Lay for the Day: 25th June

Lay for the Day 25th June

1965: Bob Dylan brings an electric rock’n’roll band on stage with him for his headlining appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, and causes a furore.

1968: The Beatles conclude the first global television broadcast, Our World, with a performance of ‘All You Need Is Love’. The BBC programme was seen in 24 countries by an audience of 40 million.

Major moments in the chronicle of popular music – whose true history is still made by people without history.

Busker Noise [See it on YouTube]

You hear them in the tunnels
Where the echo makes them loud,
Singing for the lonely in the crowd,
And on the windy corner
Through the city sounds you hear,
The busker’s little voice won’t disappear.

Busker whine, busker noise,
Busker girls and busker boys,
Only for the pennies that you throw,
They put a little music in your soul,
They put a little music in your soul.

I woke up this morning,
Something from the charts,
Any melody that’s in your hearts.
Chant it out and strum it
And they turn the tune around.
Are you glad to hear that real live human sound?

Busker whine, busker noise,
Busker girls and busker boys,
Only for the pennies that you throw,
They put a little music in your soul,
They put a little music in your soul.

In the cavities of London where you keep
Yourselves to yourselves,
It’s good to wake from walking in your sleep
To hear the dreams of somebody else.

The wind that shakes the barley,
All the things you are,
How can a poor man stand such times and live?
Losing my religion,
Three little birds,
What they give you’s all they’ve got to give.

Busker whine, busker noise,
Busker girls and busker boys,
Only for the pennies that you throw,
They put a little music in your soul,
They put a little music in your soul.

Busker noise, busker strum,
Busker go and back they come,
Only for the pennies that you throw,
They put a little music in your soul,
They put a little music in your soul.

The Children
from Rockingham Street

The Lay Reader: an archive of the poetic calendar