London songs swing between two moods: the grey, grinding city and the one worth writing a love song to. This list runs from a punk warning shot to a quiet sunset over the Thames.
Updated 2026
London Calling by The Clash 1979
A doom-laden punk anthem that still sounds like an alarm going off.
Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks 1967
One of the most beautiful songs ever written about a city at dusk.
Streets of London by Ralph McTell 1969
A folk plea to notice the people the city walks past.
West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys 1984
Cool, paranoid synth-pop about the pull of the city center.
Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty 1978
That saxophone and a man stuck dreaming on a famous street.
LDN by Lily Allen 2006
A sunny tune that keeps spotting the grime behind the postcard.
Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon 1978
A piano romp with a howl you cannot resist joining.
Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant 1982
Brixton tension turned into one of the decade's biggest hooks.
Parklife by Blur 1994
A cheeky tour of ordinary London life, narrated with a wink.
Common People by Pulp 1995
A sharp story of slumming it that became a Britpop anthem.
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square by Vera Lynn 1940
Wartime romance set in a single magical corner of the city.
London Town by Wings 1978
McCartney wandering the streets in a gentle, rainy daydream.