早陣子一個週末﹐無聊下走到街上閒逛﹐偶然聽到路旁傳來陣陣歌聲。是一個中年人抱著吉他﹐一邊彈奏﹐一邊高唱著《倫敦街頭》。老實說﹐他的確唱得不俗﹐所以﹐也吸引到了一大群人圍觀欣賞。

我也很自然地停了下來。因為《倫敦街頭》從來都是一首我喜歡的歌曲。當然﹐也不其然地隨著歌者的歌聲﹐輕輕地哼起那一段段寫得有點感人的歌詞:

Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper,
with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
And held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.

In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven,
Same old man is sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup,
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone

And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears.
In our winter city,
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care

當然﹐這一位街頭賣藝的人是比不上RALPH MCTELL。畢竟﹐所有人高唱這一首歌的時候﹐都會自自然然地學著RALPH MCTELL的表演。



話得說回頭﹐看過幾次別人現場翻唱這一首名曲﹐最教我留下深刻印象的﹐還是那次在倫敦高雲花園。可能因為那的確是倫敦街頭。