On a river where old money clings to the banks   There’s a nine-to-five army and I joined the ranks   It’ll beat you down if you don’t fight back   because London swings like a big grey axe      But live long enough and the city surprises   Up pops a palace amidst the highrises   High-art Imperial, strawberries and cream   London swings like a ball off the seam      Hard voices ring out along tenement streets   That are harsher than hail and sharper than sleet   Winter is wet and depressingly loud   London swings like a big grey cloud      But spring brings buds in a slow green tide   and summer sends people and pints outside   'Til the changing leaves of autumn burn   London swings like the seasons turn      This is older than Westminster Abbey and bigger than the dome   I’m going to use the knowledge of a London cabby to get me the fast way home   I’ll swing back to you sweet love of mine   Through the cosmetropolis estuarine      Through the working week we all grit our teeth   But there are fast trains travelling underneath   We’re drawn towards Friday, insects to the light   London swings into Saturday night      All over the city our lives carry on   Small hopes are defeated, small battles are won   As we swim through the fog and the fear and the feuds   London swings like a lover’s moods