after, they finally approved some of her songs, confident on the inclusion on the album. Among the songs that Allen claimed she was happy with was "LDN".
Composition
"LDN" is Mobile Phone text language for London. The lyrics are of Allen describing a bicycle ride through her hometown of LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Set to a cheerful tune, the lyrics first appear to describe a lovely scene "A fella looking dapper, and he's sittin' with a slapper", but follow up revealing a less glamorous reality, "Then I see it's a pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
and his crack whore."
Several episodes from "city life" are described, suggesting that things may not be what they seem: "When you look with your eyes everything seems nice, But if you look twice you can see it's all lies." However, Allen finds these sights "priceless", and asks (possibly sarcastically), "Oh why, oh why, would I wanna be anywhere else?". The lyrics might take part of their inspiration from William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
's poem "London
London (poem)
London is a poem by William Blake, published in Songs of Experience in 1794. It is one of the few poems in Songs of Experience which does not have a corresponding poem in Songs of Innocence.-Analysis:...
", which paints the city in a similar light.
"LDN" is a ska song composed in the key of F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
(with its 5th interval played on Bass Guitar on the First Beat). The song is written in cut time and moves at 100 beats per minute. It features a guitar using a tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
-dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
. It samples "Reggae Merengue" performed by Tommy McCook And The Supersonics, which is based on Nestor Montes's "Cógeme la caña".
Music videos
There have been two music videos made for "LDN", the first being a low budget affair to promote the original 7" release and the second to promote the re-release.- The first version of the video, recorded in speed-up camera, follows Allen riding her bikeRaleigh ChopperThe Raleigh Chopper is a children's bicycle, a wheelie bike, manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a true 70s cultural icon, and is fondly remembered by many who grew up in that period...
through London. It depicts many positive aspects of London, showing her taking a friendly photograph with a police officer, greeting a passer-by, eating at an ice cream café and relaxing in the public park, seeing people playing and having fun. She then travels on the London UndergroundLondon UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
, getting off at Ladbroke Grove tube stationLadbroke Grove tube stationLadbroke Grove is a London Underground station on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, between Latimer Road and Westbourne Park stations, and in Travelcard Zone 2 set in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ....
, where she then rides the bike around the palace area (outside the gate) then through the streets.
- The second version of the "LDN" video was produced to be more in line with the song's lyrics, particularly, "When you look with your eyes, everything seems nice, but if you look twice, you can see it's all lies." It opens with Allen in a record store called "Tough Grade" which is a play on Rough TradeRough Trade ShopRough Trade are two independent record shops based in London, UK.The first Rough Trade shop was opened in 1976 by Geoff Travis in the Portobello Road district of west London. In 1978 the shop spawned the famous Rough Trade Records, which was to go on to be home to bands from The Smiths to The...
, a record store in London at Talbot & Portobello Road. She asks the store manager for an eclectic piece of music, satirising keywords that have been used to describe her album - "punky electronica.. kind of grime....kind of like...new-wave grime...but kind of maybe like more broken beats, but kinda dubby broken beats...but a lil bit kind of soulful....but kind of drum'n'bassy, but kinda more broken drum'n'bass like more broken beats. but break beat kind of broken drum'n'bass. Kind of.... ". The song playing in the background is Allen's track, "Friend of Mine", taken from her debut album, "Alright, Still". Allen receives a phone call, from someone we assume is her boyfriend, and arranges to meet him. She walks out of the store and walks through the downtownDowntownDowntown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
of London. While she walks through the street, she leaves a glowing trail of light behind her, in technicolorTechnicolorTechnicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
-like hues, and the town's atmosphere looks pleasant, fun and happy - however, as Allen moves forward the "reality" kicks in, as the scenery behind the hue transforms in sharp contrast in what it had been before, portraying litterLitterLitter consists of waste products such as containers, papers, wrappers or faeces which have been disposed of without consent. Litter can also be used as a verb...
, homelessnessHomelessnessHomelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
and violent crimeViolent crimeA violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent...
in London, and the technicolour is washed out - for example, a magician's wand becomes a rusted nail, and a red sweet on the ground becomes a still-smoking cigarette butt. The video ends with Allen receiving another phone call; her boyfriend has decided not to come. Angry and unhappy, she storms away, and the vivid colour disappears to reveal the duller, more depressing reality of her surroundings.
Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
's ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, features in the music video trying to sell flowers to Allen.
Track listing
- UK CD1
- "LDN" – 3:13
- "Nan You're A Window Shopper" – 2:59
- UK CD2
- "LDN" – 3:13
- "Naïve" – 3:46
- "LDN" (Warbox Original Cut Dub) – 3:55
- "LDN" (Video) – 3:53
- Digital Download
- "LDN" - 3:13
- "Nan You're A Window Shopper" - 2:59
- "Naive" - 3:46
- "LDN" (Acoustic Live At Bush Hall) – 3:17
- 7" Vinyl
- "LDN" – 3:13
- "Nan You're A Window Shopper" – 2:59
- 7" Vinyl - Limited Edition
- "LDN" – 3:13
- "Knock 'Em Out" – 2:54
Charts
| Chart (2006/2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
39 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
21 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
23 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 88 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
6 |